How to Mop Wood Flooring

Keeping your wood floors looking beautiful requires regular maintenance. Regularly sweeping or vacuuming your hardwood floors will remove loose dirt, dust, and other pieces of debris; but occasionally wood floors need a deeper level of cleaning to remove built-up grime. On many floors, a wet mop with diluted wood cleaner will do the job. It is important to choose a cleanser specified for wood floors, such as oil soap.

Things You'll Need

• Wood soap
• Bucket
• Mop

Instructions

1. Determine what type of finish is on your wood flooring, as only surface-sealed floors can be safely wet mopped. An easy test to see if your floors are surface sealed is to rub your finger along the wood surface. If no smudge appears, the floor has been surface sealed and is safe to mop. Floors that are oil treated, untreated, or varnished are not water resistant and require special care.

2. Sweep the wood floor thoroughly to remove dust, pet hair, and debris prior to mopping your wood flooring.

3. Select a gentle wood cleaner and dilute in a large bucket according to the product's instructions.

4. Soak the mop head in the cleaning solution and wring it out thoroughly so you don't saturate the floor in water. Mop the entire floor in this fashion, being careful not to get the floor too wet.

5. Open windows or turn on a fan so that the flooring dries as quickly as possible.

References

• Hardwood Floors 101