How To Mop a Wood Floor

  • December 6, 2007
  • 10,229 Views
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Cinderella’s plight has given mopping a bad name—but don’t let poor PR keep you from a bright, shiny floor.

You Will Need

  • A broom, or a vacuum cleaner with a floor attachment
  • A bucket of water
  • Some wood cleaner or dishwashing liquid
  • And a mop
How To Mop a Wood Floor: Check floor

Step 1: Check floor

Make sure your floor is sealed. If it’s not, it’s probably waxed and shouldn’t be mopped. Check by rubbing a finger across it. If you don’t leave a smudge, the floor is probably sealed.

How To Mop a Wood Floor: Vacuum floor

Step 2: Vacuum floor

Vacuum or sweep the floor free of dust and particles.

How To Mop a Wood Floor: Consult directions

Step 3: Consult directions

Consult the directions for your wood cleaning product and add the appropriate amount to the bucket of water.

If you don’t have a wood cleaning product, add a quarter cup of dishwashing liquid to your bucket instead.

How To Mop a Wood Floor: Dampen mop

Step 4: Dampen mop

Dampen the mop head in the bucket, then wring it out completely—the less water on your wood floor, the better.

How To Mop a Wood Floor: Mop floor

Step 5: Mop floor

Push and pull the mop back and forth across the floor in the direction of the wood grain.

How To Mop a Wood Floor: Wring out & mop

Step 6: Wring out & mop

Continue dampening the mop, wringing it out, and dragging it across the floor with the grain.

How To Mop a Wood Floor: Change water

Step 7: Change water

Change the water and cleaning solution whenever it gets too dirty to be effective.

How To Mop a Wood Floor: Rinse floor

Step 8: Rinse floor

When the entire floor has been mopped, refill the bucket with just water and mop the floor again in the same way to rinse off any soap residue.

How To Mop a Wood Floor: Stay off floors

Step 9: Stay off floors

Stay off your floors until they’ve completely dried. Your Fairy Godmother would be so proud.

Cinderella stories appear in the folklore of many cultures—there are as many as 1,500 different versions of the tale.

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Comments (1)

HeyHeyHohm

How do you tell which way the grain is going? How can you prevent chair legs from scratching the wood floor?

over 3 years ago by HeyHeyHohm

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Video is in Cleanup Made Easy: Carpets and Floors (5 videos)