Giving Your Hardwood Floors an Eco-Friendly Shine
A lot of people are skipping the harsh chemical enhanced cleaners put out on the market these days and instead, they’re using eco-friendly products or even creating their own cleaning solutions. There are many great recipes out there for those who wish to clean with natural and chemical free ingredients.
For hardwood floors in particular, there are several successful recipes that you can easily make at home and use to give your floor a lasting shine. There are many natural ingredients that are actually beneficial to use on your hardwood floors, as chemical filled cleaners could easily dull the hardwood over time.
Tea Bags and Warm Water
Take a large pot and fill it with water. Get it hot enough so that you can toss in a few tea bags and let them steep. Take the tea bags out and pour the tea into your mop bucket when it is warm rather than hot. Make sure your floors are swept and then begin the mopping process. The tannic acid in the tea will give your hardwood a noticeable shine.
Vinegar and Vegetable Oil
Mix together equal portions of vegetable oil and white vinegar in a spray bottle. Always shake well before use. Spray the combination onto the floor after it has been swept and begin mopping. Be careful as you are doing this. The floor will be rather slick because of the oil.
Use a soft mop head or soft cloth to wipe the mixture into the floor. The vinegar will act as the cleaning agent while the oil gives the floor its shine. It is suggested that you use this mixture about every week or so. Always mix it together fresh right before you decide to mop. The mixture will spoil if it sits too long.
There are other great eco-friendly recipes out there for hardwood floors. Nonetheless, the two recipes listed above are quite popular and seem to work extremely well. You can even add essential oils or a little lemon juice to the mixtures to give them a beautiful, fresh scent.
It is always wise to clean your home without the products sold on shelves all over the world. The harsh chemicals might act as superb cleaning agents, but they’re not good for us and often times, they wear woods and finishes down when they are consistently used for cleaning. Natural ingredients won’t do this, but they can clean just as efficiently.