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sharoncleaner

Cleaning wood floors

sharoncleaner
15 years ago

We having a problem with a wood floor in a beauty salon.

They use a lot of chemicals and hair spray creating slippery spots. What can be used to clean and prevent this from happening, and how often should it be maintained?

Comments (16)

  • tsy72001
    15 years ago

    I do not think that wood floor is the bet choice for a beauty salon. I would look into changing the floor out.

  • earthie
    15 years ago

    I use the Shark steam mop on my hardwood floors. It removes chemical residues, and doesn't leave any of it's own. Sounds to me like it could be the perfect solution to your problem. (The Bissell steam mop has also gotten good reviews on this forum.)

    I think it took about 5 steam moppings to completely remove all the cleaning residues from my floors, so don't expect it to do it in one cleaning. However, you will notice a big difference on the first mopping.

  • Linda
    15 years ago

    I use warm water and white vinegar with a damp mop.(as per a hardwood floor guy years ago) (Not too wet, its not good for the wood). Im also suprised that the above poster uses a steam mop on hardwood. Steam and wood are not best friends.

  • earthie
    15 years ago

    Steam mops are safe for hardwood floors if they are sealed. I can promise you, mopping with water and vinegar brings more water in contact with hardwood floors than steam-mopping does. The floor is only barely damp for a few seconds after being mopped with a steam mop (especially with the Shark)

    Also, you can't put vinegar in the steam mop chamber, however if you like using vinegar, you can spray it on the floor before using the mop. I don't find it necessary, though, as the steam seems to take care of any residues, sticky, oily or otherwise that are there.

  • marie26
    15 years ago

    I live in an older home with hardwood floors. I doubt they are sealed. Is there a test to figure this out?

    If they aren't sealed, can I use my Scooba on them?

  • kimcoco
    15 years ago

    I would think the best thing for you to do is to seal the floor to protect the wood from these products and prevent long term damage.

    I'm by no means a floor professional, but I personally use murphy's oil soap on my hardwood floors and it keeps them looking new & beautiful. I would think it would add a protective coating to the wood. That would be my best suggestion other than replacing the floor altogether since I don't know what other chemicals it comes in contact with.

    Good luck

  • captainj
    15 years ago

    PF Hardwood Floor Cleaner and Polish are the best on the market when it comes to cleaning your floors to make them look just like they did the day they were installed!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Palmetto Floor Care

  • reeree_natural
    15 years ago

    I agree with earthie. ( sorry Linda C) I also use a shark steam mop on my hardwood floors (for years)..no damage what so ever. They made this mop to be used on sealed wood floors and other surfaces as well. The steam will remove the hair spray.
    like earthie said, it will take a few times before it is all removed, especially with a build up. Once you get it off, you can use Bona wood restorer. It is a protecting finish and looks like it was just polly'd. Once you get the hairspray off, I think you will have to give it a quick cleaning after the shop is closed each night... a lot of work! maybe for for quick clean ups, the Bona wood floor cleaner and their micro fiber mop is very good also...

    Do you have the chair mats? that will help protect the flooring also.

    let us know what you try and how was the results!
    Ree

  • teddas
    15 years ago

    Another vote for the vinegar and water. I don't think the other cleansers are getting thru the sealed floors to the wood. Nothing does except standing water!

  • jannie
    12 years ago

    I worked with a group of women cleaning and restoring the unsealed wood floor of our church. I can tell you all we used was Murphys Oil Soap (diluted in water) and elbow grease. That was 6 years ago. The floor has remained clean and beautiful with only weekly moppings with Murphys. BUT if the wood is sealed with polyurethane I would not use this method.

  • tjt78
    12 years ago

    I used to clean houses and we cleaned one house where the woman must have gone through a couple of cans of hairspray a week! :) Every surface of the bathroom was covered. The only thing we could get it off with (and it worked easily, no scrubbing) was Windex. So, ammonia. I'm not sure if you can use amonia (maybe super diluted) on wood or not. Anyone know? If you can, it will come right off with just a wipe!

  • badgergrrl
    12 years ago

    This has been mentioned before, do NOT use Windex unless you are absitively posolutely sure that your floors are sealed with poly and not shellac. (If they are older floors, they are most likely shellac, unless they have been refinished in the past 5-10 years using poly.)

    Ammonia DISSOLVES shellac. This is not advisable, to say the least.

    If you have polyurethane as your finish, go to town.

  • tjt78
    12 years ago

    Good to know about the shellac! Thanks. :) All I knew is that Windex is a miracle on hairspray! If we hadn't know that, we would have spent all day scrubbing that bathroom!

  • SharperClean
    12 years ago

    We just bought a Bissel Hard Wood Floor Steamer. It is amazing. It is so easy to use and it leaves the floors gleaming! The best thing about it is that it doesn't need any chemicals beacuse it kills germs and cleans with steam.

  • badgergrrl
    12 years ago

    tjt78, that's not to say you couldn't use it for spot cleaning, I just wouldn't let the windex sit on the floor to soak anything. If you have wax on top of the shellac (another common treatment for old floors), it's possible that the wax acts as a protective barrier.
    I can wash my floors with soap and water, since the wax acts as a repellant. Never had any problems - I do hand wash, damp mop or Floormate though, no dumping water from a bucket. I saw a girl do that on a home "improvement" show once and almost had a heart attack.

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