One of the conditions I had when we bought our house was that we had to replace the HORRIBLE carpet with hardwood. Because we were on a very strict budget we searched and searched before finding the right one on Build Direct. We ended up with Hand Scraped Engineered Hardwood. If you are unfamiliar with Engineered flooring basically its a few layers of MDF with a small layer of real wood on the very top. Engineered is great because its a lot less expensive, its doesnt warp and swell the way real hardwood can (the MDF stabilizes it more) and it still looks fantastic.
Something that I think a lot of people fail to realize is that most pre-finished hardwood have a sealed top but are NOT sealed in the cracks (unless you get glue in 100% of the groove) so using things like steam mops, can damage them. (You can tell if your floor is sealed by pouring a small amount of water on it. If it sits on the surface you are fine but if it is absorbed then your floor is unsealed.) The other problem that I found using a steam mop is that it leaves the floor really dull and footprints are seem to be visible right away.
There are a million hardwood floor care products out there but my fave for the last 4 years has been the original Murphy Oil Soap. It just leaves the floor clean. There isnt any waxy, sticky, or slippery finish left over. And I am pretty sure my grandma uses it because the smell makes me think of here. (Insert collective awwwww here.)
To clean them I squirt Murphy Oil Soap on a 3×3 section and then use a clean dry washcloth to get off all of the footprints, dirt and ahem…frosting. You can use a mop also if you dont like going Cinderella style.
When Murphy Oil Soap contacted me about spreading the word of their new “Repin Reforest” Pinterest page, I was so excited because it is really how I take care of my floors and we are saving trees!! That my friends is what we call a win win.
Murphy Oil Soap has partnered with The Arbor Day Foundation as part of its We Save Wood™ campaign to generate awareness of the importance of tree conservation and education. We can all support this “Repin, Reforest” cause by visiting the “Repin Reforest”Pinterest page.
With each repin Murphy Oil Soap will donate $1.00 to The National Arbor Day Foundation! So get your pinning finger ready folks.
For more information, visit https://www.MurphyOilSoap.com/Saving-Trees.
And the fun has just begun. My friend Jen (of the Tatertots and Jello fame) and I are co-hosting a twitter party TONIGHT at 9 pm EST. We are chatting all things DIY and Decor and we would LOVE to have you join us! Oh, and we are also giving away some pretty fantastic prizes. Follow the #repinreforest hashtag and we will see you there!! xo
Two things: 1) I would strongly consider wearing a Murphy Oil Soap scented cologne. Would need to pass that one by my wife though. Love that smell, and love using it around the house.
2) The National Arbor Day Foundation is great, and when you pay their 10 dollar membership fee, they send you 10 actual trees for you to plant. They let you pick from a pre-set list of different trees, some of which are ten of the same tree, others are a mix. Best deal around, and it’s for a good cause.
Repinned!
Thanks for this timely post! We need to rip up the carpet in our upstairs due to allergies, and I’ve been researching hardwood (outside of budget), laminate, and engineered hardwood. You’ve helped put a few checks in the “engineered” column.
I tried Murphy’s Oil Soap for the fist time this weekend, and I have to say I was really disappointed. I followed the directions to the T, diluted with water, and my espersso-colored hardwood was streaky. DISLIKE. I went over it with my Norwex mop and stillw wasn’t able to get it all. I won’t be using the Murphy’s again. 🙁
Thanks for sharing this! I’m a renter and have wood floors and have been wondering what the best product was to clean them. I’ll definitely give Murphy’s a try.