I have a love hate relationship with bamboo floors. I mean, they look great and all, but I feel like they have to be babied. They are the high maintenance partner in this relationship and they expect a lot from me.
If I don’t properly maintain my Bamboo flooring, it shows every spec of dirt and scratch, revealing a tale of a house with two boys. Those boys DO NOT care about how pretty my floors look. I have fought to keep my bamboo floors beautiful and well maintained for almost nine years, and along the way I have learned a little something about cleaning your bamboo or wood floors the right way.
These are the exact steps I take to clean my wood floors and they come out perfect every time.
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1. Prep the Floor
I both sweep and vacuum the floor to prep. This may seem redundant or like overkill, but there is a method to my madness.
Where we live people generally don’t have grass in their yards. This means sand and small rocks get tracked into the house constantly. We take off our shoes when we enter the house (our entryway is tile), but the sand and rocks end up everywhere anyway. If I vacuum before sweeping, some of this will get caught in the little wheel on the vacuum and scratch the floor. If you don’t have this battle with sand, you can probably skip the sweeping.
This is the vacuum I use and love for cleaning the wood floors. This is a bit of a splurge purchase, but worth every penny. Just make sure to use the wood floor attachment. The carpet attachment will chew up your flooring. Ask me how I know.
2. Use the Right Mopping Products
It took me a few tries to find the perfect mopping method, and it starts with the right products.
You will need a microfiber mop. Other mops leave streaks, so use microfiber.
My favorite mopping solution is Bellawood Hardwood Floor Cleaner. This doesn’t leave behind streaks, it doesn’t make the floors look dull, and it is also not too shiny or slippery.
When I can’t get the Bellawood, then I go with Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner. It works very well and isn’t streaky, but I think it is a little bit duller than the Bellawood cleaner.
3. Don’t Saturate the Floors
The most important thing to know when mopping your bamboo or other hardwood floors is to not saturate the flooring. This prevents streaking and allows for quicker drying time. Use a spray bottle and spray your mopping solution directly onto your mop. This allows you to control the amount of moisture going onto your floors.
4. Mop with the Grain
I personally like to mop with the grain. I feel this produces the nicest looking result. I’ve seen many bloggers and vloggers say the opposite, so experiment with this one and let me know your results.
Tile and Laminate Floors
For tile and laminate floors, I use the same techniques with Pledge Multi Surface Floor Cleaner.
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