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In my profession of cleaning houses for a living, I have cleaned hard wood floors time and time again. And I’m always trying new things to save time.

Some of the things that I’ve tried when cleaning hardwood floors include:

• string mops
• sponge mops
• cleaning the floors by hand

All of these ways work, but they can take a lot of time!

Plus, using a string mop or a sponge mop requires that you lug around a bucket of water, and you have to repeatedly rinse the mop. Cleaning hardwood floors by hand means that you’re working on your hands and knees — which can be time-consuming and exhausting.

I have come up with a 2-step method for cleaning hardwood floors that is the fastest for me and gives the best results without all of the excess work.

 

Floor Cleaning Supplies

Things that you will need are:

• a flat mop or Swiffer
• a canister vacuum with wood floor attachment or a broom
• Bona hardwood floor cleaner

These products shouldn’t be hard to find. Most home repair and hardware stores (like Lowe’s and Home Depot) have them.

 

Cleaning Hardwood Floors In 2 Steps

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#1 – First, vacuum the floors very well. Start at the wall furthest away then work back until you have covered the entire floor.

This works best with a canister type vacuum that has a bare floor attachment because canister vacs work well at picking up all trash and dust that is on the floor, plus you can clean the baseboards as you go.

If you have a home with lot of wood floors, then I recommend a Miele vacuum because they are easy to work with and do a good job.

If you don’t have a canister vacuum, then sweeping your hardwood floors with a broom or a Swiffer will work.

 

#2 – Next, after you have swept the wood floors, then you can proceed cleaning them with a mop.

Start by spraying the floor with a wood floor cleaner (I like Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner), then just mop it up as you go.

I recommend using a flat mop to mop the hardwood floors. A flat mop comes with a cloth cover that is removable and washable. Plus, flat mops cover all areas of the floor well, and they don’t leave trash behind like string mops do.

If you don’t have a flat mop, then you can use the Swiffer mop instead for cleaning hardwood floors. Just  place a soft cloth on the Swiffer.

Using this method is the fastest way that I have found for cleaning hardwood floors. These steps give the best results with least amount of effort.