How to Safely Clean Unfinished Hardwood Floors

Unfinished hardwood flooring can provide you with a very natural and rustic look in your home. When you have this type of hardwood, you are going to need to make sure that you clean it safely. Many cleaners out there will damage unfinished hardwood and you want to avoid causing any permanent damage to your floor. Here are the basics of how to safely clean unfinished hardwood floors.

Step 1--Removing Dirt and Dust

Anytime that you have hardwood flooring you are going to have to spend some time regularly removing dirt and dust. In order to do this, you can use a simple rboom and dustpan in most cases. If you have a vacuum cleaner that works on hard surfaces, this can be a great tool to use as well. You are going to want to do this at least once a week and most likely, twice a week. Dirt and dust can build up quickly on wood flooring and you want to get rid of it as quickly as you can.

Step 2--Trisodium Phosphate

If you spill something on the floor that stains the wood, you could try using trisodium phosphate in order to clean it up. When you do this, make sure that you start out with a small amount of trisodium phosphate and put it on the stained area. Use a small scrubbing brush to scrub deep into the grain of the unfinished hardwood. You will then want to use water to wash the floor. After you wash the floor, you are going to want to wipe up all of the moisture. You should do this with a clean white rag. Make sure that there is no moisture left on top of the wood. Liquid and hardwood flooring do not go together very well and it could damage your floor if you do not dry address it completely.

Step 3--Mineral Spirits

Mineral spirits are something else that you can try on unfinished hardwood floors. Mineral spirits are a good all-around cleaner for flooring. It does not have any harsh chemicals in it that will permanently damage the unfinished hardwood floor. You can simply put some on a rag and use it to wipe down the floor. Sometimes, this will work where other cleaning methods do not. When you are done, you want to make sure not to leave any excess mineral spirits on the wood.

Step 4--Sand Out the Stain

Since you are dealing with unfinished hardwood flooring, you do not have to worry about affecting the finish on the floor. Because of this, you have an option that many other people do not. If something stains the floor permanently, you can simply sand it out. Take your sander and use it to sand the stained area. You want to make sure that you do not sand down into the floor too far. When you are done, clean up the dust and the floor should be back to normal.