If you have been using commercial floor cleaners, you might have experienced sticky residue and streaks all over your floor. Those are not pleasant, especially when you are trying to actually clean your floor and make it spotless and good-looking. The good news is that you can actually make it at home only using common household products that will clean your floors in an efficient and safe way.
Some of the best floor-cleaning solutions include the use of dish soap, white vinegar, window cleaner, or rubbing alcohol. In this article, we will share some great homemade cleaning solutions you can use to clean your floors. Of course, it is important to pay attention to the type of flooring that you have before choosing a certain product. Not all of those are suitable for all floorings so make sure you do everything to avoid damage. Keep reading to see which products will work best for your floor.
Extra tip: If you have a large property and the maintenance of its floor is unaffordable for you, you can always turn to professionals in floor cleaning.
White vinegar mopping solution
Grab two buckets and fill both with warm water. One of them will hold your cleaning solution, while the other one will be used for your rinsing water. Add ½ cup of vinegar to one of the buckets and mix well. You can use the water and vinegar mixture on its own but if you are not a fan of the smell, feel free to add a few drops of essential oil to it. If your floor is extra dirty, you can add a few drops of dishwashing liquid to add extra power to the solution.
Dish soap mopping solution
Dish soap is useful for much more than cleaning dishes. Thanks to its degreasing properties, it is a popular ingredient to use in cleaning the whole house. It is often used to clean bathrooms, kitchens, tiled surfaces, and generally greasy areas.
To make a floor-cleaning solution using dish soap, add ¼ cup of the soap to 3 cups of warm water. It is important that the water is hot so that the soap can completely dilute.
There is a popular variation of this solution that uses ½ cup of lemon juice or vinegar. Those will give your cleaning mixture more power. However, these ingredients are acidic and may damage certain types of flooring. It is best to test in an inconspicuous area of the floor (covered by a carpet, for example). If some discolouration or other damage occurs, choose a different cleaning solution.
Window cleaner floor solution
Cleaning your floors with a window cleaner may be the perfect solution for you, especially if you have tiled or vinyl floors. Depending on your floor’s materials, you may need to use a different amount of cleaner. For laminate floors, you can add one full cap of cleaner to 2L of warm water. However, if you are using this solution on tiled or vinyl floors, you may need to use more cleaner. Grab a mop or a dry towel and get to work.
This solution is perfect for cleaning floors and removing stains and scuffs. However, it is originally designed for glass surfaces and leaves a residue on them that is meant to repel dust. This residue may leave your floors a bit tacky so to avoid that, you may want to rinse them before buffing them dry.
Rubbing alcohol for cleaning floors
Rubbing alcohol is a powerful cleaning solution and while it is great for mopping floors, it can, in fact, strip the colour of some materials and cause damage to others. Never use this solution before testing it in an inconspicuous area first.
To make this mopping mixture for your floors, fill a bucket of warm water (4 litres should be enough) and add a cup of rubbing alcohol. You can also add some vinegar to the solution – it will help with dissolving grease.
While rubbing alcohol is the most effective for cleaning stains and built-up grime, it can have a strong smell that most people find overpowering. You should not worry about that because rubbing alcohol evaporates extremely quickly and will not leave a trace of the odour. If you would like to add a scent to this cleaning solution, however, you can add a few drops of essential oils.
How to pick the best cleaning solution for your floor
As we already mentioned, the different solutions we listed are more suitable for certain types of floor materials and can damage others. Here is a quick guide on how to pick the best one:
- For tiled floors and surfaces: While you can pretty much use any of the cleaning solutions, you will achieve the best results in shining your tiles by using the vinegar solution.
- For hardwood floors: This method will only work if your hardwood has been sealed. Even then, you should not let moisture sit on your floor for too long. Use a damp cloth and warm water and dish soap solution.
- For stone floors: Depending on the type of dirt and grime you have on your stone floor, you can use a variety of cleaning solutions. However, never use acidic cleaners such as vinegar or lemon juice on natural stone. The acid will etch them and cause permanent damage.