I swiffer/sweep daily (always have no matter what type of floor I've had)

I wipe up spills as they happen

I damp mop once a week with water only.

My floor is 14 months old and looks awesome.

I've had hardwoods in the kitchen for 6 1/2 years in this house (they've been in place for 20-50 years, don't know because I just moved here 6 1/2 years ago) and for 4 years in my previous home. I sweep daily and spot clean with a damp rag. i mop with damp mop and vinegar only. I've always heard / read that vinegar is the only thing to use.

Anita

I use the Don aslet mop with the microfiber mop heads. I get the mop head wet then wipe the floor 2 !/2 years and no problem. Sometimes I just get a microfiber towel wet and run it across the floor. Here is the link

http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/view.2/app.detail/params.item.V27099.desc.Don-Asletts-Telescoping-Microfiber-Mop-with-3-Microfiber-Pads

I have fir floors & I just damp mop every couple of weeks & sweep when it needs it. I do spot clean spills etc. What is the finish on your floors? Oak floors should not be "worn" already, but perhaps you didn't get an appropriate finish for the way your family lives?

I sweep a couple times a week, then wash with vinegar and water as needed. You can wash your floor with water - just don't let a lot of water stand on the wood so it leaks down in the joints. Maybe you should put some rugs down. Are you tracking in a lot of sand or dirt? Or you should put another coat of finish down. Wood floors are really low, easy maintenance and last forever. They will scratch and won't look new long - but it is a floor.

I've had oak hardwood floors for years in my current kitchen and in a previous one. Every inch of the place is solid oak, including the bathrooms. My floors have what's called a "Swedish" finish. Not sure exactly what that means, but it's very durable. I damp mop regularly with water containing a small amount of "Spic and Span" brand all-purpose cleaner. No rinsing is required. The floors in my previous house still looked new after 9 years. I'm coming up on 3 years in the current house....and the floors look just as good they did when first installed and finished.

I don't think you want to leave standing water on a wood floor for any length of time, but damp mopping with water and a mild cleaner won't hurt a thing.

I've actually used a Bissell H20 steam mop quickly over the top of mine instead of using a wet mop with water. I've got a microfiber pad that I use between steamings. I don't do either nearly enough.

Hi, it's just my DH & I so we don't have the traffic of a larger family. I sweep as needed, and usually once a week I damp mop. I like to clean my floor with shop towels. They're soft for the floor, inexpensive to buy & are not disposable (a hugh plus to me). What I do is attach a damp shop towel to a Swiffer mop and a dry towel to a second Swiffer Mop. I like to wipe and dry the floor in sections so there's no water marks or streaking. We have dark walnut floors in the kitchen, and oak throughout the rest of the first floor, it works like a charm for both floor types.

In regards to vacuuming, we have a really expensive vacuum I use upstairs on the carpet, but I haven't found a vacuum cleaner for the wood floors that I thought was worth the money and/or would work as well as the 35 dollar shop vac I've been using. It's light so the wheels are easy on the floor, it has good suction and I can vacuum my blinds, corners and baseboards with it all at the same time. We have birds so it's easy to use to clean the seed and feathers too.

I'm finally figuring out my floors too & I've tried it all. With my boys (now 5 plus dh and our dog)they are abused. I swear by my dyson vacumn. I use it 4-5 times per week and go over the carpet & then swith to the hardfloor setting and go over the wood. I found that Home Depot carries a ZEP brand hardwood floor cleaner & I love it. I've sprayed it on the floor and then mopped it up with a terry or microfiber mop. The last 6 weeks or so I have found it is easier and quicker to just put a little of the cleaner in water and use a good ole string mop. I wring it out almost dry. Some water won't hurt a wood floor even over years. Between times I get a smaller mop out & get under the table and bar when needed. I've added a rug at the doors, sink, front of stove and hallway and they help too. I bought a cheap round, vinyl table cloth & put it under the high chair for most meals. I think it takes time to figure what works best in your home!

I think that hardwood floors in a kitchen are similar to stainless steel counters in that they look great when they're new, they look okay as they start to wear, but they look their best when they have acquired a few years worth of scrapes and scratches. It's wood. It will wear and stain and dent and scratch. Just like us. :)

I agree with most everyone......I swiffer nearly everyday then damp mop with either a microfiber cloth or those wet cloths that fit on the swiffer. I have never found a vacuum that worked well on hardwood besides the swiffer is much easier and picks up all the 'dust bunnies' :)

E gads...such devoted wood users. Get ready to cry...

I swiffer (with the wood formula) ohhh weekly and vacumm with the Dyson weekly s well (Ok the house keeper does the swiffering). Our floors are 25 years old and fabulous. Yes we just refinished them, but we're actively working to dent and scratch them up to their prior beauty.

Wood floors are the easiest floors in the world. I actually took out all carpet in the entire house and put in wood because I love it so much!

I had oak flooring in my last kit over 20 yrs with one redo. Raised kids and dogs (big English Mastiffs). What kind of finish is on your floors? Mine had satin poly. The redo was done because they had a hard wax that I hated so we had them stripped and poly applied. They even held up to a kit redo 5 yrs before we sold.
In my new kit I have wide pine planks finished with Land Ark oil so I can easily touch up an area of damage. I am looking forward to a patina on these.

90-year-old fir floors. Sweep as necessary, then vacuum, then damp mop with a touch of Bona cleaner and water, or Swiffer with the damp cloths if I'm in a hurry. I swear by my Miele canister vacuum with the parquet brush. :)

Thank you so much everyone for giving me a peek into your floor cleaning routine. I use the bona cleaner alot but that is getting expensive, every inch of our home is natural oak. I feel better using water after hearing most of you damp mop regularly.

eandhl, our finish is also satin poly and I don't know why it's wearing already.

igloochic, I'm laughing that you are actively working to dent and scratch your floors. I never looked at it that way. DH and I recently toured some victorian homes and DH commented on how he loved the floors, which were worn and scratched and very old.

It's just me and DH - no kids or animals. New construction house (finished in April 2008) with hardwoods (red oak) in the kitchen, great room, dining room, and hallways. I run our Roomba vacuum twice weekly while I'm at work and then once a month or so, we dry-mop to pull up the dust and then damp mop with either vinegar and water or Bona. I wipe up spills as needed. The biggest issue I've seen is drops of water drying on the floor near the dishwasher from dripping items we're loading into the dw. I haven't noticed much wear and tear on the floor yet but I do plan to put a rug in front of the sink sometime... when I find one I like.

I love love LOVE my Roomba. He vacuums all the carpet, hardwood, rugs, and tile in my house all week long. I just turn him on as I leave for the office and when I come home, voila! Clean floors! We use the big Dyson monthly on the carpets but I'm not terribly impressed with my Dyson so I won't be singing his praises here. The Dyson no longer sucks as strongly as he is supposed to and it kills me that I paid $400 for a vacuum that doesn't work as well as it should. But back to Roomba - he's great for hardwoods! No scratching at all.

You might also look on the Cleaning forum - there are always lots of discussions about proper care of hardwood floors over there.

Good luck,
try_hard

We've got small throw rugs in front of the sink, stove and fridge. I think the one in front of the fridge is really helpful since our in the door ice maker seems to throw small shavings/chucks of ice onto the hardwood floors.

We are 2 active and messy cooks in the kitchen with 1 furry Jack Russell Terrier who sheds white hairs everywhere. We have unstained maple floors, finished in place with 3 coats of Swedish.

I vacuum every few days with the flat soft brush attachment on my canister vac. I don't use the beater bar attachment, just the plain floor sweeper head that gets attached to the wand. It doesn't scratch, and I'm careful to check it each time before I use it to make sure no grit or dirt is stuck on it. That gets up most of the crumbs, hairs, and dust/dirt. It's the loose dirt that gets tracked in that you want to get rid of, as it can scratch the finish over time.

About once a month I'll use the Bona wood floor product with the microfiber mop that comes with it. That gets up any accumulated grease that might settle down over time.

We put large washable cotton area rugs (some decent ones are at IKEA) in front of the stove and the prep sink/island. I make sure to vacuum and wash them periodically, and lift them to vacuum underneath as that's where a lot of dirt will build up. The most important rug is the one in front of the rangetop, as cooking grease that vaporizes and splatters onto the floor around the stove can be the most destructive to the finish over 20 years of use.

All spills are wiped up immediately, even droplets of water from wet dishes and hands.

And all chairs and even the dining table legs have thick industrial strength felt pads under them (the super sturdy tan colored ones from HD). The pads are changed at least once a year, as they can build up grit which then scratches your floors as you move the chairs.

And most importantly, all shoes are left at the front door. No high heels and dirt are allowed to track on the wood floors in the kitchen or great room.

It's been 3 years since the renovation and they still look brand new. Wood floors can be a wonderful investment, but you have to take care of them. Wall to wall carpet can take a lot of abuse and hide a multitude of sins, but your wood floors will show how good a housekeeper you are, LOL.

Cactus
I'll echo the sentiments above - We have HW throughout our home when we gutted kitchen 3 yrs ago I struggled w/the flooring issue. After much research and discussions w/flooring people we decided to go with white oak in the new kitchen.
What really helped was the flooring experts all echoed same opinion -
- Have 3-4 coats of poly applied to new flooring (we had 4)
- Don't use any oil based products on the floor (like Murphys etc)
- Sand/grit are far more harmful to hw than water. Wipe spills
- Damp micro w/warm water & vinegar or Bona product to clean

*** This was the critical point from flooring guy, which is where he said most people fail - in kitchen/high traffic areas - every 1-2 yrs have new coat of poly applied - this requires gentle scratching of the top layer and application of poly - Just had him come back & do ours (2yrs post new floor being laid) - quick, easy, no mess and the total $125 for about 350 sq ft - NOT bad!!!!- We took out any freestanding furnishings - and planned his work to be done when we were about to go away

The most important thing w/hw flooring is to have this done PRIOR to the floors finish wearing - which is when refinishing will be required.

Good luck

Just to let everyone know, I washed our floors with warm water and vinegar and I am very happy with the result.

brunosonio, I haven't found a throw rug that I like so that's a problem. I will try IKEA, thanks for that suggestion.

I already made a note to have a new coat of poly applied in a year or so.

Many thanks to all!

Why no Murphy's ..isn't for wood??

From what I understand, Murphy's leaves an oily film. Bona is alcohol-based, sprays on like a mist, evaporates immediately, and probably has some other solvents in it to cut grease. The microfiber mop that comes with it is very efficient at cleaning. After using it, it really looks yellow/brown from the grease and dirt, and I just pop it into the washing machine. It comes out clean and ready to use again.

I also use the Bona tile cleaning solution for the tile in the entryway and bathroom floors. It doesn't leave any buildup or film on the tile nor the grout.

Murphy's is oil based & oil based products will prevent a next layer of poly properly adhering - it would just bubble up

I have 90 year old fir floors in my house. They were refinished a few years back and are naturally 'distressed' (aka. 5 people and 5 pets), though I don't have them in the kitchen yet - they're covered over with plywood and vinyl right now. I plan on having them refinished soon.

I agree with try_hard - Roomba's are the best! I run my Roomba whenever the floor needs it. What's even better though is my Scooba. It's the mopping equivalent of the Roomba. It does a fantastic job! You can use either vinegar and water or the Scooba cleaning solution and both are safe for sealed hardwood. It does leave a bit of water on the floor, but most of it gets vacuumed up and it's less than what would be there with a regular mopping.

I sound like an advertisement, but the thing has saved me so many hours of work. Beyond that, it sprays clean water on the floor and sucks it up right away so dirty water never touches the floor. I feel like they're just that much cleaner.

Oh ya, plus the most important point: the fact that I can press a button and leave for work and come home to shiny robot-cleaned floors is pretty much the coolest thing ever.

Oh no! My wood floors are screaming, "She's an awfulll housekeeper!" With four people, two cats and two big dogs in the house, my floors receive heavy use. But I'd rather have imperfect, wood floors than any other type of floor, any day of the week!