I use a weak white vinegar and water solution ... on my hands & knees ... wiping with a dry cloth as I go.

I use warm water with a microfiber cloth... on my hands and knees. I use the bona system once a month and spot clean every day in the kitchen section.
I sweep or dry mop everyday.

I also use the Bona system. DH recently used the polishing solution from Bona and we were amazed at how they looked like they were brand new again. Shiny and gorgeous!

The floor installers gave me instructions for cleaning my floors and they said to use a weak solution of white vinegar and water and NOT to use any of the various hardwood floor products that are on the market as they might have wax by-products incorporated.

mine are very old and when they were refinished i was told to only use water with a little mild dish soap or a little vinegar. I find the trick is to always dry them afterwards or they look kinda dull. I use a mop must times but i use a damp pad followed with a dry pad to buff them up.

I have a rubbermaid mop from Home Depot with a dust mop and a microfiber damp mop head. I dust mop, switch heads, then use Murphy's one step cleaner on the floor. The microfiber head doesn't hold much liquid, so I use the cleaner sparingly. Then, I spot treat remaining dirty spots (such as in front of the stove) with Wood Wise, a spray bottle, and an old cotton dish towel as the rag.

It looks like from all your posts that I have to dry it afterwards. I have tried the vinegar with water trick too. But it doesn't look shiny afterwards. I had a matte finish to begin with.. So can't expect it to gleam:) Thanks for taking the time to give your techniques in cleaning.

I too have a satin finish on mine. They are 1 year old. Once a month or sooner I hit the floor on my hands and knees with a bucket of very warm water with a few splashes of vinegar, wash with one rag - dry (hard) with another lots of elbow work. They shine right up. I use the special Bona terry type mop with Bona spray the rest of the time but again push that mop hard to get the shine up.
LOVE the satin finish!

Like Vitamins said above, I was told specifically not to use any of the products sold for wood (like Bona, sorry folls!), or any "cedar cleaners". They leave build-up on the wood floors which will make them look dull and dingy over time.

I mostly just use water on any individual spots and wipe, and occasionally use a vinegar and water mix on spots. I never mop. That's one task I am glad not to have to do. I find the wood floors just need vacuuming of the crumbs and stuff, and I treat spills and spots on an individual basis. That's one of the reasons I chose wood floors - minimal upkeep and cleaning requirements.

Typo in my post above - meant to say "sorry folks!" not "folls".

What about using a stream cleaner on it? Does that damage the floor in any way?

We vacuum then use a steam cleaner. Water only in the cleaner.

I have a steam cleaner--it had pictures of people using it on hard wood floors. I called the company, who assured me it can be used on Hardwood. It's easy.....

I have a steam cleaner which I love on my tile. But on my wood, I find it streaks too much. I vaccuum the wood and use a lightly damp microfiber cloth to shine.

Beth

To be more specific regarding the instructions I was given:

"This is an oil-based, non-wax finish. We suggest you do not use any of the hardwood floor products that are on the market as many have wax by-products incorporated. The following solution can be used to clean your floor:

One gallon of water to one cup of white vinegar

Mix the solution in a gallon container and then pour some in a spray bottle. Lightly spray your floor and towel dry. Your floor should not be "mopped" as water and wood do not mix. Every household varies as to how often you will need to clean your floor."

Now convincing DH not to mop is a different story! :>) After all that is what my MIL did.

I use water in a Haan steam cleaner.

vidyaram -- the type of cleaner depends on the type of finish on the floor. F.ex. I've had oak floors finished with semi-gloss poly and matte poly. I was using Bona on them but changed to Orange Glo Everyday Floor cleaner and found a huge improvement.

But I also have some oiled floors -- the Bona is used for those (they are completely matte) and I use Sofix cleaner/wax. But Orange Glo is not recommended for oiled floors.

The one thing I would not do with a wood floor is steam clean.

My hardwood floor was not site finished. It was prefinished at the factory. The brand is Lauzon essentials Hard Maple with a satin finish. I will try the cleaning with hand instead of the mop and then drying it well. If it doesn't help, I will try the orange glo everyday floor cleaner.

Thanks
Vidyaram

I appreciate this thread. Thanks!

Long as the floor is finished with poly the Orange Glo should be fine.

I discovered it when nothing else (including Goo Gone) would remove sticky residue from the Teebaud rug pads. We were selling and when you walked across the floor in sox you could feel the pull.

We spray floor with the OG and go over it with a microfiber mop (Libman from grocery store). It does a great job. I had to do the sticky residue by hand but unless it's something that extreme, the microfiber mop should make it a breeze.

I have site-finished wood floors. I only use vinegar/water on them with a damp mop and I do NOT get down on my hands and knees and wipe them dry. and they always shine, no film. I use the Libman co mop that has those orange/white strips. Occasionally I use my Hoover Floor-mate, cleans well but takes so long :(

Here is a link that might be useful: my mop head

How to clean the floors probably differs with whether or not they were site-finished, and of course differs with what the finish is. The directions that came from my installer (quoted in my previous message above) were for my site-finished poly floors, and I plan to follow the instructions about not using ANY of the products on the market, but rather just the vinegar and water mixture, unless and until it really seems that is simply not doing the trick.

Vitamins, I have site-finished poly (refinished 30 years ago) and prefinished (3 years ago). The man who refinished my oak floors in '81 recommended the vinegar & water and I've been using it ever since.

Natal,

Interesting that your floors were refinished in '81 and they mentioned the vinegar & water method. '81 is when the floors in the main part of my house were refinished, as well. I don't think I was told to use vinegar and water at the time, but I do think I was told not to wax them. Well, at least I never have waxed them, so I'd like to think I was told that! When the installers that we had install the red oak hardwood floors in our kitchen a few months ago (to match as well as they could the floors in the rest of the house), that is when I was given the instructions I quoted above. And they never actually tried to get me to have the rest of the floors re-finished at the same time--even though it had been 30 years since they were done. I have usually just cleaned them with a damp cloth in the past. I do think a lot of the products on the market leave a build-up on the floor which is not good for them.

I've just gone back through this thread quickly and one thing that I haven't seen is a definition of what the finish is. If it's a plastic finish--urethane or such--then simply washing with limited am't of soap and water is what you do and you don't let the liquid sit on the floor afterward. Don't bathe the floor luxuriously; just spit-bath it.

If you have a non-plastic finish, you would treat it differently.

I have a urethane floor in kitchen, on red oak. Unfortunately, I had a gel mat laid out when our puppy peed on the floor many years ago. The urine wicked into the area under the mat and was in contact with the floor all night before we discovered it. Despite the plastic finish on the floor, the urine was able to penetrate the urethane and as you probably know, ammonia turns oak black. I have a permanent memory of my puppy that was embedded into my floor, an impossible-to-ignore black area. Perhaps it will go away if we refinish the floor but I'm not sanguine about that.

My point here is that despite seeming to be bullet-proof, the urethane finish is permeable. Do not use ammonia on your floor and do not allow liquid to pool on the floor for any length of time. Well, duh!

Meanwhile, keep sand and dirt out of your kitchen as much as possible--these contain abrasive particles that will sand off the urethane coating over time. They are your enemy because a wounded coating of urethane will allow liquids to permeate the wood. And discolor your oak.

Florantha

etayer, if you have your floors refinished, the wood floor person can remove the damaged boards and weave in new ones. If you are sanding and re-staining, you won't be able to tell that you replaced some of the boards. Use a good hardwood floor company for best results.

Chispa, you are correct. We laid the floor ourselves and would have to reweave it ourselves if we decide to do so. This is not a household that has that kind of money. Nice idea, though. I keep my gel mat covering the stain and pretend the black mark isn't there. The puppy is six years old now. I'm relatively good with that dog, at long last; at a previous time I had planned to serve it for supper.

Yes to the vinegar solution ...31 years on our kitchen/ dining floor, 3/4" Red Oak still going strong

@cookncarpenter What is your vinegar/water solution ratio? Thanks