Vinegar is acidic, so it can wear down finish over time even if it's diluted with water. You should use the specific hardwood floor cleaner recommended by the manufacturer of the finish used on your floors. Hardwood floor cleaners are neutral pH cleaning solutions, which is why they are better than the "old method" of vinegar and water. Bona hardwood floor cleaner is safe for polyurethane. Just make sure you use the Bona Cleaner, and NOT the refresher or polish; those will leave a shiny residue that can ruin your hardwood floors. Other brands of cleaner such as Glitsa, DuraSeal, Pallman, or Basic Coatings should be OK for your polyurethane finish. I'm a big fan of the Glitsa Wood Floor Cleaner. You can buy a gallon of concentrate on Amazon for about $35. You dilute 1 cup of the concentrate in 1 gallon of water to make a cleaning solution, so the gallon of concentrate will last a long time. It's safe to use for cleaning all wood surfaces.

Can you use Bona on laminate wood flooring?

I am one of the people who had issues with Bona leaving a film. Won't use it again. Lately, I've just been damp mopping paw prints with a microfiber mop and water only; I learned on the board that vinegar is a no-no. That's the really the only reason I need to run a mop - the paw prints. Otherwise, I just Swiffer or microfiber dry dust up the dog hair or vacuum routinely. Never wear outside shoes in the house - NEVER. Not only is the thought of tracking all that filth on shoes into the house absolutely disgusting, the no shoes policy keeps the floors clean.

When I had the wood floors refinished in my parent's 1925 home I used plain water with just a few drops of Dawn dishwashing liquid. It worked great and left no haze on the floors at all. I used old washcloths in a Swiffer duster.

mxk3 I had planned to have that policy then got lazy. So the bona floor cleaner left a haze on your floor really?

Yes. I posted not too long ago about residue on the floors, and someone suggested using rubbing alcohol to remove it; I used a vinegar solution instead and was disgusted at the amount of gunk that came up off the floor onto the mop head. You should be able to find the thread and similar threads, I don't think it's an uncommon problem.

I'm too lazy to clean all the time, which I would have to do if we wore shoes in the house. We kick them off in the mudroom and switch to our "house shoes", it's a habit and takes all of 5 seconds, maybe 20-30 if we have footwear to unlace :0)

mxk3 what was the finish on your floors? Was it a polyurethane?

^^ Yes.

I have been using Bona on my hard wood floors and Bruce,they both leave a film on the floors,the floors are 4years old,is there any cleaning solutions to use to take off the sticker film. Thank you PAT Mc

I have an old cottage with painted wooden floors. The paint is for outdoor porches so it's heavy duty/high gloss. I am using Hertel and water but I just wanted to know if there was something I could use to get the scuff marks off from shoes. Black scuff marks. I know.... tell everyone to remove their shoes. I hate to do this at the cottage. They think I'm a clean freak as it is, but the reason is really to save me from all the scrubbing. Thanks!

Bona may leave a film for some but on my laminate, sweaty paw prints have been impossible to remove so far until I tried Bona. I put it in the Bissell Crosswave machine (NOT a steam cleaner). Seems to work better than anything else I've read about and tried so far-- including the Bissell cleaning solution made for the machine. As for the film, I still wondered whether there was any residue from the Bona so I experimented with a little glass cleaner in one spot and compared. The same look on both. Therefore, I don't believe I am seeing any film, just the finish of the floor. Eureka! no more paw prints! Hope this helps!

We have engineered oak hardwood floors(poly finish)in our kitchen and hallways..I use 2 gal. water with 1 or 2 drops of Dawn with a splash of vinegar..I always ring the mop as dry as possible and go with the grain of the wood. They are over 15 yrs old. and still in good shape..except where some bone head wasn't careful moving the fridge in and out.

We do live in the country and taking our shoes off hasn't happened..been processing tons of fruit and veg this Sept and the floors get dirty fast..

We just had 2 bedrooms done in hardwood..they recommended Bona..I'm balking. So this article was of great interest!