With kids or pets in the hardwood floors can take some serious abuse. Your floor is the largest single surface in your house, and your family is in direct contact with it for most of their waking hours. You want to keep the floor clean, but it’s also important to make sure it’s a safe and non-toxic play space.  Homemade, natural, organic cleaners are a safe and effective way to keep your hardwood floors clean, and they’re much cheaper than store-bought chemicals.

How to Clean Hardwood Floors

Moisture can damage hardwood, causing it to warp and splinter over time.  A soaking wet mop is a recipe for disaster in the long term, and hardwood floors should be cleaned with as little moisture as possible. Likewise, a steam mop can strip the finish off of hardwood floors.  Try using a barely damp cloth or dust mop over the entire surface, and limit serious washing to areas with stains, spills or dried on grime. 

Rather than wetting a mop or using a steam cleaner, try spraying a small amount of your homemade cleaning solution directly on the floor.  The solution will dampen the mop as you clean.  This will minimize the floor moisture, and ensure that you’re evenly and lightly distributing the cleaning solution over the entire floor.  This limits the moisture on the floor while ensuring that the entire floor gets evenly cleaned.

Be careful not to apply anything that may build up over time, such as soap.  Unless it’s rinsed off, soap reside will accumulate over time, and rinsing requires a lot of water that will damage the floor. 

Always use warm water, both because it’s better at dissolving stuck on grim, and because it evaporates faster so that the floor dries quicker.

Wearing outdoor shoes indoors on hardwood brings in grit and grime, and will shorten the life of hardwood floors.

Basic Hardwood Floor Cleaner

This simple hardwood floor cleaner fits in a normal household spray bottle.  Since you want to use as little as possible to avoid soaking your floors, this bottle should last a long time even with regular cleaning. 

Apple cider vinegar smells much better than white vinegar and is easy to make at home, but white vinegar will work just as well.  Be sure to stick to the ratios listed below.  Vinegar is acidic, and using too much can dull the finish of your floors over time.

Choose your favorite essential oils to create a scent that will pleasantly linger in your house until the floors dry completely.  Some essential oils not only smell wonderful, but they have natural cleaning properties.  Try using antibacterial lavender essential oil or a natural cleaning orange essential oil.

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 cups warm water
2-3 drops essential oil

The best way to keep hardwood floors clean is prevention. Remove shoes before entering the house, and tiny rocks stuck in insoles won’t have a chance to scratch up floors.

Natural Hardwood Floor Polish

Unfinished or naturally finished hardwood can dry out over time.  Just as you polish your natural wood furniture with moisturizing oil-based furniture polish, an oil-based floor polish can bring out the natural beauty of your floors. 

Obviously, you’ll want to use as little oil as possible, to prevent the floors from being slippery.  A small amount in a homemade cleaning solution, applied sparingly, will absorb into the wood and bring out its natural beauty and shine.  Avoid using oil on artificial hardwood floors, laminate and heavily finished floors.  The oil will not penetrate and absorb into the wood, leaving you with a slippery floor.

Olive oil goes rancid over time, so be sure to use this natural floor polish within a few months of mixing.  Remember to shake well before spraying lightly over the floor and polishing with a soft dust mop.

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups warm water
2-3 drops essential oil

Well polished hardwood floors have a natural shine without being slippery.

Tips to Maintain Hardwood Floors

To keep hardwood floors looking their best, it’s important to minimize scratches, dings and dents where ever possible. 

• Regular sweeping keeps sand and dirt from damaging the surface over time. 
• Remove outdoor shoes to minimize the dirt and grime tracked in from the outdoors
• Keep pets nails trimmed short to avoid scratches.
• Keep furniture on soft pads, such as inexpensive crafting felt
• Clean up spills right away to prevent moisture damage