Holiday Hardwood Floor Care
In the flurry of holiday preparations, keeping your house clean suddenly becomes more necessary and more difficult at the same time. Keeping your floor vacuumed or swept frequently is the best cleaning you can do for your floors. Sometimes, mopping is necessary, although wiping up spills and a quick once over with a clean dustmop can often suffice.
Get to know what type of finish is on your hardwood floors in order to mop it with the most effective product. As long as your floor is sealed, a homemade solution made of water, vinegar and a dash of castile soap is ideal. Wood soaps such as Murphy’s Oil are good for mopping hardwood floors with solid finishes. Follow the directions on the label.
Never allow water or spills to stand on a hardwood floor. Water is necessary in some cases for cleaning, but wring out the mop as much as possible. Keep your floors as dry as possible and increase shine by going over mopped areas with a dry polishing cloth such as microfiber. Some people swear by cloth baby diapers as the best tool for drying and polishing a just mopped hardwood floor.
Special Mopping for Special Occasions
If you want to add a lovely sheen to your sealed hardwood floors as well as a fresh, natural smell, grab some tea bags and make some tea. Two tea bags, steeped, added to a gallon of water can make your floors shine and add a rich luster. Pick a black tea that smells good to you. Anytime you mop your floors, rinse the mop out often, wring it out as much as possible, and go over the mopped areas with a clean, dry cloth or dust mop covered in a clean dry cloth, preferably microfiber. Your floors will shine with rich depth and your house will smell wonderful.
