That's what we say (if it's real Brazilian cherry it's lived outside and gotten wet!). We had them installed in 2004 and haven't had a problem. I'm quite sure Windex has water in it, but we don't saturate the floor, just lightly spray like when you're dusting furniture. We've had housekeepers come in and mop or use whatever they use, and it never looks as good, always has a film. So we do them ourselves.

I have a 4 step process since I have a long-haired cat and large dog. Good thing my house is small!

1. Sweep

2. Swiffer

3. Vacuum

4. Steam mop (if you move quickly the water evaporates within about 30 seconds.)

Candace,

Thanks, 10 layers! Lucky you. Unfinished oak is a nightmare. When I bought the house, I was told how easy it was to take care of them by the previous owners. "Just buy a dust mop" is what they said to me. Years of frustration with trying to keep these floors looking beautiful, I realized they had no children or pets!

I've replaced the kitchen and bath floors with easy-to-care for Forbo Marmoleum but replacing the whole house with new wood floors would be a nightmare.

The floor we've been stream mopping is Brazilian cherry. Works great, looks fantastic. And no sticky residue.

Replying to Anne Aulbert - yes both Bona and Windex do contain water but in my opinion that is the very least of the problems with both of these products, particularly Windex. Windex contains a long list of toxic chemicals including ammonium hydroxide, which is a known respiratory irritant and which can also damage eyesight and skin. It also contains hexoxyethanol which can affect organs. The fragrance can lead to allergies, skin irritation and nervous system problems. Bona claims to be non-toxic but I question anything that contains chemicals. Why do we seriously need to use anything chemical based to "clean" our homes. I just don't get it. Soap, water, vinegar, elbow grease, lemons, baking soda, etc are non toxic and they get the job done. It is so sad that we have been brainwashed to believe that we need nasty chemicals in everything, including our food and the majority of us don't even question it.

Method floor cleaner (almond or lemon, yum) when needed -- otherwise, I'm in the sweep and vacuum camp.

sjsocon: Why not find a pro that refinishes wood floors? It should be a fairly straightforward job to sand off a bit of your floor to get to clean wood then finish them with several coats of Urethane finish. Get references, of course, and ask for information about options for refinishing those beautiful floors so that you will enjoy them more. I have known a number of great pros who do great work and have very happy customers with refinished floors that look like new ones. This will be much cheaper than replacing the floors.

alice68,

My cat throws up all the time. She's responsible for most of the damage. We had another cat who past away and she had issues as well.

A close friend had her oak floors refinished. They spent a month living at her mother's and moved all the furniture into storage. The refinished floors were beautiful though.

We can't move in with anyone and the packing up my furniture,etc. would be a nightmare. My friend had to clean up sand dust for months after even tho the company vacuumed it. The sand was even upstairs and she didn't have the upstairs done, it was carpeted.

On my hands and knees with a mixture of water and vinegar.

How about baby wipes and my foot! Sad, but true.

Dust mop, take used dryer sheets and clean your floors with those they work great!

How do you remove paint off hardwood floors?

sweep regularly and occasionally mop with water mixed with a small amount of vinegar to bring back the shine.

I have used numerous products over the years on my hardwood floors. In recent years I have been using vinegar and water. The floors are 20 years old and didn't shine much anymore so I tried Liquid Gold. They shine like new now.

Dust mop several times a week. Steam mop with diluted Murphy's Oil sprayed on the pad for "accidents" & spills, and all over about once a month. Our floors are almost 30 years old and except for a little UV fading beneath a picture window they look great.

My vinegar water is so diluted, and the cloth is so wrung out, it's hardly "mopping with vinegar". And done once a year maybe. The type of finish must matter. What are the options? Mine were "old style" finished, an oil-based I guess, not water-based finish. I should go look up what that means. And engineered hardwoods must be different than "real" hardwood, or not?

We live in a older farmhouse built in 1925. It has oak flooring on the main level and pine upstairs. Before we moved in, we had the floors stripped of that nasty poly coating so popular in the 1960's, sanded and refinished. We use plain old vinegar and water on the floors per instructions from our refinisher. It does just fine. Love my hardwood floors. Would never go back to carpet.

Generally, sweeping and dry mopping. I love Seventh Generation Wood Cleaner for spot cleaning (I use it for much more than wood, and love it on my stainless). Occasional damp mopping with diluted Murphy's when I feel the need to clean the entire floor.

martha parish, if you had the "nasty poly" removed and the floors were refinished what did they put on them other than polyurethane?

I have an old house (late 1800's).Have an assortment of oak, wide pine, fir and in the case of one kitchen and hall (there are 2 apartments) pine subflooring that got sanded and poly'd. I use area rugs and have the tenant do the same. Mainly I vacuum, damp mop once or twice a month depending on the room traffic. Use mostly plain water, but sometimes put in a drop or two of Murphy's. Squeeze the mop as much as I can. If I can see water afterwards I use an old towel to dry it. Once bought Zep spray (contains glycol ethers, not sure what else), but have had the same bottle for years. Have used it to spot clean; same with Spray Murphy's. Have never noticed any damage or film.

Some of the floors have a matte finish (the refinisher's suggestion) and some have shiny. I prefer the shinier and have the idea it's more protection but that might be my imagination.

The subflooring that got sanded and poly were out of necessity and financial constraints. It has worked out fine except they were finished with water based poly (was already living here; could not tolerate the oil odor) and stain easily if water drips on them and isn't immediately wiped up.

Put vinyl wood look in my FL home last winter. Looks great, soft under foot & easy to maintain. ;-) Older I get less of a purist I become.

capeanner the poly from the '60 was a thicker, brittle mess which yellowed something fierce. What was removed had yellowed, cracked and looked horrible. They had put carpet over it at one time too. Our floor guy used a stain and different sealer which holds up well, but isn't as thick. I honestly don't know what he used, but he told us it was a newer, nicer sealer. It won't yellow as the floors age. His work is fabulous on both new floors and restorations. Do our floors look showroom new - no. I didn't expect them to or want them to for that matter. They are 91 years old and have all the character of older floors with a newer, nicer sealer and finish.

We wrote a blog post about the secret to cleaning hardwood floors. Hope this helps! http://hallmarkfloors.com/secret-to-cleaning-hardwood-floors/ 

Hallmark, found it impossible to navigate that site! No control over scrolling?

My hardwood floor is a dark wood urethane finish hardwood floor. I Swiffer with the dry cloths first, then spray Bruce Hardwood and Laminate Floor Cleaner and wipe with a cloth mop (terry cloth or microfiber). I tried the Bona spray cleaner, but it left a film and wasn't shiny.

White oak floors, no stain, clear polyurethane finish. I use pine sol and water and the floors in this house are over 50 years old.

As a flooring retailer, we always recommend following cleaning instructions provided by the HW flooring manufacturer. It all depends on what type of finish your floor has. First & foremost...sweep or vac (without beater bar) FREQUENTLY! Spot clean any spills IMMEDIATELY. We also suggest a microfiber mop with an approved HW floor cleaner....Mannington, Bona, etc. DO NOT EVER use Murphy's Oil Soap, Vinegar or a Steamer. This will void any warranty and eventually damage the finish.

Great question!

Our recommendation for hardwood or laminate is a non-treated, clean dust mop. Never use oil or wax based cleaners or a wet mop!

More information on caring for your floor this summer? Check our latest blog: http://www.torlys.com/summer-maintenance-for-hardwood-and-laminate/

But if it gets dirty - what then? A dust mop just doesn't seem to do it....

Some have suggested vinegar. There is something you should know about that. Vinegar is an acid and as a cleaning solution can work well for a number of things. However, Oak and Maple contain tannin. When vinegar is applied to raw wood, it reacts with the tannin to produce a chemical reaction that darkens the wood. If there are any scratches in the finish and the vinegar touches any raw wood, it will darken the scratch. If you have a less than optimal finish, especially a water base finish, it can seep through the finish and darken the wood also. I would never suggest putting an acid on a sealer also because it will slightly etch the surface of the sealer--even a good sealer--so that it will lose it's sheen. I use Murphy's Oil Soap (It's formulated for wood.) on my wood floors but do no soak the floor. I wipe it mine with a damp sponge wetted very warm water for quick evaporation.

The part about vinegar is bang on. The Murphy's Oil soap is a big no-no for finished hardwood floors. Other than that, eagledzines is bang on about vinegar.

I could not live in a home where the floors were never washed. Have been "washing" my hardwoods for twenty some odd years with absolutely no negative results. (I do squeeze the mop out as much as possible.) Other than retailers is there anyone that actually never washes the floors in their homes??

capeanner - what do you wash your floors with?

Mainly I vacuum, damp mop once or twice a month depending on the room
traffic. Use mostly plain water, but sometimes put in a drop or two of
Murphy's. Squeeze the mop as much as I can. If I can see water
afterwards I use an old towel to dry it. The floors with oil based poly have held up beautifully; water base not as well, but the latter also happen to be soft pine.

Murphy's Oil soap can look good while you live with the finish...the problem comes in when you TRY to refinish the floors. The "oil" in Murphy's oil (or ANY oil soap...which includes ECO cleaning products with coconut oil) prevents the NEXT coat of finish from grabbing the wood. You won't find this out until AFTER the new finish has FAILED.

Yah. That's not fun. People really hate it when they pay someone $5/sf to do a full sand and refinish and the expensive finish FAILS inside of 1 year. So they call to complain. The installer comes back and looks closely to see what is happening (the adhesion failure will be a the seams...between the planks). The installer will then ask what you use to clean your floors. The INSTANT you say "Murphy's Oil" they will tip their cap and say, "Sorry. This isn't my fault. I can try it again, but there is no way I can tell if this will work".

You will be ASTOUNDED by the "...it isn't my fault" part of the discussion. You will angrier than a wet hen! You will be enraged by the answer. But the answer will be valid and you will have no recompense.

You will hmm and hahhh for a few more months. You will gather your pennies together to hire a NEW person...and they will do the same thing. And the new finish has a strong chance of failing just like the last one. You will battle this issue until you rip out the hardwoods that were supposed to last 80 years. And you will curse the hardwoods. You will vow never to have them again.

Sadly, it was the Murphy's Oil soap (or any oil based soap) that has done this to the hardwoods....it isn't the fault of the hardwoods. Sure it looks good while you live with the first finish....it is the NEXT layer of finish that will fail.

Please stop using Murphy's Oil soap (and those eco-cleaners...they use partially modified coconut oil = oil soap = same problem as Murphy's).

Cancork - this question is for you if you would be so kind. My house was built in the late 1920's, and I have red oak floors that have probably been refinished a few times. We're the 13th owners of the house, and we've lived here almost 30 years w/o refinishing. As u can imagine, floors are a bit of a mess now and I'm looking at refinishing soon. Have cleaned with small amounts of water and the dreaded Murphy's. In your opinion, will finishing be a viable option(because of age and Murphy's), or do u think replacement will be suggested?

@tgb1...have a hardwood flooring professional measure the thickness of the floors before deciding what to do. If they have enough meat on them (they have enough wood above the tongue...should be 3mm or MORE) to refinish then you TELL the flooring professional about the Murphy's Oil....It may or may not be possible to get a new finish on these. The only thing they can do is try a test patch and leave it alone for a few weeks (pick a bedroom that no one uses). If it works, keep going. If it doesn't (signs of pealing, bubbling, white lines between planks, etc) then stop and reconsider. To get a new finish on a floor that has had Murphy's Oil soap used, it normally takes a few more passes with the sanding machine (to get further away from the contaminant called "oil soap"). That means this old floor would need 4mm - 5mm left to really be sure that a new finish can be put down.

The floor is ALMOST 100 years old. It is past the 80 year life span of most of these hardwood floors. It made it to 100 years because it ready for removal (that last refinish was probably the last kick at the can for this floor).

Be prepared to remove this floor. It is done. It has lived and been abused for longer than and entire human generation. It has done what it was put there to do....60-80 years of being a floor.

You might want to ask about hard wax oil finishes. They MIGHT be able to be put down over Murphy's...but I don't know if it makes a difference.

Thanks Cancork - I always appreciate your advice : ))

What about the Swiffer solution for hardwood floors? Does anyone recommend or not recommend?

Wow. Who knew Murphy's was so bad for wood floors. No wonder my floors are a mess.

Wow!!!

I use Bona hardwood floor cleaner and Bona hardwood floor wax. Love it. However, soda was used for a sheep rug, which has spread over the floor. I am having difficulty cleaning it off. I am using Bona cleaner with a rough sponge. It is looking better but I will have to do the whole floor. Keep soda away from hardwood floor is my advice. Bummer!

Has anyone used Liquid Gold for putting a shine on the hardwood?

Anna, I am so sorry to hear that someone spilled soda on your floors. Coke or Pepsi have a lot of acid in them and will damage almost anything natural. Their are products and will restore your finish. Hallmark Floors' has them listed on the website.

Robin, don't use products that are not created for floors. Not all wood finishes or wood floors are created equal. You will damage your floors if you use a furniture polish on your floors.