Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Homemade Floor Cleaners put to the Test

If you have kids you know how often you must mop your kitchen floor. You also know how impossible it is to keep that floor clean, my toddler loves to spill his milk or snack right after I just mopped. As frustrating as it can be mopping is a necessary part of housework. My floors usually need a good mopping every other day, if not daily. Since I mop a lot I go through cleaners in a hurry, even by using coupons this has been getting expensive.

After doing some research I decided that we would no longer buy any more floor cleaners. I will now make my own, it will save us money and I don’t have to worry about the chemicals I am using. My curious toddler likes to help mop from time to time and now I am comfortable allowing him to help. (Before I was always worried he would get into the mop water when I wasn't looking.)

I looked up several recipes for floor cleaners but I wanted to know which one really worked. So I tried 4 different solutions this past week and here’s what I thought. (FYI, I have a wood laminate kitchen floor.)


My favorite!
Vinegar Floor Cleaner

1 c. white vinegar (1/2 c. if cleaning wood floors)
2 gallon hot water
Couple drops of essential oils (optional)

Mix and Mop!

What I thought: I loved how simple this one is. I’ll be keeping my essential oil by the sink so I can quickly throw this together. It looks like this one is the winner in my book!

** Need essential oil? I found it at Hobby Lobby in the candle making section. Cut out the coupon from Sunday’s ad (it’s the tiny one on the bottom) and save 40% on this item.

Linoleum Floor Cleaner

¼ c. baking soda
2 gallons hot water
1T. dish soap
¼ c. vinegar

Dissolve baking soda in water and once almost full add 1 T. dish soap.
(If you add it too early it is makes this very sudsy and left streaks on my floor.)
Once you have 2 gallons of hot water with baking soda & dish soap, add ¼ c. vinegar and you’re ready to mop.

What I thought: I loved that this solution had vinegar, a natural disinfectant and baking soda which helps cut the grime. I used a scented dish soap which helped eliminate the smell of vinegar. I was very impressed at how this did a great job cutting through some tough spots (I think we spilled something sticky.). I will probably use this on days when I need a little extra umph.


Baby Shampoo Floor Cleaner
1-2 t. Baby Shampoo
1 gallon hot water

Add baby shampoo after filling bucket half way to avoid a lot of suds & mop.

What I thought: This did a great job, but since my toddler spends a lot of time playing on the floor and occasionally eating a lost cheerio off the floor, I want a floor cleaner that also disinfectants.


Floor Disinfectant


½ c. borax
2 gallons hot water

Mix and Mop.


What I thought: I liked how simple this was but I didn’t think it cleaned effectively. It left streaks and left the floor feeling a bit sticky.

There's no going back now, these floor cleaners Work for Me. Check out other great tips this week at We're THAT Family.

26 comments:

  1. Thank you...I think I'll give a couple of these a try!

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  2. Sounds great! Now if someone could come up with an idea on how to keep them from getting dirty in the first place. I hate mopping! LOL.
    Blessings,
    Kim

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  3. I have just started using homemade cleaners and I'm so happy with the results! Do you have a solution for a homemade window cleaner? Someone mentioned hydrogen peroxide to me, but I don't know how to make it....

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    1. One gallon water and three drops of dawn dishsoap, or any dishsoap i guess, i use empty milk jug water first then soap. Put cap on and shake. Let it settle then clean :)

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    2. You can put peroxide in a spray bottle and use as it is on windows/mirrors, works great and is streak free!

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    3. I have one with club soda and vinegar I put it in the spray bottle

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    4. vinegar dawn and water mix together

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  4. Yeah for homemade cleaners! My favorite is vinegar and water too. I've got some other recipes should you want them!

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  5. Great info! I have been switching to homemade cleaning products myself; I'm getting a bit leary of the traditional commercial products. But the earth-friendly lines tend to be so expensive! I think I'll be trying a couple of these…

    Don't know how I ever lived without massive amounts of white vinegar! :)

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  6. LOVE the linoleum cleaner! This is now in my bookmark list! Thanks for the tips!

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  7. I just tried the linoleum cleaner, and love it!! My floor feel so clean! I`m compulsive when it comes to cleaning, so I love trying new things. This cleaner is a keeper though!! Thanks :)

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  8. Note: you will prevent suds in your bucket if you add the soap AFTER you fill up your bucket.

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  9. Can I use this on tile floor? Thanks!

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  10. I've since moved and use it on my tile floor in our kitchen and works great.

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  11. I use vinegar and water in a spray bottle. I mop on hands and knees with a clean rag. Mops just spread dirt around.

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  12. Hi

    Do you have a homemade cleaner for ceramic tile?

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  13. I tried so many homemade floor cleaners after using my Shark Steam Mop. I've been using it for 2 years now. I went down to wipe up a small water droplet off the floor.... RIGHT AFTER I JUST STEAM MOPPED... and came up with a black handprint on a white paper towel. Gross. So of course I scoured the internet for solutions to the steam mop not actually cleaning. I have now spent 4 hours cleaning JUST my kitchen floor and it was YOUR linoleum cleaner that actually worked (baking soda, white vinegar, water, & dawn in a spray bottle instead of a bucket). I sprayed the solution on my floor... let it sit... and then steam mopped it. I kept switching out my mop heads until I got one that came out clean after mopping.... it took 3 mops heads... but now I wipe the floor with a paper towel and no handprint. Thank you! Hopefully by using this solution on a regular basis I won't have to spend so long mopping my floors in the future... I'm assuming it took so long due to 2 years of built up grime from the stupid steam mop not properly cleaning :)

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  14. Did someone say that the linoleum cleaner can be used on tile? I have a great bath cleaner (homemade) but it's too soapy for tiles. Has anyone experimented with this new (and awesome) cleaner on tiles?

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  15. I just made and used the recipe for the linoleum floor cleaner and my kitchen floor has never been cleaner! Thanks for this!

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  16. Wow Awesome blog and helping information about lino floor cleaning. There are some high quality cleaning products for floor cleaning. Nice work and keep sharing!
    Lino Floor Cleaning

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  17. Love your tips. However, the yellow print on the green?? Is VERY hard to see and it hurts my eyes. Hope you will change it. I use the steamer with vinegar water and it works great.
    Keep up the good work, and PLEASE, change the color from green to another color, maybe red?? It honestly makes my eyes hurt. ♥♥

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  18. I just tried the linoleum recipe. It works very well. My floors are from the seventies so you can imagine how dingy they are. It helps to let the cleaner sit for a few minutes and then rinse with scalding hot water. I have a Hoover carpet steamer that I used to steam rinse. Although I scrub the floors regularly, they never really looked ir felt truly clean. My floors look and feel better than they have for years!

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  19. Do you wipe with water after clean the linoleum floor??

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  20. Nice article! I see your article is all about cleaning do you know any affordable cleaning products in the Philippines

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  21. Yes dear linoleum floor cleaner is a great way to clean your floor, well I haven’t used that till now, but I will definitely use this at my home especially in Kitchen as it is a great green cleaning product.

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