Homemade Wood Floor Cleaner That Shines

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It doesn’t take much to make a natural homemade wood floor cleaner! With only two ingredients, you can make a homemade wood floor cleaner that makes your floor shine.

Looking down on a cleaning bucket, a lemon, a towel, and a measuring cup.

When we bought our house and I realized it was full of beautiful hardwood floors, I knew I needed to make a gentle yet effective homemade wood floor cleaner.

After lots of research and experimenting, I now have two fantastic recipes to clean your wood floors that will leave them shining!

In this post, I’ll share two options for a hardwood floor cleaner DIY that you can make from scratch – one containing vinegar and the other black tea.

Both are safe for hardwood floors and use a no-rinse formula – meaning they save you time and money and, most importantly, clean really well!

A spray bottle of wood floor cleaner with a lemon and a towel.

Why You’ll Love These Recipes
Wood Floor Cleaner with Vinegar
Black Tea Wood Floor Cleaner
How to Use Wood Floor Cleaner
Expert Tips
Recipe FAQs
Related Content
Homemade Wood Floor Cleaner Recipe

Why You’ll Love These Recipes

Eco-friendly: I love making my own homemade cleaners so I can avoid all of that plastic! Compared to bottled products and disposable mop heads, this homemade wood floor cleaner creates little waste and uses only eco-friendly ingredients.
Simple: It may sound intimidating to make your own cleaning products, but it’s amazingly simple! With just a few ingredients quickly combined, you’ll have a wood floor cleaner that rivals any you can buy in the store.
Safe for wood: Unlike some other materials, you can’t wash your wood floors with just any cleaner. The ingredients in these homemade cleaners are gentle on wood floors and, when used properly, will not cause any damage to your treasured hardwood.
Natural fragrance: I personally find the artificial fragrance in most commercial cleaning products very overwhelming and unpleasant. These homemade cleaners skip the harsh fragrances and I can add essential oils when I want that fresh scent!

Wood Floor Cleaner with Vinegar

Ingredients

Water
Vinegar: The acetic acid in vinegar makes it a great all-purpose cleaner and even gives it some disinfecting properties. Always dilute it properly before using vinegar on your wood floors.
Lemon essential oil: Not only does lemon essential oil give this floor cleaner a fresh scent, it also boosts the cleaning power! The lionene in lemon oil cuts through grease and grime and polishes wood beautifully.
Olive oil: Just a bit of olive oil helps to make your wood floors shine! According to Vintage & Speacialty Wood Inc., olive oil is effective at conditioning and moisturizing wood while the antioxidants in the oil protect wood from environmental damage.

How to Make

Combine all the ingredients in a mop bucket.
Stir well to make sure everything is combined.
Place the mop in the solution, ring out extra liquid well, and mop the floor, making sure to follow the direction of the grain.

Alternatively, add the ingredients to a spray bottle, shake well, then gently mist the floor and mop like normal.

Black Tea Wood Floor Cleaner

Ingredients

Black tea: It may seem odd to use steeped tea to clean your floors, but it’s actually the perfect cleaner for wood! Black tea is slightly acidic, so it will cut through grease and grime without being too harsh on the floors. Tea also has antibacterial properties that will help to wash and disinfect the floors.
Olive oil: Just like the vinegar-based wood floor cleaner, we will add olive oil to this recipe to condition the wood floors and make them shine.

How to Make

Bring water to a boil.
Remove from heat and add the tea bags. Allow to steep for at least 10 minutes.
Remove the tea bags from the water and allow the water to cool before adding the olive oil if using. Stir well and transfer to a mop bucket or spray bottle for application.
Once cooled, it’s ready to use!

How to Use Wood Floor Cleaner

Sweep or vacuum the floor first to remove dirt and debris.
Place a mop or microfiber cloth into the bucket and ring out well.
Mop the floor following the direction of the grain. If using a spray bottle, lightly mist the floor and then mop like normal.

This recipe works great for all wood floors. If you have laminate, use this laminate floor cleaner and shiner.

Wiping wood floors with a rag and a bucket of wood cleaner.

Expert Tips

I highly recommend you test a small area of floor first when using a homemade natural wood floor cleaner. Ensure that you like the results of the test before attempting to clean the whole floor.
To avoid damaging your hardwood floors, always wring out your mop well. You want it to be slightly damp, not soaked. Moisture can be very damaging to wood floors, so be sure to wipe up spills immediately as well.
Use soft bristles on your vacuum when cleaning hardwood floors to avoid scratching the wood.
I like to keep a spray bottle of wood floor cleaner on hand for spills that require spot cleaning. That way, I don’t have to make a bucket of cleaner and get out the mop everytime there’s a dirty patch on the floor.
For best results, mop your floors following the direction of the wood grain.

A living room setting with wood floors, a chair, and a side table. A bucket of wood floor cleaner is sitting in the middle of the room.

Recipe FAQs

Is vinegar safe for hardwood floors?

Yes! It’s very safe when used correctly. Vinegar is a great cleaning ingredient that I use in glass cleaner, all-purpose cleaner, and more. The acetic acid in it cuts through dirt and grime. It must be properly diluted for cleaning wood floors, however.

How often should you mop wood floors?

That completely depends on the foot traffic in your house and how dirty the floors get. I like to sweep and dry mop regularly as I have a lot of people in my house, then wet mop a few times a month. To extend the time between wet mopping, you can spot clean spills with a cloth and a spray bottle of wood floor cleaner.

How can I make my wood floors shine naturally?

Using these homemade wood cleaners will give your floors a beautiful shine! The vinegar, lemon oil, and olive oil in them cleans and polishes the wood, leaving it beautifully shiny. Be sure to use minimal water on your mop and mop in the direction of the wood grain for the best shiny results.