I’ve updated my wood floor cleaner recipe! Check out the new one here.
A basic search for ingredients in the leading hardwood floor cleaners (even the ones that claim to be environmentally friendly) reveals ingredients such as:
- Bis(carboxymethyl)-DL-alanine trisodium salt
- 4,4- Dimethyloxazolidine
- Potassium hydroxide
- 2-ethyl-2,5-dimethylhexanoic acid
- Olefin Sulfonates
- Isothiazolinone
- methoxyisopropyl acetate
- Lauryl alcohol ethoxylates
And that’s only the beginning of the list. The list of health effects from these ingredients range from mild skin irritants all the way to carcinogens. 4,4- Dimethyloxazolidine is classified by the EPA as a pesticide and is in the highest toxicity category. Directions for use of almost all of these ingredients say to limit exposure and wash off of skin with soap and water. Are these really what you want to be using in your home?
This is why I cannot suggest making your own floor cleaners more. You know what’s in it. You could ingest this wood floor cleaner without any worry, and it certainly won’t cause long term health or environmental effects.
This wood floor cleaner is my absolute favorite. We live in a beautiful apartment that was built in the 1920’s and has amazing hardwood floors. Of course, over all the years and many tenants, a lot of dirt has built up. You should have seen the floors when we moved in. That would be quite the before and after! Unfortunately I don’t have a picture.
Luckily, shortly after we moved in I found this wood floor recipe and haven’t looked back.
The best part about this wood floor cleaner is the way it feels under your feet after it dries. I wish I could capture it in an image. It is so silky and smooth. It’s like the floor version of freshly-shaved and lotioned legs.
So- to clean the floor, you will probably need a microfiber spray mop with a refillable bottle. I suppose you could also put the cleaner in a spray bottle and spray it on the floor and use any kind of mop to clean.
This is our mop:
Casabella Quick Scrub Doubled Sided Microfiber Spray Mop, Black
Here is the recipe:
Natural Hardwood Floor Cleaner Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1/2 gallon hot water
- 1/2 gallon white distilled vinegar
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- several drops lemon essential oil (optional for scent)
Directions:
- combine ingredients and mix well
- pour into bottle in mop
- spray away and mop!
The olive oil gives the wood the smooth silky texture. It is wonderful.
Try using this instead of your regular cleaner at least once, just to see how it goes. I bet you will surprise yourself with how much you like it. Let me know what you think!
Don’t forget to check out my updated wood floor cleaner recipe!
Barbara says
Just found your blog from LWSL for the homemade dishwasher tabs (love!) and am reading through your archives. Found this “recipe” and it is calling me to clean/shine my hardwood floors. However, it sounds like a large quantity. If you mix up a batch of this size and don’t use it all, will it “keep” until next week? Or is it better to cut recipe down to amount you think you will use each week? Will there be any buildup using it weekly or should I use this less often? Thanks for your help.
Barbara
Susie says
Thanks so much! I usually cut the amount in half and still have some left over. It has kept nicely for me for over a month, but for this floor cleaner I use the lemon juice from concentrate with preservatives in it so it keeps longer. It would probably keep for a week in the fridge if you used fresh lemon juice, but I can’t know for sure. I don’t think there should be build up if you use it weekly but it probably depends on your floors. I could probably use it every other day in our apartment and it would be fine without any build up.
Bridget says
Hi! I just tried this Floor Cleaner and it smells very strongly of vinegar. It’s overpowering. I added a few drops of lavender but I’d prefer this to work without much essential oils added to cut cost. Do you think this could be the issue? Any suggestions to modify what I’ve already made to cut down on the vinegar smell without adding more essential oils?
Thank you!!!
Susie says
You could try playing around with the ratio of water to vinegar and increase the water if the smell bothers you that much. I don’t mind it and I think the lemon juice helps with the smell. I’m a fan of essential oils and I definitely think adding some lavender or lemon oil can help with smell and cleaning. There are a lot of inexpensive good quality oils online and a little goes a long way. A few drops added is only a few cents when you think of how many drops are in the bottle.
Olivia says
Hi I just used your recipe. Thank you so much our floors are so shiny. One question, we are sliding everywhere haha and they look a bit oily. Did something wrong? Are they supposed to be oily and slippery? I used the exact recipe. Thanks for any tips.
Susie says
My floors are usually shiny and a bit slippery after we wash them. If yours are too oily, I would lower the amount of olive oil next time you wash. You probably didn’t do anything wrong but people’s floors and climates are different and so recipes may need tweaking.
Lana says
Can you use this on different types of flooring? Laminate?
Susie says
I don’t know. The only thing that I would change for laminate is to leave out olive oil, which is added specifically for wood. I don’t have laminate flooring so I can’t say from experience, but if you want to use it, I would spot test it first to see if it works with the flooring.
Denise says
Thank you! I just made this today, and have to tell you how much I love it! I’ve been neglecting my wood floors a bit lately, so they’d gotten quite dull. I made 1/2 a batch and have done 2 large areas in the house – it looks great! I have some left over so will continue with other areas tomorrow. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!!
Lauren says
can you substitute the olive oil for any other type of oil? Vegetable oil perhaps?
Susie says
I haven’t tried it myself, but I suppose in theory you could. I would definitely spot test it first.
Lynda says
I just used this for the first time. It leaves my older wood floors looking better than any commercial cleaner I have used. Thanks! I cut the amount way down and put it in a spray bottle. I’m storing what’s left in my outside fridge and will let it come to room temperature before using again so the olive oil will mix when I shake it. Thank you for sharing!
Diane Cope says
Just used on my wooden floors. Beautiful appearance. Will oil continue to soak in floor? Right now could literally skate on slippery floor. Looks like soaking in where traffic is highest like coming in front door.
Susie says
For me it does, but you can always adjust the amount based on how your floors respond.