Depends on the hardwood and how installed. On our site finished maple floors, finished with three coats of floor poly, I use a steam mop on occasion, a wet mop on others, wife Swiffers with a dripping pad, and a rag mop on others.

On floating, factory finish, or other installed with out glue/solid finish, wet mops would be a bad choice.

The specialty finishes dry faster than water as well.

Thanks, HandyMac, but I'm not talking about wet-mopping. I'm talking about using plain water rather than a specialty floor cleaner, but applying it as per the floor cleaner's directions. How could the water be worse than the Bona if it were used in the same amount and in the same fashion since the Bona is mostly water? (glue down applications, not floating or laminates).

I'm with gregmills_gw. I've always suggest the "damp clean" every week = very lightly damp (water only) microfibre mop head. This is a 1/week event. Nothing more.

Then for a 'cleaner' = 1 per MONTH!!!!! And it is the same instructions: pH neutral hardwood floor cleaner that is misted onto the microfibre mop head (very lightly damp as above).

That's it. The "daily" clean = sweeping (vacuuming...dry dust mop...whatever). The "weekly" damp cleaning = water only (very lightly damp...almost dry). The MONTHLY cleaning = hardwood floor cleaner (see above for water only damp cleaning).

That's it. That's all that is needed or allowed for hardwood. So long as you keep the "dampness" of the mop head very low (almost dry) you are fine to use "just water".

The damage comes from OVER CLEANING with wet cleaning/mopping. Whether it is water-only or cleaner, it doesn't matter. The DAMAGE comes from "too wet". And if you damp mop your hardwoods everyday, you are creating "too wet" conditions.

The damage is the amount of water/cleaner used far too often. Keep the "damp" cleaning down to once/week and you should be fine. Keep the cleaner down to 1 per month and you will be just fine.

Never apply the 'wet' directly to the floor = which is why swiffers or jet misters are BANNED for hardwood. They are exactly the WRONG type of applicator = too wet.

Thanks for the advice and explanations gregmills and cancork floors.

I notice that Bona has a spray-type mop that sprays the solution directly onto the floor! I'll avoid those types of things entirely.

Would hard well water be bad for the floors during that light weekly clean? If so, would you use distilled?

What's your favorite brand cleaner for the monthly clean?

Thanks!

Hard water will always add deposits - no matter what it is used on: tiles, concrete, windows, walls, floors, etc. I don't offer names for cleaners. Too many times people have 'picked up' the wrong product and then blamed it on the professional who mentioned it. And the reason there is so much blame? The manufacturers of these products CHANGE the product/label/bottle/chemicals SOOOOOO often, the thing we mention today will be completely different in 3 months. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. So I stopped offering names several years ago.

Hardwater will eventually cause issues, using it for weekly cleanings you probably wont notice the effects for years, but there will be effects.

you dont have to go as far as distilled but if you dont have a way to filter your tap water, a cheap gallon of drinking water will work too, but i honestly think you dont have to, if you are only using your hard water on the floors once a week and in a lightly damp mopping then you should be okay.

as far as chemical cleaners, go to your local grocery or walmart and see what they have, just read the bottle carefully, stay away from things that say it will bring back your shine, make sure it doesnt contain polishes or wax or oils. Ph Neutral floor cleaners are out there. and you dont have to use them once a month, in fact if you can get by using it once every 6-8 weeks even better, but it all depends on the amount of traffic your floors get.

Thanks Cancork and Greg! I'll use bottled water. I'd love your thoughts on this ... http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/4913345/anyone-used-spilltech-waterproof-rug-pads-over-hardwood

A word of clarification. I have a site finished hardwood floor. The finish is three applications of floor poly. That means there are no seams exposed. I would not use the methods I posted on a prefinished floor.

I also have a water softener---which almost eliminates hard water problems.

We recommend using a combination of regular dust mopping and the occasional hardwood floor cleaner as long as it is within the manufacturer's recommendations. In general it's a good idea to keep liquids away from your hardwoods as much as possible!

Kerman's Flooring, the question is why are hardwood floor cleaners less harmful than water when they are mostly water? Is it only because plain water doesn't come with instructions on the back to tell people not to use too much?

This explanation from Cancork makes sense, "Whether it is water-only or cleaner, it doesn't matter. The DAMAGE comes from "too wet".

Mop the floors weekly? Sweep/vacuum daily? I'm such a slacker!

I recommend a specific cleaner to minimize potential damage from the use of too much water. While floor cleaners are mostly water, they're generally applied with a spray bottle and wiped off completely. Many people I deal with have others clean their floor. These cleaners may be very knowledgeable but many are not, so cleaning advice needs to take that into account. Recommending a specific cleaner also reduces the potential use of something harmful to the floor, like ammonia. If cost is an issue, look into Woodwise Cleaner concentrate. It can be added to cleaning water or diluted and put in a spray bottle.

https://www.amazon.com/Woodwise%C2%AE-Gallon-Concentrate-Hardwood-Cleaner/dp/B001RY21FK/ref=pd_sim_121_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B001RY21FK&pd_rd_r=KBS9H3K8MA49YPQ7CKPM&pd_rd_w=kFpDE&pd_rd_wg=5hDa7&psc=1&refRID=KBS9H3K8MA49YPQ7CKPM

@einportlandor - ME TOO! I like to think of my housekeeping skills as DOA. As it turns out, the "lack of cleaning" is a good thing for many floor types. Who knew!?