I've been using Bona spray with a microfiber mop and it works great. I believe we have a satin poly finish on ours.

I have hard wood floors. But I also have cats. Does anyone know what would be safe to use on floors, being that they lay all over them?

@Tina: I have 2 cats, Bona is advertised as safe for pets and children. I've been using it for a year and have seen no problems.

I almost bought the Shark floor steamer then read a horrible scenario here on AT where a renter used the Shark floor steamer and the wood floors warped and she had to repay her landlord!

I currently use the Swiffer Wetjet and it doesn't even come close to getting the job done. I basically wait for the house cleaners to come and do the real work. I'll have to look into Bona but I've never seen it for sale anywhere? Though maybe at Home Depot? I basically get all my cleaning supplies at Walgreen's.

A 50/50 solution of vinegar and water is a great, pet-friendly, kid-friendly floor cleaner (although it does make my dog sneeze if she sniffs the floor while it's wet). I just spray it on with a spray bottle and wipe it up with a shammy or microfiber cloth attached to a Swiffer wetmop. Easy peasy, and it does an amazingly good job. Great on tile too.

I read somewhere that hardwood floors should only be cleaned with a liquid cleaner maybe twice a year at most. So, I've instructed the cleaning lady to just simply sweep or vacuum the hardwood floors. I've spoken with my coworkers about this, and I'm definitely in the minority in this regard. They get their hardwood floors mopped biweekly.

I have 2 cats as well , used vinegar mixed in warm water.

@archdarling: I got my Bona at Lowe's, wasn't sold on their integrated sprayer mop so just got an inexpensive microfiber one and a bottle of spray. I've also seen the spray sold at my grocery store.

you can sometimes get the big gallon jugs of bona at Beb Bath and Beyond (with 20% coupon), and I once saw it at costco! I've been through several Bona mops, so now I use a much stronger mop with washable microfiber head from the hardware store.

FWIW, it was recommended to me by the guy who installed my floors. He recently redid them and I saw him using it to clean his own mess!

I second MEGADELE - except we add a touch of Citra-solv. Don't wear shoes in the house (why would you!?). Often, the "dirty" floor is really just wax residue from (often years of) repeated use of household cleaners that have wax in them like Murphy's or Mop & Glow. We have original asphalt tile floors in half the house (50s post and beam) that needed to be carefully stripped of decades of Mop & Glow residue. Not sure how to get it off wood, but I'd just avoid that stuff. I also would't use most supermarket cleaners like Swiffers because of the chemicals. Sometime simple is best - a mop, and water/vinegar with a dash of Citrasolv.

I have very pretty urethane-sealed hardwood floors in my apartment, and I keep it simple: I do a quick sweep, a quick vacuum, and then a quick damp-mop. My new favorite damp-mop method involves a reusable microfiber cloth on a Swiffer mop and Method floor cleaner. Good stuff!

Also, for people with pets and little ones, Method is nontoxic!

Bona works great - but it is a two-step process. First swiffering, then then using Bona. Bona was recommend by the store that sold my white oak flooring and by the guy who installed the flooring. I usually buy it at Bed, Bath & Beyond, but I think I have seen it recently at Lowes or Home Depot.

vinegar and oil!

I mop my floor at least 3 time a month if not 4. My floor is dark wood so, if I skip the moping for 2 weeks I could see foot tracks which driving me nut. I love the feeling of walking bare feet on very clean floor.

Most floor finish manufacturers say not to use vinegar or oil soaps. Vinegar apparently dulls finishes and oil soap coats floors in oil (making them impossible to recoat - they have to be fully resanded and refinished - instead of just buffed and topcoated).

http://www.mybonahome.com/iWantTo/clean-my-hardwood-floor.html

January 2, 1992

To: BonaKemi Distributors

RE: Murphy' Oil Soap

Murphy's Oil Soap was tested as maintenance cleaner for hardwood floors to find the possible effects on future screen and recoats. A 2- 1/4" red oak strip floor was prepared using BonaKemi waterbased finish. The floor was then maintained for four weeks, using he manufacture's recommended procedures. Suggested concentration levels were used on a portion of the floor, with slightly differing levels across the remained of the floor.

Before screening the floor for a recoat, it was apparent that an "oily" residue remained on the floor. While screening, the disk gummed up with a waxy residue.

During application of a new topcoat, "fisheyes" developed in spots, and crawling in some areas was observed. Adhesion on the new finish application was poor with complete failure in some areas

Due to the apparent incompatibility of Murphy's Oil Soap residue with subsequent recoating, we cannot recommend its use as a maintenance program cleaner for hardwood floors.

We have dark (espresso+) bamboo flooring and have not found a single product that cleans it up well without streaking. Anyone on AT have any experience with bamboo floors? Even the flooring stores we checked with were unable to help us with this!

I recently had my wood floors redone and the floor-guy (technical term) said it was extremely important to keep them dust free...which is sort of impossible around here. I have been using the damp Swiffer for dusting and spot cleaning where needed. I have heard that the vinegar/water combo works the best so will be trying that next. Thanks for the post!

Microfiber dust mop weekly.
If I'm motivated, twice a year, I will mix some hot-water and a tiny bit of detergent (simple green) and wipe down the floors with a microfiber cloth (wrung-out). High traffic areas get the wipe-down more often. All these different cleaning products for different surfaces is a bit overkill.

I wish I could get a straight answer on Bona vs. Murphy's Oil Soap. I repeatedly hear one is better than the other but of course it depends on the source. Of course Bona will tell you Murphy's is bad and vice versa. Because of my inability to get a straight answer from anyone that doesn't rep. one product or another I started to use plain vinegar and water but it leave my floors looking dull. My home still has the original quarter sawn oak floors that are now 85 years old. They were refinished 12 years ago with a urethane finish.

I like vinegar with a little murphys oil

I use Method Floor Cleaner because it smells fantastic - I think it's an almond scent. First I sweep or vacuum the floors. Then I squirt the floor cleaner on and use a dry swiffer to wipe it up. Leaves a wonderful scent in the rooms and cleans the floors very nicely.

The third enemy of wood floors is dogs' claws. Anyone know a way to make wood floors impervious to the dog scratches?

My floors have a urethane finish. Murphy's oil leaves a residue and dull finish. I've been using the Bona Kemi spray for years along with their microfiber cleaning pads. They also have a shine restoring product (forget name) that I use in the entryway and kitchen about once a year since they are the highest traffic areas in my apartment. I am pretty sensitive to chemicals (make my own cleaning products) and haven't had any problems with the Bona.

I vacuum regularly and maybe 2-3 times a year do a damp mopping with super diluted Murphy's oil. I once had a roommate that had a bedroom that had a freshly redone floor. She wet mopped it dutifully every weekend, and by the end of one year had absolutely destroyed the floor.

We have natural bamboo floors with a urethane finish, and the best thing we've found is the Shark mop. We only use it once or twice a month and we're really careful to watch how wet the floor gets; if it's not evaporated within a few seconds of swiping, I'll attack it with a dry microfiber. We also get some inevitable streaking whatever we do to the bamboo, but I've been able to camouflage it by mopping in the direction of the grain.

@desertisburning
If there's a urethane finish, isn't the problem the urethane rather than the bamboo? o.O

Currently in old old apt with terrible wood floors. I have a scooba ♥ and use the blue scooba juice (I got it off craigslist, as usual, and it came with the cleaning solution). Don't have the product in front of me, so all I know for sure that it contains is Tween-20 and EDTA. I am going to move in a month to a still-old place with much nicer wood floors, so perhaps I will make sure it will be alright... and not use vinegar after all? Well, there's always the bathroom....

Ah, fan-forum post says the ingredients on the label are nonionic surfactant, chelating agent, fragrance, aka Tween-20, EDTA, and... fragrance (presumably eucalyptus, lime and lavender). I wonder what's being chelated. o.o

I used to use Method on the newly refinished wood at our old house, but when I tried it here, it left the floors a streaky, cloudy mess. I suspect the issue is that previous owners used something that left a residue. Now I just use vinegar and water, and that seems to work very well.

Also, I am relieved to read that they really only need to be cleaned once or twice a year. I am finally cleaning something often enough! Who knew?

This post really makes me long for a Home Cure!

Warm water and vinegar. Saw it on a show about the staff at Buckingham Palace - if it's good enough for the palace, it's good enough for my floors!

If you have urethane floors, do NOT let your housekeeper use Future or any similar products. Mine did and it warped my floor (each strip rounds a bit). I think they can be shaved when I have them re-done but better to avoid this.

We have 83 year old wood floors (oak or maple depending on the part of the house). They still have the original shellac finish, with wax in some areas. We tend to keep it simple--sweep and swiffer once or twice a week, spot clean any spills. We will be touching up the shellac over the next few months, but don't really want to have them refinished, since the patina of the wood and shellac is amazingly beautiful.

Taureg, I think the issue might not be the specific product used, but rather that the floors got too wet. That's what would warp a board.

My house has 80 year old oak floors. I don't wear shoes in the house to keep down the dirt. Vacuum once a week and spot clean as needed. I don't think mopping is necessary on a regular basis unless you're really tracking stuff through the house.

When we had our oak floor installed and coated with polyurethane, the installer said don't use any products - only water. My technique: vacuum, then mop with terrycloth covered mop which has been wetted with very hot water and wrung out as much as possible. I've done this once a week for the past eleven years. The floor still looks great in spite of being in a very high traffic area which includes the kitchen.

Here at my place it's a "wet pad" microfiber mop and water only -- damp not wet, for fear that too much water may warp the wood.

I have 3 kids and a very big, hairy dog. My house has yard and all hardwood floors. I bought a Mint Plus and this saved my mental health. My dog seems that it is ALWAYS shedding hair and my kids do not cooperate with the cleanliness of the house. I use the Mint with water (or some other cleaning solution) to clean my kitchen in wet mode. The microfiber cloths that come with the robot are a very inexpensive and green solution for cleaning (I use them in both dry and wet mode). I highly recommend this little guy for keeping your house clean and you mind intact.

Two words: steam mop

@ Megadele - I swear vinegar is the best cleaner ever! I use it basically everywhere, including on delicate silk tops that I don't want ruined by the dry cleaner.

@lepidoptery- You're right, the urethane is on the top of the planks- it's what we see. But they're not coated all the way down the sides. Living in AZ, a really dry climate, the planks do shrink a bit at times. If you get it too wet, the water can get down between the planks and get the raw bamboo too wet, therefore warping it. o_O

vinegar and water all the way. cheap, non toxic, and highly effective.

Dark bamboo owner here...We have three cats and a dog. The floor must be mopped. I think the bamboo is more tolerant of wet mopping than the other hardwoods. I use dilute murphy's oil soap, followed by a dry microfiber wipe down to eliminate the streaks. My housekeeper was using the shark and I've asked her to stop because I believe it is taking up the finish.

Another 'dark bamboo' issue - does anyone have something for the little hair size scratches? All the furniture feet are padded, yet I cringe if someone scoots a chair along the floor.

I'd love some advice about softwood floors in kitchens or floors that need a thorough cleaning. Softwood is treated and stained the same as hardwood but basically is REALLY susceptible to scratches, because it's pine or something similar.

After a thorough vacuuming, I use either Method floor cleaner or vinegar and warm water, which is great for all of my home and regular maintenance/dust and pet-hair reduction.

However, our kitchen has dark softwood floors and it's looking dingy. There are little spots that don't come up, others that are deep nicks (see note about softwood - it's a pain!) that collect household dust, dirt and possibly kitchen grease. What is safe to use to do a thorough degreasing, cleansing or "reset" on my floor? I know it's not super earth friendly, but how about a low VOC degreaser? Anyone have any experience with a similar problem?

We use Bona, it was recommended by the guy (a good friend) who installed our floors. We also opted not to get pre-finished floors and instead sanded and sealed them in place. There aren't any of the annoying cracks and the price was comparable to what we were looking at for pre-finished (in case anyone's installing floors). Don't even get me started on the floors in our old house. Basically, no subflooring, really old, and the patch jobs were horrendous and had shrunk so badly there were half inch gaps all over. It was a disaster. You just couldn't get them clean.

For those of you who don't mop often - you must not have kids! My dining room would be a disaster if we didn't mop weekly! You can try to wipe up spills quickly, but even that doesn't get to all the food and juice dribbles that seem to add up.

@desertisburning
Well, warping is one thing, but I thought you were getting streakiness on the top surface, where the urethane is? I don't see why what's beneath the urethane would affect that....

I work for a major wood flooring company. You should not by any means use Murphy's oil, water and vinegar or a steam vac on hardwood flooring whether it's solid or engineered. These products can not only dull or strip your finish but can also void your warranty. Steam mops are especially harmful since you are adding moisture to the flooring which is not good for stability. I have found that the best product to use on all wood flooring surfaces that is safe for the finish is Bona products. But you should always consult with the manufacturer of your floors if it's prefinished. Bona is safe for prefinished and site finished urethane wood floors and will not harm the finish.

I Have a cleaning business and it is my job to know surfaces and floors.
This is what not to use on your floors
Vinegar here is why it is a acetic acid. Wood workers use this to bleach wood. It is a acid that has water in it. When you mop yor wood floors with this it will start damaging the finish. It will dull it and when it gets to the wood and it will it will damage it and discolor it.
Wood soap. Wood soap is made from vegetables. And oil. You add this soap to water and when you mop it will dry and leave a oily residue that will build up and dull the shine. Which is heck to get off. Ask any wood worker.
There are many different wood floors today and they are very very expensive.
Using steam cleaners is also a no no. You are forcing hot steamy water on your finish. And when this gets down to the wood it will have a effect like paper being wet.
You absolutely need to know what kind of floors and finish you have.
Using a finger nail if you have wood floors scrape it. If a waxy finish comes off it is treated with a wax. If nothing comes off it is a polyerthene finish.
With polyerthene finish if they are the newer wood floors you need to use what the manufactors recommends. You need to make sure what ever you use is what they recommend or they will void your warrenty. A lot of manufactors track this. It is important to know. But everyone knows floors get sticky and they have to be cleaned. So what we do and yes I talk to manufactors before any surface is cleaned I don't recognize. We use a micro fiber mop. Use warm water and mop. Then dry. Drying is important because not only are you protecting the finish you want to protect the wood. If you are doing a quick clean use a spray bottle and micro fiber towel and lightly spray it. If you need a deeper clean use a PH balanced cleaner. Use warm water and micro fiber mop and lightly mop it. And dry.
A waxed floor you need to either use a paste wax or a liquid. Not the shiny wax like Mop and Glo.
Engineered Wood Flooring you absolutely need to treat this with maximum care. They have a spray and a micro fiber mop or a mop that uses is especially made for these floors. these floors have a plastic type coating on them. If you clean them wrong that beautiful finish will peel off in little plastic pieces. If it has to be mopped use a micro fiber mop. Do very small sections and dry it.
Micro Fiber mops pick up more dirt. They leave the floors streak free.
When I am ready to use mine I have a special bucket that squeezes the water out. But at home I keep a bucket with warm water and wrap several of them with rubber bands and throw them in the bucket. When I pick them up I squeeze as much water out of them as possible. And mop. I have several dry ones and a second mop which I use the dry ones to dry my wood floors. They are quick and easy to use.
There are many many people that are giving you information to clean wood floors. I suggest. If you don't have any idea how to clean your floors go directly to the manufactor. Not the sales man. Sales men don't always know the steam machines are being sold as safe and many cleaners claim they are safe on surfaces that aren't. I buy Commerical and professional products and had the sales man offer me a bathroom cleaner he told me was safe on limestone. The first ingredient on the cleaner was acid. Which can not be used. He was a sales man for a professional business and he was 100 percent wrong. So instead of using home made cleaners or advice from people who haven't a clue go to the manufactors sight. These floors are a investment and a expensive one do your home work and protect them.

I am in the midst of purchasing a home with older wood floors. Construction was in 1945 but I believe it was gutted since there was no asbestos upon inspection (and none of the other telltale signs--popcorn ceilings, old electrical, etc).

I'm pretty sure, however, that is has a poly finish. Is it OK to use Bona on this even though it's not a manufactured wood floor?

This is all great advice and I am glad that you all are providing this. Many people mix up the cleaners you can use between different floor styles. I sell

This is all great advice and I am glad that you all are providing this. Many people mix up the cleaners you can use between different floor styles. I sell tile in San Antonio and I find that many of my customers use ammonia on the tile and it works fine, as I would recommend. Then they try using the same cleaners on hardwood and it has a tendency to damage the surface. I'll point them to this article for future reference!