Hi there! Today, I am sharing how to clean and restore your hardwood floors organically. I am in cleaning mode in case you have not noticed.
Being housebound will do that to ya! Did you miss how to clean your stove grates?
Real Hardwood floors are beautiful, no doubt. However they do over time show some wear and tear and the natural beauty and luster becomes dull over time.
You can pay professionally to have them restored, or diy them yourself.That is truly a mess and costs time and money. I am sure someday we will have to break down and do that, however in the mean time I found a natural solution that worked like a charm! This was so simple and much to my surprise not slippery. I did a test area before hand to be sure we would not be slipping and sliding all over the place.
DON’T ever pledge your floors, just sayin’!
Solution:
½ cup of lemon juice
¾ cups of Olive oil
1 gallon of hot water.
Mop.
NEVER saturate the floor with water. Make sure the mop is rung out well. You should NOT splatter water on the floor, that indeed can cause damage to your hardwood floors, the water can seep through and cause buckling.
These are the before
Under the bar stools in our kitchen are probably where we get the most wear and tear. The boys sit there and slide all over the stools.
I do have felt on the legs, but still, it just gets worn out and scratched.
You can let this dry naturally, however I took an old t-shirt and went around the kitchen with my foot.
Just to more or less buff it.
They really did turn out nice. The fact that my husband even noticed, told me everything!
Now to do the rest of the house!
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Love this and great results too. perfect! Hugs P.S. I hope you will share this at the hop today 🙂
Debbie- Love this! Can’t wait to try it! Would love for you to share on Friday Favorites tonight!
laura
Would this work on waxed floors too? I have old eartt of pine floors that were waxed over 25 years ago and would like them to shine.
I would do a test spot first, but I don’t see why not:) It certainly won’t hurt them.
They look great Debbie 🙂 and it’s always nice to have a sparkly clean floor.
They look great Debbie.,just like new..I will be trying this..thanks so much.
Turned out great Debbie! My floors need a good cleaning but I’ve been afraid of what to use! I will definitely give this a try!~~Angela
Oh, I should try this and looks like you worked in your jammies like I do.
I will pass this along to my hubby – he’s the floor mopper here! Your floors look great!
Hey Debbie,
I was very glad to see that you put a warning about water on your hardwood.
Yes, very important for people to know, if you use a mop you have to be very careful. This process can be used as well the old fashioned on your hands and knees way.
Hands and knees is the only way for my hardwood floors, too risky useing a mop. in the past I have used murphy oil soap mixed in water, but I don’t care for the film residue it leave on my floors. Thank You, I am going to give your mixture a try.
Hardwood floors must be on the minds of people today. One other gal was talking about it on her blog and I showed how to make Shark replacement pads for my steam cleaner to use on Hardwood floors. That product sounds perfect. Did the shine last quite a while? xo Diana
Beautiful. I will try this on my 1950’s hardwood floors. I am trying to remember a product you used to get granite looking counter tops. I think it was Giani? I am interested in how to do this. Thanks, Jeanie
Yes, we did that in our guest bathroom, here is the link:) They are awesome two years later still holding up, not a chip, nothing at all wrong! Love em!http://www.debbie-debbiedoos.com/2012/01/diy-painted-countertops.html
Awesome tip Debbie! My floors are so pitiful looking and we will definitely have to refinish them at some point but I’m eager to try something to give them some shine in the meantime. Thanks!
What a great idea awesome they look wonderful I will definitely have to try this on my bedroom hardwood floors thanks for the great tip
They look great Debbie…going to try this!
I adore wood floors and this is a super easy way to keep them looking good. My dream is to have them in our home…maybe someday!
They look good. I’ll have to try it out. My husband and I were at the store the other day looking for a cleaner and he asked “why don’t you just get pledge” I’m so glad we didnt.
I am addicted to your blog! Great Post! Looking forward to get more information from you. I have an older home with so many ideas in my head, but I also have 2 little ones that make doing things difficult. So for now I will decorate vicariously through you!
Wow..they look great…I have always used Bona…but I will give this a try!!
Can thus solution be used on laminate flooring?
I would not recommend that. I would stick with laminate floor cleaner.
Debbie, thanks for this tip. We have hardwood floors. I’m going to use this method. 😉
I have some darker ones at our cabin that are looking a little rough. I will have to give this a try. Hope it works as well on darker floor!
Great tips, Debbie! We need to do our hardwood, but that will be a long time coming. I really should try this method, especially in the office under my husband’s chair! Thanks, I have to pin.
Debbie 🙂
I dont like the way store bought household cleaners leave a film or build up, this looks like a great combo for a good clean and restore, thanks 🙂
Great info! Hardwoods must be popular this week…several folks working on them. Living here is the first time I’ve had hardwoods since the ’60’s. 🙂 I like that this mixture is natural….I hate to use a lot of chemicals. Thanks for sharing!
It’s been so very cold here and with the wind gusting up to 40-50mph I can hardly stand it when I take Forrester out for his walks. Today started out climbing to 70 and ended with clouds and another front on its way. 🙁
Hope you have a great weekend!
xo
Pat
Thanks for the tip, and I’m pinning this. On my list of things to do for spring cleaning this year is the hardwood in our foyer and dining room. I didn’t want anything harsh. (And to be honest, I really didn’t want anything hard to do either. I’m suffering from a case of the lazies where floors are concerned these days.)
This is definitely getting pinned, Debbie! I love an organic solution!
I was wondering if your floors are finished or unfinished. We have unfinished floors that have always been waxed but they are starting to show some wear. Waxing is a lot of work and we’re not ready to do the whole refinish and seal thing yet. I have a little who is pretty close to the floor still so an organic option sounds great – but I am hesitant to use anything with water on them. Great post – thanks!
They are finished floors. Waxing would be a lot of work. If you go real light on the water aspect as I mention in the post this should work great.
Just tried it and my floors gleam!!!!! . Since we moved in one year ago , the hardwood floors have always looked dull and dirty. What a difference. I’ll share in a few days how it holds up. Next time I think I would use a little less olive oil. If I didn’t wipe them after there would have been oil tracked all over. But, over all amazing solution. Thanks!!
Yes, as I do mention I went and rubbed it in with a t-shirt. I have to say a few weeks later my floors are looking pretty darn good! You are welcome btw.
I am buying a house that has wood floors, not wanting to refinish just yet. I am going to try your recipie . thank you!!!
This would be great to try! Best wishes to you!
I can’t wait to try this. My floors aren’t a year old, but I’ve never been happy with the way they look. I’ll let you know!
what about pergo dark wood floors Debbie?? Hard to keep clean
I would not recommend this for pergo. On our pergo in the bedrooms, I simply use my dry swifter and pergo floor cleaner. Cleans right up!
Ohh.. Exactly what I need and yes, I will not put Pledge on it.
I love your fruit basket on your counter. Could you tell me where you purchased it?
That was actually an herb basket I found at home goods back a few years ago.
Thank you for the tip ! I will start today !
Stay Blessed!!
I’ve been wanting to try this! I have a small apt with wood floors in the living/dining room area and bedroom..Instead of a bucket I used a spray bottle with the olive oil, lemon juice and hot water mixture..Easy to apply! I used a swiffer with an old heavy sock…The socks are great for getting good coverage! So far, Looking great!! Now to keep the dog off the floor from making paw prints!
Awesome Sue! Yes the dog will be a challenge:)
We just had our hardwood floors refinished and I am desperately looking for ways to keep them looking clean and shiny. I can’t wait to give this a try to see how well it can work for me. Thanks for sharing.