Stay away from oil-based products like Murphy's Oil Soap. I either use plain water or a combo of water and white vinegar.

I use plain water.

Just a slightly damp sponge mopping once--maybe twice-- a month. You absolutely do not need to do anything else. Seriously.

Our home has the prefinished wood floors, I am used to solid wood with stain and poly. I dislike the prefinish....because my new floors show foot prints! Maybe its because it has a matte finish, but it drives me nuts. I clean them quickly every day. I find the hottest water your hands can tolerate works best. I bought a Bona wood floor terry cloth swifer (several companies like Orange Glow sell a simliar product, but this one has held up the best). Bona also sells a wood floor spray cleaner. Occasionally, I spray the damp terry cloth pad with the cleaner, usually I just use water or water and a squirt of vinegar (I made my own squirt bottle of vinegar and water to spray the terry cloth pad. I also own a Hoover Floormate, which I use occasionally. I make sure I go over the floor to remove all the water and I only do a small area at a time. Again, I just use hot water in the floor mate. The Floormate is great! I am wondering if anyone has used the new floor steam cleaner?

I have prefinished hdwd, and I use Bona hdwd floor spray and a mop with a reusable/washable terrycloth cover called Sh'mop. I avoid Swiffer for the following reasons: 1. Environmental concerns -- I've had the same 2 terrycloth covers for 4 years without adding anything to landfills; 2. Swiffer leaves a streaky residue (shows footprints); 3. My hdwd floor installer told me to :)

I also use the water/vinegar solution and occasionaly follow with the Bona cleaner. Forget all the fancy hardwood cleansers. Water & vinegar works great!

Another water (and sometimes touch of vinegar) person here.

I hae been using BonX for years for the same reasons as BlueKit. There is nothing else needed to clean them.
My suggestion would be to buy the little concentrate bottles that you place into a quart spray bottle and fill with water. It's cheaper than buying the mixed bottle.

I use this product on my wood kitchen cabs also.

Steam Mop. It has revolutionized my floors and life.

Thanks guys. I had no clue on what to use.

The guy who refinished my hardwood floors recommended Bona. It did a great job. Then I got a Hoover floormate. It would leave the floors too wet and I had to go over them with a dry rag afterwards. Back to my little terrycloth mop and Bona. I would not recommend Murphys. It left my kitchen cabinets guncky feeling and smeary looking.

Thanks guys. I had no clue on what to use.

Until I read about the Bona mop for hardwood floors here at GW, I used to use a Swifter wet jet with the cleaner designed specifically for hardwood floors in it. I order a Bona cleaner and their cleaning product a month ago - and absolutely LOVE using it! The floors look great with no streaks, dry quickly, and I like the fact that you can throw the terrycloth mop head in the washer and reuse it endlessly.

Heidi

I also use Bona and their mop. I recently ordered if from their website, but wonder if it is available in local stores? It would be nice not to have to send for it, now that I am a convert. It's a great product.

I also use Bona Hardwood floor cleaner. It makes a HUGE difference over all the other products. There is no cloudiness, streaking or dirt. Just a nice clean shine.

Ditto on the Bona (deep1013, I have always gotten it at Ace Hardware). Our floors never ever showed footprints, but we had/have nonshiny finishes too. A little of the spray really goes a long way. I have two of the mop heads and buzz around once real quick-like with a dry one to pick up the "big stuff" like the doggy tumbleweeds, then repeat with the Bona spray. Here's a hint that makes using it a lot easier - spritz the floor VERY lightly and then rather than pushing the mop away from you like you would if you were mopping the kitchen floor with a wet mop, reach as far out as you can with the mop handle, set the head on the floor and pull the mop TOWARD you like you're raking leaves.

FYI - Water cleaning can invalidate the warranty on many prefinished and especially engineered floors.

The Bona website shows a new mop with a non-refillable cartridge like the Swiffer. Has anyone tried this? Of course, the cleaner is more expensive than spraying from a refillable bottle.

Here is a link that might be useful: New Bona Hardwood Floor Mop

Wow, Carol, that new Bona hardwood floor mop looks great, I just ordered one.

Graywritingdog, I ruined the hardwood floor at my last house with Murphy's soap. At the moment on my current hardwood floor (about to be replaced) I vacuum it with a Swiffer vac. This is very fast and easy and is cordless so is just wonderful.

After that I take a cotton Quickie "ragdoll head" mop dampened with Bruce hardwood floor cleaner and just go over the whole floor. The mop head comes off the handle and is washable.

However, I'm about to try that new Bona mop and am hoping it's even better. I will always use my Swiffer vac though because there is nothing on it that hurts or scratches my floor. Don't use a vac that has a rotating brush.

I bought the Bona mop that's like the wetjet. It's very nice. The pad is slightly different and seems a little easier to push than the original microfiber pads. I would like to find a way to refill the solution dispenser though.

I'm just curious for those of you who use the re-usable cloths what do you wash them with? If you wash them by themselves isn't that wasting an awful lot of water?
~Des

deep1013,

I also use Bona and recently bought some at Ace Hardware. Their web site has a retailer locator you might want to check out.

Kim

Heck, I just chuck 'em right in the laundry! Fabric softeners will make a mess of microfiber anything so make sure you don't use a detergent with a softener "built in" - you shouldn't use softener on towels either (reduces absorbency because fabric softener coats fabric fibers) so that's a good thing to throw the mop heads in with, but since we don't use fabric softeners at all we just throw them in the washer to wait for whatever load goes in next! If you insist on using dryer sheets, just air-dry the mop heads instead of letting them go into the dryer with the rest of the clothes... unless you live in a swamp ;-) they dry pretty quickly. The Bona mop heads I have even have this cute little loop for hanging them up. *amused eyeroll*

Oh, BTW, those 8x10"-ish microfiber cloths sold in the automotive section of Walmart for less than a buck fit a regular Swiffer mop frame perfectly. Just wrap it around and tuck the cloth into those little grippy holes. Makes an excellent wet mop as well as a dustmop.

Bona hdwd floor cleaner is now being carried at BB&B and other local mass market places -- try a hardware store or Target. The terrycloth mop covers get washed in the laundry along with other rags, kitchen towels, etc. (Again, I'm a greenie so I recycle old t-shirts into rags rather than buy microfiber cloths or single-use swiffer type things.)

I am so glad I found this thread. I am getting hardwood delivered next work and we are installing it. It is pre-finished hand-scraped 3" planks.

We went there to order it today and the lady said she will give me the products I need for cleaning. She didn;t have any mops in but she said to come back in a few weeks - but she gave me a cleaner.

I saw the Bona Mop she had there - I was planning on getting on just like it on QVC. Thats what my MIL uses on her pre-finished hand-scraped. She said it does wonders - she ses nothing but the damp mop most of the time. If I like the Bona I will tell her about it. How much does it usually run for a bottle?

I'm afraid to sound like a plug, but about a week ago we picked up a steam mop, it's purple... I think the brand is Shark. That thing is amazing. We picked up the one that came with the portable steamer bottle for faucets, countertops, etc. I'm trying to cut back on the chemicals I use to clean with.

I'm having my mother sew some additional microfiber heads for it. Bought a pack of 25 microfiber towels at Sam's for $10. Can't beat that, and they're washable/reusable. Just need two little strips of velcro to hold them to the mop head.

We only have one hardwood area, and just got the mop so I can't testify to its long-term use over large areas... but the steam mop got up some 2 y/o enamel paint that hubby had dripped on his bathroom floor, then tried to hide with a rug. That makes it a winner in my book. :)

No, you don't sound like an advertisment! Anything that can make cleaning easier is just what I need.

Thanks for all the helpful tips!

Jennifer

I wash my mopheads with my dishtowels and dishcloths, laundry detergent and a little clorox. No softener, as johnmari said. I have several mopheads and LOTS of dishtowels, so save up for a big load of them.

That's a good idea -- using a microfibre pad instead of the disposable swiffer pads. I'll bet it picks up more dirt as well, which is my main objective.

I'm not understanding this steamcleaner thing on hardwood -- have also seen ads on TV for a Swiffer steamcleaner being used on hardwood, it looks like it is squirting a lot of water. Isn't water/steam bad for hardwood?

My sister has a Shark and loves it for her hardwood floors!

Another Shark user here, I won't use anything else now. Far as I know, it is the only steam mop that doesn't leave floors wet while using it, and leaves them glowing with no streaks.

I have to fess up to how little I wash my hardwood. I think it is important to vacuum the floor often to remove the grit that damages it. But between having a mat where you step in the front door and runners on the very heavily traveled places, I don't see the floors getting dirty. Except for some dog slobber here and there that gets wiped up with a wet cloth.

I'm going to try the vinegar today. What would a "touch" of vinegar be to a gallon of water?

I have a bissell that does not leave water on the floor ...I imagine some are better than others...the new shark model is supposed to be very good.
I would read reviews of anything I bought. Some steam mops are duds, some are great.
The cleaning forum has many lengthy posts on steam mops.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bissell steam mop

jynxed23, I fill a bucket with warm water and just pour some vinegar in! No measuring, nothing exact. It cleans the floors really well.

I asked the same question about a year ago, and, thanks to johnmari's good advice (once again!), I tried Bona. Now I wouldn't use anything else!

We bought our Bona mop and cleaning fluid at our local True Value hardware store. We have several True Value stores in our area, and I think they all carry Bona. However, I had to special order the large container of Bona floor cleaner to refill my spray bottle through them. No extra charge, but I had to wait a week or so for it.

clt3, have you found a way to refill the Bona dispenser on that new mop? The new Bona mop sounds great, but I'm not keen on buying those big refills on regular basis.

johnmari, that's a great idea about using microfiber cloths on the Swiffer! We bought one of Costco's large-quantity containers of microfiber cloths, so have plenty.

By the way, I emailed Bona a while back to ask what electric floor polisher they recommended for use with the Bona cleaner. Bona's reply: "You could use a low speed buffer and a white polishing pad to do a deep clean on your floor but that's really our only recommendation."

Gee I have used Murphy's oil soap for years in this house and my other house. And I use Quick Shine by Halloway House for shining the floors, about four times a year. I have never had a problem with Murphys oil and the shine from the wax leaves the floors beaming for months.
But I wouldn't want to suggest it to anyone else, works for me.

Another shark user here. I like it that it uses only water and does not leave the floors damp. I also bought the Boni cleaner at Costco, but think I'm going to return it. I prefer not to use any chemical based cleaners unless absolutely necessary. As for cleaning the mirco fiber clothes, I was all dusting/cleaning/floor cloths together. I would not wash with my dish towels. Dish towels I wash with the bath towels or other clothes. Anything that has any residue of a cleaner gets washed separately.

We have been having a time of it keeping our prefinished (rather high gloss) floors clean too. They show everything! I'm trying to tell myself that, that is a good thing--see the dirt, know when they are clean & dirty etc. With my little boys they just look dirty most of the time. I love them after they are clean. Keeping that way, I'm like the floor warrden...take your shoes off, pick that up, don't spill, etc.

Anyways I have the shark too & really love it. I'm concerned too about the steam and heat. Our floors are only a few months old and have some warping, etc. I've only used the shark probably 5 times & doubt it is from that. I'm hoping it is just from the first summer & the excess humiduty in the house. We acclammated the wood for 8 weeks in the house prior to install. Anyways I vacumn almost daily and use the micofiber clothes too. I found the ZEP brand wod floor cleaner to make the floors look amazing without streaks. It just sprays on too. I'm going to check out the Boni too.

My problem seems more to be a dirt yard & hubby and boys who are messy:)

I had been using Murphy's on my hardwood floors and was happy with the results so far. However when I read here that Murphy's can 'ruin' HW floors I decided to try the water/vinegar solution. What a mistake! The floors looked horrible, streaky and dirty looking for the first time ever! I can only assume this was due to all the applications of Murphys followed by the water/vinegar.

After reading all the positive comments about Bona products I bought the mop kit yesterday, from Bed, Bath & Beyond, and tried it today. The results are outstanding and the mop is so quick and easy to use! Thank you everyone for the recommendations!

Also I noticed that in the FAQ's included in the Bona instructions it says that a vinegar/water solution will eventually damage the finish on hardwood floors.

I bought the Shark steam mop about a month ago. My baby will be crawling anytime and I bought it specifically because I didnt want her exposed to any chemicals. It cleans beautifully, dries immediately and then throw the micro-fiber clean thing in the wash. I LOVE IT!

Just wanted to say that I have engineered hardwoods, called the manufacturer - Mannington and asked about using the steam cleaners out of curiousity, and was informed I should not use them under any circumstance, the steam injection could damage the wood layers just like water. Obviously this is not applicable to solid hardwoods. It did make me step back. I switched to Bona, and love the results.

terry

I'm just going to ditto what everyone else said about Bona. We have hardwood throughout the entire house (other than the bathrooms) and I picked up the Bona system at Bed, Bath, and Beyond last week. It worked wonderfully, no streaks at all, and was super quick to use!

I have prefinished engineered Anderson floors. I usually just vacuum, sweep or dust mop.
I have tried Swiffer, Wet Jet, microfiber washable cloths, and every new thing that comes out..
BUT I got a SHARK steam mop this summer and it's the best thing ever!!! So easy to use, no chemicals, no streaks, and the floors look great.

I have solid Brazilian Redwood floors and have been using the WOW Wood Floor Cleaning System from Black Diamond Stoneworks and I love it.
I wanted to get the Bona system but happened to see this in the cleaning aisle and the beloved WalMart :-P
I figured, wth, it was only $20 for the kit (mop, pad, and spray).
No streaks at all and I had to use it to clean up the remainder of a big mess (oil and more) DH made installing the dishwasher.

does anyone know how to remove the cap to the bona refill for the mop so that it may be refilled with your own cleaning solution? Many have figured out how to do the swiffer jet refills but has anyone figured out the Bona??? Thanks sooo much.

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