Unfinished wood floors have become a popular choice for many homeowners in the world because they offer a natural look and a warm atmosphere in their homes. However, since there is no varnish layer to protect them from damage, cleaning them sometimes is a difficult task.
Once you have decided to choose this type of floor, make sure you know how to clean it correctly and safely. You know, strong cleaners and inappropriate cleaning tools can destroy your unfinished wood floor permanently.
Wow, it seems quite serious.
Don’t worry, if you want to your floor to look beautiful and last long, keep reading this article to find out how to properly clean unfinished wooden floors.
Table of Contents
Remove Dust And Dirt Every Day (It is Very Important)
Removing dust and dirt daily is the key to keeping your floor always clean. Like the carpet, if you do not clean up regularly, dirt will build up quickly on the unfinished wood floor that can damage its look.
The easiest way to remove dirt is to use a broom or vacuum machine. Dust and small bits of gravel on your shoe’s soles will migrate into your home, so let sweep the floor every day.
In case you use a vacuum machine, you need to be more careful. Since unfinished wooden floors are so vulnerable, your vacuum cleaner needs to have a dedicated wood floor setting. Otherwise, its brush roll can cause severe damage to your wood floor.
Also, to completely remove dust and dirt, you can also follow these ways:
Use a microfiber cloth: Wiping your floor gently with a soft cloth is one of the simplest techniques to remove dust. All you need to do is run the cloth along the wood surface to remove excess dirt. Make sure to rinse the cloth regularly during cleaning to avoid spreading dust around.
Clean your floor with a soft brush: A soft brush is a great tool to remove small debris trapped in grooves and ridges of the unfinished wood. It is also very soft, so you do not have to worry about any damage it can cause to your floor.
Note: Read more my post about Best Mop For Hardwood Floors. It will help you choose the right mop and clean your floor efficiently!
Deep Clean The Unfinished Wood Floor (Must-Do)
Clean your Floor With Trisodium Phosphate
Because unfinished wood floors are not water resistant, it is easily stained. That is also the reason why you need to dry your floor correctly and regularly remove the stains.
To handle these stains, let pour a small amount of trisodium phosphate onto the stained area and then, use a soft brush to scrub gently.
Once the stain is removed, rinse the spot clean with water. After that, since the unfinished floor is very absorbent, you need to dry that wet area with a cloth immediately. Try to absorb as much moisture as possible because standing water can cause the wood to warp and even destroy it.
Use Mineral Spirits
Using mineral spirits is also a popular way to clean your unfinished wood floor. Although mineral spirits do not hurt your floor, they may harm you. So make sure when cleaning your house with mineral spirits, your room is breathable, and you should wear a gas mask for extra protection.
First, you need to prepare a dry cloth and then use it to rub your floor gently. Mineral spirits can clean up stubborn stains that other detergents cannot do. But again, the most important thing is that you have to remove all the dirt on the floor before trying to clean it with anything.
Once you have finished, make sure there are no excess mineral spirits left behind on the floor. You can easily buy mineral spirits at most stores at an extremely affordable price.
Clean Your Unfinished Wood Floors with Vinegar
Vinegar is one of the natural and safest cleansers that we recommend you to use for cleaning. It is non-toxic, inexpensive, and simple to use. After cleaning with vinegar, you also do not need to rinse with water as it dries very quickly and leaves no residues like other strong detergents.
To clean your unfinished wood floors with vinegar, follow these steps:
- Remove dust, dirt, and any objects from the floor. If you can easily move furniture out of the way, let do so
- Block off the room so that children or pets do not go through the wet floor. Although vinegar is non-toxic, footprints may destroy the aesthetics of your clean floor
- Sweep or vacuum unfinished wood floors to remove all dirt, small pieces of gravel, hair, etc. before mopping them
- Prepare a mixture of vinegar and warm water at the ratio of one cup of vinegar to one gallon of warm water
- Dip the clean mop into the solution, dry it and start mopping the floor
- Remember to rinse your mop head regularly and change the solution if it starts to look dirty.
The Final Words
Cleaning unfinished wooden floors is so easy if you know which cleansers to use and how to apply them. The solutions mentioned above all are the easiest, safest, and cheapest ways to clean your unfinished wood flooring without causing any damage.
If you do not know how to clean unfinished wood floors, you can try all of these techniques until you find the best or most suitable one for your floor.
Hopefully, you found our article useful, and if you have any suggestions or questions, please leave comments below. Like and share this article to let others know Clairoliviawayman and thank you for reading!
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It’s great to learn that you can use mineral spirits to clean your unfinished wood floor. My wife and I are wanting to renovate our house and we were wondering how we can clean unfinished floors. I’ll be sure to tell her that we should use mineral spirits to clean unfinished wood floors.
I have a question about the wood floors in my house. The house (and floors) are 90 years old. I don’t know if they have ever been finished. The wood looks like it has dried out, i.e. lacks moisture. I washed the floors yesterday, and applied Howard Feed and Wax today. After letting the Howard’s sit for about 20 minutes, I then buffed with a handheld buffer.
Was this an OK thing to do, or should I start all over again?