A clean home really starts with clean floors. If your floors don’t feel clean, it’s hard to feel like anything else is. I like to keep my cleaning routine as natural as possible, but a lot of homemade wood floor cleaners are very acidic, which can wear away the finish on the floor. I came up with a recipe that does a great job cleaning, will not damage your finish, and only costs 32 cents! Believe me when I say it does not disappoint.

For green cleaning month, a hardwood floor cleaner is a must! I did make a recipe a few years ago when I first started my blog, but after further research I’ve found it to be too acidic. When you wash hardwood floors, you aren’t just washing the wood, but also the finish. Acid can wear it away. I made this new recipe, wanting to keep it pH neutral so it wouldn’t do any damage.

And in that process, I think I made it even more effective! I really love the results of this new recipe, and I think you will too.

I always like to explain why I use each ingredient in my recipes, so here is why.

Ingredients:

• Vinegar: non-toxic cleaner, antimicrobial, all natural and inexpensive
• Borax: natural and sustainable cleaner, disinfects, anti-fungal and keeps away bugs
• Dish soap: surfactant, dissolves dirt and grease
• Essential oils: for scent, and depending on the oil, can have different properties like being antibacterial, anti-fungal, etc. (I used peppermint in this recipe)

I’ve started pH testing my cleaning recipes to make sure they are the appropriate pH for whatever job they are doing. In general I try to stay pH neutral. pH strips are by no means perfect, but I’m pretty confident saying this recipe turned out a 7 (or maybe 7.5) based on the strips. So job well done!

Ready for the recipe?

I love love love my new homemade wood floor cleaner! It is so effective. Chicago in spring can really do a number on your floors. Between snow and salt, and melting snow and mud, you’re always tracking things in to your home, even if you REALLY try not to.

So believe me when I say I need a good floor cleaner. This one works so well!

Not only does it look amazing and shiny, it feels so smooth and soft. You know, that squeaky clean feeling. Just check out the pictures. You can really see that shine!

I had some salt stains right under our little shoe shelf, so I thought it would be a good example of how great this homemade wood floor cleaner is. I just did one spray with my mop, and literally 2 swipes (forward and back) and they were gone. And if you’ve dealt with them before, you know those salt stains can be tricky!

I’ve been using a Bona hardwood floor mop for a few months now, and I love it. The spray mechanism is much more effective than the one on my old casabella mop. The only thing is, it comes with a cartridge full of bona hardwood floor cleaner. I prefer green cleaning products, but I really don’t mind the bona stuff. But the cartridge is refillable, so once I used up the stuff it came with, I just replaced it with this awesome homemade wood floor cleaner (which is also much more affordable!)

Can’t beat that shine right? I really couldn’t be happier.

Let me know how making your own wood floor cleaner goes for you!

supplies used in this post

The post Homemade Wood Floor Cleaner appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.

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.

Before and after

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:

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! 

supplies used in this post

The post Natural hardwood floor cleaner recipe appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.