Dust regularly....and as for cleaning, that depends on what your finish is.
Linda C

We have Hardwood flooring all throughout our house. We go over it regularly with a vacuum, hardwood floor attchment of course we have a Rainbow Vac. We dust mop it sometimes for shine. we have Poly on ours for a finish.
Thats all we do. They are really great floors, and very easy to keep clean. Carpet is bad at staining, I love our wood floors.
AR_Dramaqueen

It depends on what sort of finish your hardwood has. If it's poly, like many (most?) finishes today, vacuum often, to remove grit. Spot clean as needed, using a hardwood floor cleaner (available at big box stores, hardware stores, etc.). You shouldn't need to clean the whole floor very often if you do these two things regularly - I clean the whole floor only once a year.

The big thing to know about hardwood floors is that you should avoid using water as much as possible, and when you do use water, use *very* little. Don't use an oil soap like Murphy's, as it will leave an oily residue behind that, over time, may interfere with your ability to refinish your floors.

Many people swear by vinegar and water, though most of the floor manufacturer sites specifically say not to use this, as it's not ph neutral. I figure that my floors are worth buying a hardwood floor cleaner.

Thanks to all for their advice. I believe it is actually an oil-based finish and to top things off, today some of my GC's workers came in for punch-list duties and tracked dirt all over my beautiful family room! Argh. I'm feeling that I should ask him to have THEM clean it up since we've only been in here less than 2 weeks and their visits should substitute more work for the work they came to perform...Sounds like I should buy the old hardwood cleaner, and soon! Thanks again-

I very much like Bona hardwood cleaner. I vacuum, then spray and wipe using a microfiber cloth on a Swiffer "mop". I do the same thing for spot cleaning. About once a year, I clean thoroughly with a Bruce hardwood cleaner that has a bit of poly in it.

Ditto on the BonaKemi hardwood floor cleaner. It is the best thing I've used on my hardwood (entire house). And I have two pugs which put paw prints on the floors when it's wet outside. Very easy to use. I also use their Refresher every 6 months.

I have a question if someone will be checking back on this topic. What kind of vacuum do you use? I saw the post Re: Rainbow and I will check that out. I have a self propelled Hoover WindTunnel and it is awfully heavy....afraid of leaving wheel marks on the floors. What kind of vacuum does everyone else use? Thank you in advance.

Pam

Pam, I just recently bought an Electrolux Harmony canister vac and it does a great job of cleaning dust & animal hair off the hardwood floors and it is real quiet which is a plus for me. It is not very heavy and easy to manuever. I also have a self propelled Hoover which is great for carpets but not all this hard floor I have in my new house.

Thank you, sewingbelle. I just now checked back on this forum. I did end up with a Dirt Devil 'Swivelglide'. The rear wheels swivel and it's fairly lightweight. Thanks for the advice, though!
Pam

we have an older Oreck. It is very light weight. We do not find it to be good enough for carpet but it works great on the hardwood.

Anyone try the Miele vaccum that says it's for hard wood floors?

I read in a poll that people prefer bare wood floors over carpeting. If you want to sell your house, take up the carpets.

We use MacDonald Hardwood Floor cleaner -- we didn't get our hardwood floors through them, but somebody suggested it to me about 5 years ago, and we've been using it ever since. You spray, then wipe up with a terry cloth cover on a pole.

Trying to revive this one and find out if anyone has the Miele vaccum for harwood floors. Was considering it, but it is pricey, so just wondered if anyone thought it is worth it?

I have a Miele stickvac that I use for my hardwood. It also has a beater brush for carpets. Not sure which model you are referring to for hardwood specifically. Mine is the black stick vac (S147?). It works absolutely wonderfully but the bags are tiny and expensive. I have central vac and try to use the Miele for a quick pickup or if I am in a hurry. They are expensive but good.

I use the Zep hardwood floor cleaner from Home Depot. It really takes off the grime.

I am interested in the Bona Hardwood cleaner. Would anyone know where I can purchase it and what the cost is?

Thanks in advance

Thank you for posting this. We bought a house last year with hardwood floors and we need to clean them, so this is very helpful.

We had the floors refinished last year prior to moving in, so does this mean the floors have poly on them?

Would the Bona cleaner work regardless?

Waymom and Magnolia,

Attached is a link for the place I purchased my mop and Bona cleaner. I purchased the "Hardwood Floorcare System" primarily to get the mop. The Bona cleaner was kind of a bonus for me but I really like it. As you can see, they sell the hardwood floor cleaner separately as well. Honestly, unless you live in a palace, you won't need a big bottle. It really lasts a long time!

I will say I LOVE the mop kit they sell. I've bought a few more microfiber mop pads so I don't have to constantly keep washing the same one. It's really great not to have to wring a mop or prepare buckets of solution. I highly recommend this mop system to anyone with hardwood floors.

Magnolia, the info on the page for just Hardwood floor cleaner indicates that it will work for Poly or acrylic finished floors.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hardwood Floor care Products

Thank you so much for this information. I knew I could count on y'all.

TooMuchStuph,

Do you know if it will work for Floors with Bona Traffic (water based) finished floors?

waymom,

Darn good question. I was curious about that as well. I currently have poly finish but hope to have the floors redone in the next year and really want to use Traffic based on all the reviews I've read of it.

I've just looked up the specification sheet for Traffic on the Bona website and in the Maintenance section it says "...Sweep or vacuum daily and damp wipe as needed with Bona Swedish Formula Hardwood Floor Cleaner".

So, I guess we both have our answer. It appears that the Hardwood floor cleaner is good for Poly, acrylic and waterbased Bona Floor Finishes.

You can purchase the Bona cleaner at Restoration Hardware.

Do any folks have hardwood that is not finished with any 'coating'? Our floors are dark stained oak but I don't believe they have any finish. I'd like to clean them and bring up a bit of luster however don't really know what to use.

Any help/suggestions appreciated.

Miele cannister I have is GREAT for hardwood floors, best suction I have ever had on a vacuum. Mine came with a horsehair brush, I have the artico. Miele is built well. Recommend.

"Many people swear by vinegar and water, though most of the floor manufacturer sites specifically say not to use this, as it's not ph neutral."

Nine months late but... we have such hard water (7+ph) that adding vinegar lowers the ph towards neutral.

How about the best way to clean scuff marks from snow boots? We have just installed & refinished older floors. The floor co. used Senteco (sp?) to seal them....

Just want to say that I used to clean houses, about 70 in fact, and we would use the bona on the hardwood floors which really does a wonderful job. I would spray it on and use a regular mop but I would squeeze most of the water out of it and just leave it damp. We also used only Oreck vacuums which are good on both carpet and flooring. Orecks are wonderful for picking up dog hair!! I loved the Oreck vacuum so much that I had to get one for myself. I have 3 dogs and the vacuum that I had just wasn't good at picking up the never ending hair. I would have to say I love my Oreck!