Cleaning and maintaining hardwood flooring is straightforward, but there are things to avoid when it comes to caring for it. To help break down how to care for hardwood floors, we spoke to experts about what tools and cleaning solutions to use.
How to clean hardwood floors
Caring for hardwood floors requires a combination of dry and wet cleaning. Follow these instructions for daily, weekly and monthly cleaning and maintenance of hardwood floors:
1. Sweep or dry mop daily
Sweep regularly with a soft-bristle broom (an angle broom will get into corners and along baseboards). Gina Perry, a former senior merchant for cleaning at The Home Depot, recommends sweeping or dry mopping daily. Leah Howell, a senior brand marketing manager at Bona, also recommends this type of regular maintenance, saying, “Most hardwood floors should be swept or dusted a few times a week to avoid microscratches from dirt or debris.”
2. Vacuum weekly
Vacuum your hardwood floor using the hard floor setting on the vacuum, which raises the vacuum cleaner and deactivates the brush roll to prevent scratching and other damage. Perry recommends vacuuming hardwood floors once a week.
3. Mop weekly to monthly
Howell recommends cleaning high-traffic areas weekly, moderately trafficked areas every other week and lesser-used areas monthly. “We recommend first dusting the floor, then using a microfiber mop with a cleaning solution formulated for that surface,” Howell says. When mopping hardwood floors, make sure to wring most of the water out of the mop so it’s damp, not sopping wet. Additionally, it’s important to use a cleaning solution that’s suitable for hardwood.
Must-have products for cleaning hardwood floors
With its extra-wide and angled sweeping surface, this Libman broom is designed to tackle big cleaning projects — like sweeping your entire house.
Hate fussing with a dust pan? You can also dry mop daily with a microfiber product like this one from O-Cedar. “A microfiber dust mop pre-treated with a dusting agent will pick up dust and dirt and prevent scratches,” Perry says.
Adding a few sprays of Bona’s Hardwood Floor Cleaner to your dry mop — or the floor — will help pick up more dirt and dust. Unlike DIY solutions, it’s fast-drying and safe to use on all hardwood flooring. “Sealed hardwood can be easily damaged by some cleaning solutions, like vinegar and water, and should always be cleaned with a solution specifically innovated for that surface,” Howell says.
If you have to vacuum your hardwood floors weekly, you’ll want an easy-to-use, powerful machine like this one from Shark. In our testing, it earned top marks for its suction power and best-in-class maneuverability.
O-Cedar’s EasyWring Mop lives up to its name. Thanks to a manual foot pedal that powers a spinning basket, removing excess liquid is easy. That’s an important feature for mopping hardwood, as excess water can damage the flooring.
What to avoid when cleaning hardwood floors
When it comes to hardwood, using the wrong cleaning products and tools — or using those products and tools incorrectly — can cause irreversible damage.
“Always avoid oversaturation when cleaning … hardwood,” Howell says. “Also, avoid DIY cleaning solutions such as vinegar and water, which is a highly acidic solution that will damage the flooring surface.”
Perry and Howell offered this list of other ways to keep hardwood floors looking their best:
- Avoid leaving any standing water on the floor, which can damage the wood. This is especially true for prefinished hardwood floors.
- Steam cleaning is not advised because steam can dull the finish and damage the wood.
- Opt for a microfiber mop over a sponge mop or string mop and bucket, which leave too much liquid on the floor, damaging the floor over time.
- Don’t use abrasive or acidic cleaners that can strip the protective coating from the floor.
- Don’t use steel wool or scouring powder, as they can leave scratches on the floor.
- Don’t use products designed for vinyl or tile flooring on hardwood floors.
- Don’t overwax a hardwood floor. If it is dull, try buffing instead.