Vinegar to Clean Hardwood Floors

You can use vinegar to clean hardwood floors. Vinegar is inexpensive and non toxic. It’s the frugal homemaker’s best-kept secret for cleaning the home, and can be used in many ways, including cleaning hardwood floors.

Vinegar cleans hardwood floors, be sure to vacuum beforehand.

Hardwood floors require special care to keep their beautiful luster and finish.

The next time you’re shopping, stop in the grocery aisle and compare the many types of vinegars available. Vinegars are made from the fermentation of alcohol products, such as red wine, rice wine, apple cider, and other liquids. The result is an acidic liquid that is used in a variety of ways, from flavoring salad dressings to cleaning hardwood floors.

When using vinegar to clean hardwood floors, choose white vinegar. Not only is it the least expensive, it has no particular color, so it will not stain the floors.

To clean your hardwood floors using vinegar, follows these simple steps.

• Remove any objects from the floor. If you can easily move furniture or scatter rugs out of the way, do so.
• Block off the room so that pets and children do not walk across the wet floor. While vinegar is non toxic, footprints and paw prints on a clean floor do not add to the décor!
• Vacuum or dry mop the floor. It’s critical to remove all the surface dust, dirt, lint and hair before mopping.
• Fill a clean bucket with a solution of white vinegar and warm water. Use a half a cup of white vinegar to one gallon of warm water.
• Immerse a clean mop into the solution and wring it until it is damp-dry. Never use a soaking wet mop on the floor.
• Mop the floor, starting in one corner. Mop with the direction of the floorboards. If the water dries with a bit of a streak in it, if you’ve mopped in the direction of the floorboards it will not be as visible.
• Rinse the mop head frequently.
• Change water if the solution begins to look very dirty.

After mopping your hardwood floor, you can use a soft, clean towel to dry it or let it air dry. If the floor looks very wet, you may wish to use a towel. While a bit of water won’t hurt most finishes, it’s never a good idea to leave a lot of water on wood products.

Once the floor is dry, you can put the furniture and rugs back in place and open the room back up to the pets and family. Vinegar is safe and non toxic, and there is no need to rinse it from the floor. The hardwood floor should have a nice shine to it once it’s mopped.

One of the most important things you can do is to keep your hardwood floor as clean as possible. Dirt particles can scratch hardwood floors. Even if you don’t see big scratches on the floor, the constant wear and tear simply from walking and moving dirt particles around on the finish of a hardwood floor can create a dull finish. To prevent dulling and scratching, add vacuuming or dry mopping with a sweeper cloth to your household cleaning schedule so that you remember to keep up with this simple maintenance chore. Even a five-minute swipe with a dry dust mop each day can help reduce dirt and dust particles.

While vinegar is an economical and safe solution to use for mopping hardwood floors, it may not be able to cut through extreme grease or dirt. If you have a particularly dirty floor or a nasty spill that needs to be cleaned up, you may want to try a special wood cleaner, like Murphy’s Oil Soap. It’s a bit stronger than a vinegar solution yet still safe to use on wood products. The vegetable-oil base cuts through grease and dirt and leaves the floor squeaky clean. Oil soaps are also safe to use around pets and children. Do not try to make your own vegetable-oil based cleaner and don’t mix such a cleaner with other cleaners, like vinegar. Use according to the directions on the bottle.

Hardwood floors can last for many years and add classic beauty and elegance to any home. For more information on caring for hardwood floors, please visit the following resources:

• Household Helper also reviews using vinegar to clean hardwood floors and talks about other ways to clean floors.
• Wood Floor Doctor provides a comprehensive overview of wood floors, different surfaces, and various products and methods to keep floors shiny and clean.
• Wood Floors Online recommends several methods to keep wood floors looking like new.

Want to learn more about using vinegar as an effective and affordable household cleaner?

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