'Cleaning' Hardwood Floors in the Kitchen

jules1906

15 years ago

Any advice on cleaning hw floors in the kitchen, where the floor gets obviously very dirty from young kids spilling juice/dropping food? Our floors are newly installed and so far I've only wiped up messes with a damp paper towel. Our flooring salesperson said there is no cleaning necessary other than a swiffer-type dry cloth, but the floor clearly needs a good wet type of cleaning from spills. Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated!

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Comments (4)

aussiewoodman
15 years ago
Hi Jules,
I am assuming this is a factory finished floor. If so, you can use "polycare" on it to damp mop. Use a dedicated sponge mop that is good enough that it can be sqeezed until drip free or there about. You mix the concentrated poly care with water, so do not use it more than once a month. Spot cleaning should take care of drips and spills in the meantime. Mix a tablespoon of the poly care with water in a spray bottle for the spot cleaning. Most manufacturers dictate not to use water on any wood floor, and as you have found out that notion is simply not feasable--right??

They do this to cover their butts since some people go over board with the water or have either nothing else to do (ha ha) or have a cleaning fetish and ruin the wood flooring from over exposure to the water. This is why I now REITERATE not to damp mop your floor any more than necessary-- and to keep peace of mind, do not mop more than once a month as a rule... Of course there will be times that you may have to mop it from the unexpected things in life, but just use this as a general rule--OK? I put a link to the polycare website below. I have sold it on a retail level for 15 years and have had the same crowd coming in for it with rave reviews for all these years. It is all you need to do besides dust mopping to keep the debris and grit off of the floor and routine spot clean up. I have noticed that even my local grocery store carries the poly care so you might find it at a store near you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Poly Care info
glennsfc
15 years ago
BonaKemi makes a similar cleaning system that I sell to my customers which also gets rave reviews.

Here is a link that might be useful: BonaKemi
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You need to do a little more archeological digging still. You need to know the whole construction of the floor before you can decide how best to install something new. I'd take up that plywood piece in the kitchen and see what's under it. It's higher than the surrounding floor, so needs to go. You should also be able to see from there what subfloor is under the original kitchen hardwood. It's too bad the space under your entryway is finished, but I'd still do some exploring from below to see what's under there, and to figure out the fix to stop it from squeaking. Is it drywall below or a drop ceiling? I know it probably seems like a pain to tear out drywall, but if you cut out a clean patch, like 2' x the width of the joists, it'll be relatively simple to repair. Just make sure to cut it down the center of the joists so that there's room to screw the patch piece to it later. Cut the hole under the area that squeaks the most, if you can. Have someone walk on and watch the floor from below to see what's moving. It might be as simple as pounding in a couple shims from below, or face-nailing a loose board from above. You want to find out what's underneath the hardwood. It might be laid directly on the floor joists, or there might be 10" wide boards that the hardwood is nailed to. Another thought is to take out a board in the hallway, since that's not original and you want to replace it. See what the subfloor is there. I am a bit puzzled at why, when you've stripped the kitchen down to the original hardwood, it's still higher than the hallway floor. Is your current surface perhaps not the original kitchen hardwood? Peeling back the plywood area will help determine that. BTW, I haven't heard of that stop squeaking product you linked to, so can't offer any personal opinion. And don't pour self-leveling compound over top of hardwood. It needs to go over plywood.
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I've just gone back through this thread quickly and one thing that I haven't seen is a definition of what the finish is. If it's a plastic finish--urethane or such--then simply washing with limited am't of soap and water is what you do and you don't let the liquid sit on the floor afterward. Don't bathe the floor luxuriously; just spit-bath it. If you have a non-plastic finish, you would treat it differently. I have a urethane floor in kitchen, on red oak. Unfortunately, I had a gel mat laid out when our puppy peed on the floor many years ago. The urine wicked into the area under the mat and was in contact with the floor all night before we discovered it. Despite the plastic finish on the floor, the urine was able to penetrate the urethane and as you probably know, ammonia turns oak black. I have a permanent memory of my puppy that was embedded into my floor, an impossible-to-ignore black area. Perhaps it will go away if we refinish the floor but I'm not sanguine about that. My point here is that despite seeming to be bullet-proof, the urethane finish is permeable. Do not use ammonia on your floor and do not allow liquid to pool on the floor for any length of time. Well, duh! Meanwhile, keep sand and dirt out of your kitchen as much as possible--these contain abrasive particles that will sand off the urethane coating over time. They are your enemy because a wounded coating of urethane will allow liquids to permeate the wood. And discolor your oak. Florantha
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Believe it or not, we ALWAYS recommend using an ammonia-free Windex or similar product to clean hardwood flooring. The ammonia-free windex is strong enough to clean just about anything that's on your hardwood floor, and gentle enough to mist and wipe with a dry Swiffer daily. Because the product evaporates quickly, it reduces the risk of seeping into the seams of the wood planks. If and when an oil-based formula is used like a Murphy's oil or something similar, the hardwood develops a kind of "dependency" on the oil, and you'd have to continue to use the same product. Anything with harsh chemicals like ammonia or even vinegar, is advised against because it will dull and eventually damage the finish. General cleaning for a hardwood floor should consist of removing surface dirt with a vacuum and a hardwood flooring attachment that has a fuzzy end, and then a mist of ammonia-free windex, wiped up with something like a dry Swiffer. Here's a link about hardwood flooring general care and maintenance tips: Hardwood floor care and maintenance tips Also, check us out on our Facebook page here: Facebook/The Couture Floor Company
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My hardwood floors are probably filthy, but look really good. I have them throughout the first floor. I sweep them daily, and run the occasional Swiffer WetJet on the kitchen portion of the floor in front of the sink, dishwasher and stove. I have tried a lot of things when mopping, and found that I prefer to use hot, HOT water and a damp rag mop once a month to get them really clean. I often have to refill the water, as it is black during this cleaning. Should probably do it more often, but I don't have the time.
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jules1906
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for both of the recommendations. I have heard of BonaKemi, but hadn't heard of the polycare. I will look into both.

Aussiewoodman: When you suggest using a tablespoon of the polycare with water, how much water do you recommend?

Thanks again!
jules1906
Original Author
15 years ago
I read your response to the post asking about Kempas flooring. This is actually the floor we had installed! We did experience cracking in some of the planks, but the installer came back and replaced them. We were told the wood has a lifetime warranty (and the origin is Indonesia). Do you have any advice for us now that the floor is installed? Thank you.

'Cleaning' Hardwood Floors in the Kitchen

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aussiewoodman

glennsfc

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'Cleaning' Hardwood Floors in the Kitchen

Comments (4)

aussiewoodman

glennsfc

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