Learn the negative effects of cleaning your wood floors with dish soap and water.
Water and wood are not a happy couple. Water causes wood to expand, warp and sometimes even rot. Wet mopping a wood floor is as serious as loosing your warranty. Many consumers are skeptical about the different cleaning products on the market. This growing concern is primarily because various cleaning products contain toxic ingredients and they often do not deliver the results they promise.
That said, a lot of people use dish soap as an all-purpose cleaning product. One of the top dish soap pics for cleaning wood floors is Dawn. It is a widely available liquid soap. We all know that dish soap cuts grease and dirt on dishes very well. With this in mind, a lot of people feel it will do the same to their wood floors. They feel that their wood floors will be clean and shiny. It is a cheap, easy to make solution that anybody can try. This is why it is so appealing. Regardless of the outcome, I personally do not recommend cleaning wood floors with dish soap and water, but I will still show you how it’s done.
The dish soap has to be pH neutral to be effective. It has to be mixed with water in a spray bottle. You need to shake the mixture to evenly distribute the dish soap. This wood floor cleaning method must be done in sections to have control on how much water is used and how quickly it is dried up. Some people use a dry terry cloth mop to distribute the dish soap solution to their wood floors. A rag will also do the trick. It will be quite easy to accidentally leave behind some dish soap still on your floors. This means you will have a tacky residue on your wood floors. In fact, most people don’t wipe it off. They leave it on. This sounds like an ineffective way to clean your wood floors. Make a dish soap and water solution. Pour it onto your floors. Wipe it around. Remove all the solution you can with some fresh water on a cloth. Even if you are attempting to remove the dish soap, with some water, you will never remove all of it.
Not everyone takes the last step and removes the soapy solution. Commonly, some will just rub the soapy solution with a cloth into their floors and not remove it. These people actually think that they are buffing their floors. Personally, I think they are spreading the soapy residue all over their wood floors. However, if you have ever washed dishes, you know that you need to rinse them with water to get the soap off. It does not wipe clean, no matter what anybody tells you! You cannot just rub it off! Dish soap does not work like that! Those of you who plan wet mop your hardwood floors to remove the soapy solution, beware that this act in itself will more than likely void your floor warranty. There are many people who wet mop with clean, warm water to remove the soapy solution. Indeed this will remove the soapy solution but it is the worst thing you can possibly do to your wood floors.
Dish soap is not designed for wood floors. Some dish soaps have the potential to strip the floor finish or prematurely deteriorate it.
Films left on wood floors generally dull the floor. Removing the film left behind by the dish soap is another process. It requires the use of vinegar in a spray bottle mixed with a little bit of water.