There’s no denying that floors are an integral part of everyone’s household. From daily traffic to inevitable spills, our floors are put under a lot of stress. However, things become even worse when we are dealing with hardwood floors, which are prone to scratching and require constant maintenance. Luckily, there are a lot of hardwood floor cleaners that make our job of cleaning the floor much easier. But what should you know before giving hardwood floor cleaners a try?
What Are Hardwood Floor Cleaners?
Hardwood floor cleaners are substances that remove dust particles and stains from hardwood floors. The biggest difference between hardwood floor cleaners and similar compounds is that the former is specially designed not to damage hardwood. In fact, high-quality cleaning agents maintain the floor’s shine and even enhance its original look.
What Makes a Good Hardwood Floor Cleaner?
With so many products on the market, it’s hard to find high-quality hardwood floor cleaners. And if that wasn’t enough, lower-quality products can end up damaging our beautiful hardwood floors. As a result, you will have to pay close attention to what cleaner you decide to use. In order to help you, we compiled a list of factors that you can use when navigating the wide range of options.
Ingredients
Even though hardwood floor cleaners should protect our floors, some companies still use corrosive and dangerous chemicals. Therefore, you need to avoid products that contain strong acids or bases such as sodium hydroxide or nitric acid, as they can strip the finish off your floors. Similarly, since they can leave a sticky residue or dull the finish, you should avoid floor cleaners that contain oil or wax.
We recommend that you pick hardwood floor cleaners that include safe ingredients such as water, weak acids, or weak bases. For example, cleaners that contain citric acids or sodium bicarbonate are much safer and effective than other products.
Formula
Generally speaking, there are two main types of hardwood floor cleaners:
- Complete Hardwood Floor Cleaners contain a variety of pre-mixed ingredients, meaning that they can be applied straight out of the bottle. Complete cleaners reduce the time and effort needed, making them great for daily cleaning.
- Floor Cleaner Concentrates contain a strong cleaning agent that needs to be diluted with water before usage. And while they require more time to set up, floor cleaner concentrates allow you to adjust their potency. You can do that by adding more or less water depending on your needs.
Packaging
When it comes to packaging, there are three types that you should know about:
- Squirt Bottles dispense a small amount of cleaner agent onto the floor that can then be mopped. This packaging option is mostly used for small to medium-sized floor areas.
- Spray Bottles allow you to dispense a mist of cleaning agent onto the hardwood floor using the built-in trigger. Then, you can either mop or wipe down the floor, making spray bottles great for small areas or spot cleaning.
- Refill Bottles usually contain large amounts of cleaning agents that you can pour into a spray bottle or reusable spray mop. However, you should avoid pouring the cleaner directly onto the floor, as you can easily pour more than you wanted. Even worse, your floor could end up absorbing the liquid and then swell as a result. More often than not, refill bottles offer a good price per unit ratio, making them a great option for large areas or more than one hardwood floor.
Final Thoughts
All in all, it’s important to remember that you should be careful when cleaning your hardwood floor. Not only do you run the risk of scratching it, but you can also permanently ruin its polish. As a result, you need to use high-quality cleaners that are specially designed for hardwood floors. And since there are a lot of options out there, there’s no doubt that you will find the right one for your floors.
