Winter viruses are in full swing, which means if your house has been hit hard by sickness, disinfecting has become part of your daily routine. While killing germs on hard surfaces, like countertops, door knobs, and tables, is easy, you might be struggling with removing germs from your hardwood floors.
You can disinfect your hardwood floors if they are sealed. If you have unsealed hardwood floors, skip the disinfectant and all types of moisture, or you risk the chance of causing irreversible moisture damage, swelling, and warping of the floorboards.
Top Cleaners for Disinfecting Hardwood Floors
Hardwood floors have a topcoat on them that protects the wood underneath from scratches and moisture damage. To preserve this topcoat, you must use gentle cleaners that can remove germs without causing harm to the floor. You should forgo bleach-containing cleaners or anything too acidic, like undiluted white distilled vinegar.
While your regular mopping solution won’t disinfect, a few on the market do.
- Pine-Sol: Original Pine-Sol works as a disinfectant when used as directed. In order for it to kill germs, you’ll need to use it undiluted or diluted at 1 cup of Pine-Sol per ½ gallon of water. After sweeping your floors, mop with Pine-Sol and ensure floors are visibly wet for at least ten minutes for full disinfecting properties. Then, rinse the floors with a clean, damp mop.
- Lysol Clean & Fresh Multi-Surface Cleaner: After sweeping your floors, use Lysol Clean & Fresh Multi-Surface Cleaner at full strength or diluted at a 1:5 cleaner-to-water ratio. Apply to the floor and let it sit for six minutes before rinsing with a clean mop and drying.
- Clorox Scentiva Wet Mopping Cloths: If you’re looking for the easiest way to disinfect your sealed wood floors, Clorox mopping cloths are your best bet. They kill 99.9% of germs and will clean and disinfect in one swoop.
Steam mops are also capable of killing 99.9% of germs without utilizing chemicals. Instead, they heat water past the boiling point and then release powerful steam, which dislodges dirt and kills bacteria and viruses. However, overuse of a steam mop can ruin your hardwood floors.
Save the steam mop for when you need to deep clean your floors or remove germs and use a gentle, pH-neutral cleaner for your regular mopping needs.
How to Disinfect Your Hardwood Floors: Step by Step
Disinfecting your hardwoods isn’t much more difficult than employing your regular floor cleaning routine. Here’s what to do.
Step 1: Remove All Items from the Floor and Sweep
Make sure you’re disinfecting the whole floor by removing any rugs, baskets, or easy to move furniture out of the way. Then, thoroughly sweep or vacuum your hardwoods.
Step 2: Spot Treat Dirty Areas
Use a mop or wet cloth to spot-treat any visibly dirty areas on your floor. Your hardwoods should look relatively clean before you use your disinfectant. (Unless you’re using a mopping pad or steam mop.)
Step 3: Apply the Disinfectant
Apply the disinfecting wood cleaner. Dilute it per the instructions on the package and ensure you let the cleaner sit for the recommended amount of time. Most disinfectants must be visibly wet on their cleaning surface for at least five to ten minutes.
Step 4: Rinse and Dry
Rinse the floor with a clean mop pad dampened in water if necessary. Then, use a dry mop pad or towels to remove excess moisture from the floor.
