Wooden floors certainly make home interior more beautiful, but it can take a lot of efforts to keep them in top shape. Many home owners opt for home-made solutions for cleaning due to various reasons from cost to preference to control what ingredients they use at home. We are specilised in carpet cleaning in Whitechapel, but our long experience with different cleaning services allow us to give you a piece of advice on hard floors too.
Make Wood Floor Cleaner On Your Own
The recipes bellow are relatively easy to make, don’t take a lot of time and most of the ingredients can be found in every household.
Solution for Basic Cleaning
For this basic cleaning solution, mix together the following substances:
half cup white vinegar
1 gallon warm tap water
few drops of orange, lemon or other kind of essential oil (optional)
Blend the vinegar and water in a clean bucket. Add 5-6 drops of essential oil to the mixture if you want to have a scented cleaner. To clean your wooden flooring, simply dip a sponge mop into the bucket with the solution and squeeze it until it’s almost dry. Wipe off your floor across the house while rinsing the mop out in the solution frequently. Take a clean, dry cloth to wipe any damp areas on your wood floor, because leaving it wet can deteriorate the material.
Black Tea Polish Solution
Black tea has strong polishing abilities which makes it great for cleaning hard wood floors. Blend the following ingredients:
3-4 bags black tea
3-4 cups of water
Pour the water into a cooking pot. Boil the water, then remove it from the heat. Add all tea bags and let it steep for 10 minutes. Throw away the tea bags and dip a soft clean cotton cloth or specialised wood floor mop cleaning pad into the tea solution. Attach the rag or pad to a mop and wipe off the floor. The tannic acids in black tea will remove the dirt and leave a beautiful luster on wood floors. Instead of black tea, you can use wall nuts’ pods, because they have great polishing power, especially for dark wood.
Stain and Spot Removing Solution
Mix these two ingredients for an easy spot remover:
1/2 cup linseed oil
1/2 cup white vinegar
Blend the equal parts of vinegar and linseed oil into a small bowl. Wipe the floor using clean cloth dipped into the mixture and buff the floor thoroughly using a rag.
Greasy Stains Floor Cleaner
Mix these ingredients for greasy or sticky spots on wood floor:
liquid dish soap
white distilled vinegar
warm tap water
Fill a spray container with warm tap water. Add 4-5 drops of liquid dish soap and a cup full of white distilled vinegar. Spray the areas that need to be cleaned then quickly mop or wipe off the floor using a soft cloth. Make sure all moisture is wiped away after you finish.
Home-made “Dressing” Floor Polish
Mix the following ingredients for a surprisingly effective floor polish:
half cup white vinegar
1 cup olive oil
Blend the white vinegar and the olive oil in a plastic container or a bowl. Dip a soft clean cloth in the mixture and wipe the floor. Buff it off with a dry cloth. Although this recipe looks more like salad dressing, it works great for hardwood floor polisher.
Making Your Own Cleaners vs. Buying Commercial Cleaners
If you’re sitting on the fence about whether to buy hard wood floor cleaner or make your own one, consider all the advantages and disadvantages of both kinds.
Home-made Cleaners
Advantages:
All natural ingredients are more environmentally-friendly.
There’s big chance you have all the ingredients in your home.
You will save money even if you have to buy the ingredients to make your own cleaners, because they can also be used for other purposes around the house as well as cleaning ingredients.\
Disadvantages:
There’s always the risk not to get the expected results when using a home-made cleaner.
You might have to repeat the procedure few times before it works the way you want.
Solutions that include water could warp the wood if you don’t dry the floor carefully after using them.
Commercial Cleaning Product
Advantages:
Product designed specially for cleaning hardwood flooring may work faster than a home-made cleaner.
It’s possible the manufacturer of the commercial product to assume some or all responsibility if the product damages wood floor when it’s used following label’s directions.
A commercial cleaner could also be non-toxic, safe and environmentally-friendly.
Disadvantages:
The chemical ingredients in the cleaner may be toxic and dangerous for the environment.
The price of the commercial cleaning products is significantly higher than a home-made remedies.
The commercial product will only be suitable for cleaning wood floor and nothing else.
No matter if you decide to make your own solution or buying commercial one, you will get the best result considering the type of the floor and the contaminations that you have to deal with. To avoid ruining valuable wood floor try the cleaner you have on a small, hidden area before using it to the whole floor.
These useful tips will decrease the price you pay for getting your hard floors cleaned.