<p>I really need to get a vacuum to clean my hardwood floors . I read that some vacuum cleaners have the “wet mode” . I wonder if someone has any good or bad experience with this “wet mode” to clean HWF? and, if you really like your vacuum, do you mind sharing the brand, model, etc…My whole house has HWF so I really need a reliable and efficient vacuum. I really don’t want to damage my HWF. Also, if anyone has good tips about cleaning HWF, please share them with me. A couple of years ago, we got this house with beautiful, fancy HWF, and so far I haven’t been able to figure out the best way to clean them…Thanks a bunch!</p>
<p>I don’t have a wet mode but I have the LG Kompressor that I bought at Best Buy… I use it on my hard wood floors, area rugs (works great and doesn’t try to suck them up into it), tile, linoleum and on carpet. I have a mixture of everything in my house and it does a perfect job. The thing I like about it is that you can turn off the spinning of the brushes on the hard wood floors that way it doesn’t scratch them up. It does a great job. I also have a little bottle of some organic floor cleaner for if there is a mark on the floor that I need to clean up (like a foot print or something). It’s great and doesn’t take up the finish.</p>
<p>I’m very old fashioned when it comes to my HWF. I vacuum with an ordinary vacuum cleaner with a ‘floors’ setting… use a sponge or sponge mop and cool water to get rid of muddy footprints, stains from spilling, etc.</p>
<p>I have a dog…plus I live where a great deal of sand is tracked indoors. We like the Swiffer vac…the cloth picks up the dirt and the vacuum sucks up the hair and sand. Lightweight and re-chargeable and under $40. It may not be ideal for heavy cleaning but for a once-a-day run around on hard floors, it’s perfect, esp. for the stairs. </p>
<p>For cleaning up spots and mopping, there’s a wood floor product from Method. Smells like almonds and leaves a nice shine but not too brilliant.</p>
<p>For my hardwood kitchen floors, I use a broom (ugh) or rechargeable “Swivel Sweeper”. It works pretty well.</p>
<p>When I researched this, most frequently recommended was the Bona Floor System, which you can find at Bed, Bath, supermarkets etc. I have the large mop with washable cloths that stick to the bottom. The mop squirts the cleaning solution, which fits into the dispenser, as it cleans. Or you can buy it as a spray. No streaking and cleans very nicely. You vacuum first, of course. We use the Dyson now and like it a lot.</p>
<p>Bona is who makes the spray that I used… It works very very nicely.</p>
<p>We have mostly wood floors as well - I make good use of my vacuum attachments to get the best bang for cleaning up - especially around the edges where the dust bunnies like to gather.</p>
<p>It would be great if some of the posters above could mention the brand name of the product they are using - Fendergirl, I’m especially curious about the organic cleaner you use.</p>
<p>We just had hardwood floors installed in the kitchen. The installer went to great lengths to tell me that I must take care of it properly and that he only recommends the Bona Floor system. Its good to hear other people recommending it and its also good to know that I can get it at BBB, not just at the floor guys office 45 minutes away.</p>
<p>Oops, sorry Fendergirl - now I see that you mentioned Bona. </p>
<p>So are all the Bona pads washable? Is the polish slippery afterwards? How expensive and time consuming? A squirt bottle wouldn’t do for the area we have to cover even just on the main floor.</p>
<p>We just put in new hardwood floors last fall. The wood distributor (we installed the brazilian teak ourselves) recommended a microfiber large-head mop and a product called Poly Care. I bought the mop (and a second washable head ) at Walmart and the Poly Care (a liquid concentrate) at BBB for $5.99 a bottle. It works beautifully! I use one of the microfiber mopheads dry and get up the dog hair, crumbs, etc. Then I use the second mophead and spray it with the Poly care I’ve mixed in a spray bottle. Wipe on the floor, flip the head over and dry slightly, and you get a beautiful, non-slippery shine. I love it! I usually have a regular microfiber cloth in my pocket in case there are more stubborn slobber marks or drip marks, which I spray and wipe separately. I have about 550 sq ft of HW, and it takes me maybe 10 minutes to wash the whole floor this way. I’ve only refilled the spray bottle once in the two+ months we’ve had the floor, and this includes almost daily washing over the holidays. Highly recommend!</p>
<p>Don’t you think care of the floors also makes a difference if they are newly installed wood floors or 85 year old wood floors (which is what I have)???</p>
<p>We had floors refinished in a 100yo home. The people who did it urged us never to use anything but vinegar and water. When we moved and had newer floors we used something else, Murphy’s I think, which worked fine. In our current home the floors were installed, sanded, stained, and sealed onsite, so they have to be taken care of differently than the kind that is pre-finished and installs piece by piece. We simply went back to water and vinegar. Now Windex makes the clear solution that can be used on granite which is simply water and vinegar. We used that. I don’t notice if it gives a different ‘sheen’ because we put a finish on these floors that was even lower than a Satin…can’t remember what it was called exactally, but it mimics the very old floors I loved in our first home, not the hi-gloss. It’s simply a personal choice.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your feedback. I’ve been using my regular vacuum to clean the HWF, but after that I don’t use anything. I heard about vinegar and water before too. Some people recommended me to use just soap and water to mop the HWF. The Bona products are new to me. So I think i’ll mop the HWF after vacuum them and see how it goes.</p>
<p>I recently started using the Bona system and like the products. I don’t like the mop that you’ve got to use because its set up so that you need it to spray the product on the floor. It’s plastic and my cleaning people have broken the spray handle twice. They’ve never broken anything else and have been with me for 5 years. My conclusion is that the mop is poorly made. The pad comes off easily and washes well. The cleaning product itself isn’t sticky and it doesn’t streak. I don’t care for the Swiffer and thought this might be a similar product, but it’s not. I’m going to go back to the mom/pop vac store where I bought it and see if there’s a way to use the product without the mop.</p>
<p>I use the Bona system too. The Guy that refinished our floor said not to use water on the HWF.</p>
<p>abasket, This is the stuff I have. [Bona</a> Hardwood Cleaners - BONA Hardwood Floor Care](<a href=“http://www.1877floorguy.com/boorfo.html]Bona”>Bona Hardwood Floor Care - 1877FloorGuy.com)</p>
<p>Maybe you could pick up a bottle of it at a local store and try it out before you buy the whole system. I think one spray bottle runs for about 7 or 8 dollars at Wegmans.</p>
<p>Now that I read it I see that it doesn’t specifically say organic… But it does say non toxic greenguard certified which is close enough for me, haha.</p>
<p>I don’t have the mops so I can’t speak to them - I just have the sprays and I use microfiber cloths - my HWF areas aren’t that large so the clothes are fine for me. I wash them when I am done. It does a great job and doesn’t leave any streaks or slippery residue. Dries very quickly. I refinished the 70 year old floors in my house and want to keep them nice.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure you don’t want to use water on HWF’s but I could be wrong on that. I’m relatively new to them.</p>
<p>It seems that many use Bona products. I counted 6 respondents using it. I going to try Bona too. I have 80+ yr/o HWF, so I’m not completely sure if I’m supposed to be using something different?
Since nobody uses vacuum with the wet mode for cleaning the HWF, I’m not buying it.</p>