Cleaning floors is a hard work. You have to sweep, mop and sometimes even get down on your hands and knees and scrub. Besides, you even have to use all of the harsh chemicals to make your floors really shine. There’s got to be a better way.
Fortunately, there are several ways to clean floors without using too many toxic chemicals. With the list below, you can clean just about any type of floor with products you already have.
1. Heavy duty tile cleaner
Vinegar is a great floor cleaner, especially if you have tile floors. Just mix 1/4 cup vinegar, 1 teaspoon liquid dish soap, 1/4 cup washing soda and 2 gallons tap water in a bucket. When the mixture is good and sudsy, use it to mop your tile floors. While this will make your tile floors look as good as new, don’t use it for waxed floors as it makes the wax gunky.
2. Three-ingredient laminate floor cleaner
The easiest DIY cleaner for laminate floors involves just three ingredients and you need only 5 ounces of each: vinegar, rubbing alcohol and water. Combine these into a spray bottle or spray mop and you’re ready to make your floor shine. (You can add a few drops of essential oil to this mixture if you want a certain smell, but that’s entirely up to you.)
3. Clean a dirty microwave
Nobody likes to cook in a dirty microwave, but cleaning it is not a pleasant chore. Heat water and vinegar to make the job easier.
4. Clean stainless steel
Don’t have stainless steel cleaner? Try out the super simple hack. It will have your appliances clean in no time.
5. Carpet cleaner
Forget buying expensive carpet cleaners. Easily use household products you already have to clean up spills.
6. Restore hardwood floors
Your best option is to make your own all-natural restorer, which requires only 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon vinegar and 20 drops of your favorite essential oil. Just spray this combination over your hardwood floors and spread it using a microfiber mop pad. Once the floor is thinly coated, use a clean mop pad to buff your floors to a “like new” shine.
7. Remove marker from hardwood floors
If you have children and hardwood floors, then you’ve probably dealt with plenty of kid-related stains on your floors. Most stains can be taken care of with your usual cleaning products, but what about something like permanent marker? The name implies that it’s not going anywhere, no matter how much soap and water you use. Fortunately, permanent marker can be easily erased with just a dab of toothpaste. Put the toothpaste on the stain and scrub with a damp cloth until the mark is gone.
8. Black tea wood floor cleaner
Black tea is the thing for you and your hardwood floors. Boil 2-4 bags of black tea in 1 quart of water. The longer you let it boil, the darker the tea, so keep that in mind depending on the color of your floors. Let the tea cool and then soak a soft cloth in it. Wring out the excess tea and scrub your floor in the direction of the grain.
