How To Clean Sticky Wood Floors
How to clean sticky wood floors? Hardwood floors are a costly but desirable flooring option for many homes, as the wood is long-lasting and durable.
When a sticky residue is left behind from food spills or dirt tracked in on shoes, the soiled area requires a robust cleaning solution.
It would help if you used a solution that would not deteriorate or discolor the hardwood floor. Hardwood floors can be spotless and elegant if they are maintained well.
Hence, one must understand how to take care of such materials to keep them protected and looking good while retaining their visual appeal.
How To Clean Sticky Wood Floors
Mild dish soap will help remove sticky residue from hardwood floors. Dish soaps made for cleaning dishes typically have pH levels close to neutral, neither acid nor alkaline.
Mix one-quarter cup of dish soap in a bucket of warm water to create an effective floor cleaner.
Cleaning with vinegar is risky and should be done with caution as the acidic content of vinegar can erode some finishes on hardwood floors and will therefore damage the floor over time.
1. Ammonia & hot water
Water alone will not clean sticky wood floors very well. In this case, household ammonia and equal parts of water need to be applied together.
Fill a bucket with water and add the appropriate amount of household ammonia to the mix. Stir well until a nice-smelling yellow color has been achieved.
Then place your mop into the solution, wet it down, pour off excess water, so you’re only using the mixture you’ve created. Scrub the floor!
Once you’ve finished scrubbing, empty that bucket and fill it up again with hot water, but this time replaces the atmosphere with white vinegar in equivalent amounts -one cup per bucket of water.
Use this solution to flush out all excess ammonia smell to bring back those lost wooden floors indeed.
2. Floor cleaner & hot water
This next option involves using a hardwood floor cleaner, which you probably already have at home. It works best on this type of flooring specifically designed to combat sticky messes.
To clean up a hardwood floor with this homemade solution, fill up a bucket with hot water and add a few drops of the cleaner. Put your mop into the answer, so it’s nice and wet, then wring out any excess liquid with your hands.
Use the mop to attack where the sticky spots are located rather than dabbing blindly or using a dry alternative to wipe away said goo!
Keep wringing and rewetting the mop until no more sticky remains. You may have to do these additional times should your flooring be severely gummed up; it depends on your case specifically.
3. Clean sticky residue on wood floors
Now that you’ve gone over to the halfway point of your cleaning spree, you might be feeling like the hard work is catching up to you.
If this is true, use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on your sticky wood floors if they are not as clean as you would have liked them to be by now.
This should help loosen up any remaining sticky residue your mop may have neglected to remove while mopping earlier.
4. Mild soap & warm water
To effectively clean a sticky wood floor, one should start by creating a mildly soapy cleaning solution that contains ¼ of a cup of mild soap per 4 gallons of water.
In other words, you’ll want to make sure you clear any debris or dirt with a vacuum cleaner or broom first. Put the mop in the solution, wring it out, and tackle the sticky area.
After a while, you should clean the sticky wood floors with visible success.
When attempting to clean any floor, one must always be on guard against accidentally overfilling equipment with too much water – since this can easily damage the hardwood in question.
5. Clean with a steam mop
Not every household owns a steam mop, but they are easy to find, and in most cases, you can even rent one if necessary.
This will save you from having to buy one of your own if the need is only temporary. A steam mop is a great way to dampen sticky messes from your floors, no matter what sort of residue it comes with.
Conclusion
How to clean sticky wood floors. There may be quite a few ways to fix sticky wood floors, but the first step to it is determining what could be causing it.
You don’t want to use too many chemicals since they can make the stickiness worse than before. If an issue arises because of different detergents and water, the solution is simple: pick one or the other.
In some cases, there might be excess fat on your floor, causing it to stick easily. In this case, you could try a degreaser to wipe away all that extra fat.
We’d also encourage you to change your mop pad as soon as you notice signs of dirtiness on it and keep using clean water if needed. So follow these steps for one flawless cleanup.
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