love your gleaming hardwood floors but
tiptoe around how to properly clean them
you're not alone stick around and I'll
show you how to properly clean and
maintain your hardwood floors hello
people with hardwood floors
it's Melissa maker here helping you
solve your cleaning conundrums and this
video goes out to all of you who have
hardwood floor in your home and don't
know how to clean it the question
actually comes from Richard in Boulder
Colorado and he asked me hey Melissa how
do I properly clean and maintain my
hardwood floors I've researched this
topic forever I've tried different
techniques I know different products I
know different mops I know your floors I
know who you're sleeping with
everyone has different hardwood floors
different manufacturer width size color
coding it could be laminate which isn't
really hard one anyway it could be
engineered hardwood it could also be
unfinished hardwood it could be
reclaimed hardwood there are so many
different kinds of hardwood floors
there's no one right solution so take
what I'm saying as some good general
advice and then make sure that you
always check in with the manufacturer or
the installer just so that you're
protecting yourself and you know
covering all your bases hardwood floors
are finished in a couple of different
ways and my recommendation is to test
them very quickly before you actually go
ahead with cleaning so that you know
exactly what kind of finish you have on
your floor my floor here has a
polyurethane coat on it the second kind
of finish that you'll see on hardwood
floor obviously don't have it with me
would be a hardwood finish
kind of like this table here where the
wood has been impregnated with a waxy or
oily coating and that way it repels any
water or liquid the third kind of
hardwood floor that you'll see
be unfinished hardwood and this hardwood
you can't put any water on so the best
way to test your floor to see what kind
of finish you have or if you have to
finish it all is to drop just a little
bit of water onto the hardwood and see
if it beads
if it beads you've got a coating if the
water is absorbed
you've got unfinished hardwood here are
the tools you'll need to mop and care
for your hardwood floor item number one
vinegar item number two dishwashing
liquid item number three a ring or
bucket item number four a micro fiber
twist mop item number five a microfiber
cloth and finally item number six
rubbing alcohol a great way to clean
hardwood floors and the tried-and-true
method that I always use is the
following
take your dishwashing liquid and put
half your pinky nail worth of
dishwashing soap into the bucket I like
using dishwashing liquid on hardwood
floors because it's a neutral cleaner
it's not harsh it removes dirt well but
it doesn't leave anything nasty behind
now everybody freaks out about putting
vinegar on their hardwood floor vinegar
is a mild disinfectant so oil from your
feet bacteria dirt whatever gets on the
floor capful of vinegar is enough to get
rid of whatever has gone on there
secondly vinegar cuts grease and third
it doesn't leave streaks behind I say
only as a capful because if you use any
more than that you can actually take the
finish off which would be completely
counterintuitive cap full of vinegar
half a pinky nail worth of dish soap and
fill your bucket with hot water we're
almost ready to go now that I've got
water in my bucket I'll soak the mop
head for a few minutes first of all you
want them up to absorb the water in the
product and second of all your mop can
sometimes get a little bit stiff so you
need to soften it up before you actually
start mopping steamie take your mop
put it in the cone wringer and start to
wring it out and don't give it a Wimpy
reign I'll notice how my feet are at
either side of the bucket which helps me
get really good leverage remember the
mop has to be almost dry before you can
even touch the hardwood floor now we'll
use what I call the S pattern to do some
mopping starting at one corner moving
your way over to the other corner and
then coming right back down to create an
S pattern what this does is ensures that
we're getting all areas of the floor
clean top to bottom left to right and
you want to keep your bucket behind you
so that way you never have to go back
and reach for it if I crouch down and
look at the floor I can see it's almost
dry as it is but to be extra diligent I
can take a microfiber cloth and just
give a quick wipe down to make sure that
absolutely no water is left on the floor
so keep in mind that we're sweeping and
vacuuming a couple times a week if you
can bear it and you should be mopping
the floor at least once every two weeks
when they are mirror shiny it makes all
the difference and people really notice
so it is worth the extra effort Richard
I hope that answered your question
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yeah I think it's right there yeah right
there thanks for watching and we'll see
you next time