So today I thought I would share with everyone my constant struggle to manage the floors in our new home. Roughly two months ago we toured this home and immediately liked it. The paint was fresh, the cabinets new, 2 full bathrooms...all the floors were either ceramic tile or hardwood. No more carpet cleaning? Could I be any happier?
Little did I know the horrors that awaited me with the hardwood floor after moving in last month. After it took the abuse of us walking on it to move our things in (In March, with snow on the ground and salt on the sidewalks) I embarked on a mission to keep it looking nice. I already had a bottle of Murphy Oil Soap (which works great for furniture and says it can be used on finished wood floors) I cleaned the floors just about every other day with Murphy's and while I think they were clean, they weren't very shiny anymore. So we went out to a store and bought some pledge for hardwood floors. There were a lot of cleaners to choose from and the pledge got decent reviews and I thought it might work. Wrong. My floors looked shiny and nice...while they were wet. As soon as that stuff dried, I had been left with a scummy film on the floor.
I was not happy. I began googling which floor cleaning was best and after being bombarded with more facts about hardwood than I ever cared about knowing, I finally stumbled upon a site that promised me shiny, show room new floors with cheap crap I had in my kitchen. "What do I have to lose?" I think to myself so off to the kitchen I go.
It takes only a 50/50 mix of white vinegar (any brand) and vegetable oil (again, any brand) mixed in a spray bottle which will need to be agitated constantly throughout the process. It recommends doing it by hand (which is what I did) you just spray the mix on just enough to coat the floor one section at a time and wipe it off. Then you need a dry towel to buff the floor (I did the buffing of the floor last) because you really don't want to leave any moisture sitting on hardwood.
Like magic, my floors look like they were just installed yesterday! It only took about a half hour of my time and $4 worth of supplies. This treatment is only recommended for finished wood floors. If you have waxed hardwood, you probably don't want to try this...and if you aren't sure what type of hardwood you have, test a bit of the mixture on an inconspicuous spot on the floor to be sure it won't ruin it before you go spray-happy.
Little did I know the horrors that awaited me with the hardwood floor after moving in last month. After it took the abuse of us walking on it to move our things in (In March, with snow on the ground and salt on the sidewalks) I embarked on a mission to keep it looking nice. I already had a bottle of Murphy Oil Soap (which works great for furniture and says it can be used on finished wood floors) I cleaned the floors just about every other day with Murphy's and while I think they were clean, they weren't very shiny anymore. So we went out to a store and bought some pledge for hardwood floors. There were a lot of cleaners to choose from and the pledge got decent reviews and I thought it might work. Wrong. My floors looked shiny and nice...while they were wet. As soon as that stuff dried, I had been left with a scummy film on the floor.
I was not happy. I began googling which floor cleaning was best and after being bombarded with more facts about hardwood than I ever cared about knowing, I finally stumbled upon a site that promised me shiny, show room new floors with cheap crap I had in my kitchen. "What do I have to lose?" I think to myself so off to the kitchen I go.
It takes only a 50/50 mix of white vinegar (any brand) and vegetable oil (again, any brand) mixed in a spray bottle which will need to be agitated constantly throughout the process. It recommends doing it by hand (which is what I did) you just spray the mix on just enough to coat the floor one section at a time and wipe it off. Then you need a dry towel to buff the floor (I did the buffing of the floor last) because you really don't want to leave any moisture sitting on hardwood.
Like magic, my floors look like they were just installed yesterday! It only took about a half hour of my time and $4 worth of supplies. This treatment is only recommended for finished wood floors. If you have waxed hardwood, you probably don't want to try this...and if you aren't sure what type of hardwood you have, test a bit of the mixture on an inconspicuous spot on the floor to be sure it won't ruin it before you go spray-happy.
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