‘How do you keep your floors clean?!’ This is one of the TOP questions I get on Instagram!
Here’s the reality, friends … I live with a husband + two kids + a dog. You can do the math … our house gets messy … on the daily! My wood floors get it the worst!
Below I’ll share my tools and methods for how to clean engineered wood floors in my OWN home! I have two FAV tools and one FAV cleaning product, and all three are completely safe for both engineered and solid wood floors … including the ONE and ONLY product I will spray on my wood floors! This is NOT a sponsored post!
Affiliate links are used in this post for your shopping convenience. Click HERE for my full disclosure policy.
QUICK SWEEP OF ENGINEERED WOOD FLOORS
When I just want to do a quick clean up dust bunnies, grass (from the dog), and crumbs (from the kids), I use my Swiffer Sweep + Vac. It is SO light and easy! It’s cordless (yes!) so I charge it whenever I’m not using it. I LOVE that I don’t have to lug a cord around. It’s quick and it’s easy to just do a quick sweep!
THE SWIFFER SWEEP AND VAC STARTER KIT I PHOTO: AMAZON
Here’s where the magic is … the fiberous cloth picks up light things such as dust and hair, while the suction picks up the heavier stuff such as grass and crumbs. The cloths are soft and glide easily over my wood floors. Bonus: the pads double as furniture and accent dusters for me! I have not tried the WET Swiffer Sweeper because I love the DRY version so much!
HOW I STORE MY DYSON AND SWIFFER (HORRIBLE PIC, BUT YOU GET THE IDEA!)
You might enjoy My REAL House vs. my Instagram REEL House.
VACUUM OF ENGINEERED WOOD FLOORS
When I want a stronger vacuum of my engineered wood floors, I use my Dyson V6 Absolute. Like the Swiffer, it charges when not in use, so I don’t have to worry about a cord when I’m vacuuming. (Can you tell I hate lugging cords around when vacuuming?!)
THE DYSON V6 ABSOLUTE I PHOTO: AMAZON
Here is what I LOVE about my Dyson:
- this particular model is AFFORDABLE … unlike some of Dyson’s other products
- it’s lightweight and rotates, so you can EASILY get into little crevices and corners!
There is one drawback … you have to hold the ‘ON’ button the whole time you are vacuuming. Hopefully, they’ve changed this feature since I bought mine, but that is my only negative!
THE DYSON IS LIGHT ENOUGH FOR MY 9-YEAR-OLD TO (PRETEND TO) VACUUM!
You might enjoy Solid Hardwood vs. Engineered Wood Flooring.
DEEP CLEAN OF ENGINEERED WOOD FLOORS
When I want to deep clean my engineered wood floors, I use BONA Hardwood Floor Cleaner with the BONA Microfiber Mop! This is the ONLY product I trust on my wood floors! Let’s just say I learned the hard way what products NOT to use on my wood floors!
THE HANDHELD SPRAY BOTTLES AND MY (WELL USED) MICROFIBER PADS
I’ve been using BONA for ten years, and I have had ZERO issues with it! I highly recommend it! I also use the BONA Stone, Tile, and Laminate Floor Cleaner on my tile flooring! You have two options on how to use Bona. You can purchase a hand-held spray and use a simple BONA mop (this is what I do) OR there is a fancy mop that you can attach the cleaning fluid and simply press a button to activate the spray. Bona now offers a Free + Clean version as well!
THE ‘FANCY’ MOP WITH SPRAY ATTACHED I PHOTO: AMAZON
CONCLUSION
Like most humans, I HATE cleaning my house! HATE IT! So, I do everything in my power to find easy ways to get a quick clean with minimal effort! The Swiffer Sweep + Vac and Dyson V6 Absolute are VERY minimal effort and make a huge impact! They had me at ‘cordless’! The BONA spray is super effective and a safe way to clean engineered wood floors (and is great for solid hardwood too)!
What are your favorite methods for cleaning your floors?!
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Im soooo glad to see you use Bona floor cleaner too! Its the only thing I’ve ever used since we remodeled & put hardwood everywhere but bathrooms & laundry. Walmart sales it too! Great post. Sure don’t want to mess up our floors!
I love Bona!!!! Someone recommended it to me about ten years ago, and I’ve never strayed from it!
Thank you for this amazing floor cleaning too! I have been vacuuming, using a steamer then an Oreck orbuter with their cleaner and it’s been too much hard work! Gonna give this a try! So grateful for your advice, expertise, your sharing of your bloggorgeous home and your blog
Awe! Thank you for your sweet message, Kaye! I hope you love these products as much as I do!
Do not install engineered hardwood flooring if you have large dogs! I would recommend tile that looks like wood.
Thank for your comment! Your experience will be very helpful to others who read this post! My dog is small and my engineered wood floors are distressed, so we haven’t had a problem!
[…] 6. HOW TO CLEAN ENGINEERED WOOD FLOORS: MY METHOD […]
Do you find that the Bona spray leaves smudges on your floor? I tried that and it is still so cloudy, any tips??
I don’t have problems with Bona leaving smudges on my floor. I’ve been using it for over ten years and haven’t had any issues. I’m sorry you’re seeing smudges :(.
Do you need to dampen the microfibre pad before you start or do you just spray with the BONA & use a dry pad?
No need to dampen the microfiber pad before you spray the Bona!
Does Bona build up?
In my experience, the Bona does not build up on our floors. We’ve been using it on these floors for almost seven years and haven’t had an issue.
For everyone using Bona and still have streaks or cloudy floors, rinse the pad often. Don’t just leave the pad on the mop and clean the entire home. You do have to keep rinsing/wringing out the mop pad to remove whatever residue is on it. My home is 1251sq ft spread out over 4 floors (townhome). My living room and kitchen are the only rooms to have engineered hardwood flooring, so 408 sq ft total. I rinse and wring out the mop pad at least 4 or 5 times over the entire space. Sometimes, if my kids or cats cause more dirt and grime, I will have to do more. Just keep rinsing and wringing.
Thank you, Rose, for the helpful tip! I’m sure this will be very useful to others who read this blog post :).
I have just moved in to a new home and the floors have been a puzzle. I will try your suggestions. Thanks
Thanks for the info!! You mention that you are using the Bona hardwood formula on your engineered floor? How does it differ from the tile and laminate version? Thought the hardwood formula wasn’t supposed to be used on engineered floors? We have a home with 3 golden retrievers, so all the hair/dander requires sweeping/ bona cleaning almost daily! We also use the Dyson with a Bona! I’m always searching for a better method!!
I don’t know the exact chemical differences between the wood and tile Bona products, but I have been using the wood product on my engineered wood floors for seven years. We have never had a problem. I use the tile version only on tile and haven’t tested it on my engineered wood since engineered wood does have a layer of real wood … it just isn’t solid wood.
I didn’t know that there are these other new ways to clean these engineered wood floors. Thank you very much for the information! Don’t hesitate to share some of your tips on other subjects as well.
When we put the Bona cleaner on and then use the polisher it looks amazing. However, if a drop of water drips on it it leaves a white film on the floor and if I spray the cleaner it then takes off the shine. Not to mention we experience build. Is anyone else experiencing this and/or using the Bona cleaner and then after it dries use the Bona polisher?
Great question, Crystal! I haven’t used the Bona polisher so I don’t have an answer to your question.
I used Rejuvenate on my engineered hardwood floors; big mistake. What Bona product should I use to clean off the Rejuvenate and what should I use to keep my floors looking good in the future.
I put in the wrong address for my email a few minutes ago about using Rejuvenate and wanting to remove it on my ENGINEERED HARDWOOD FLOORS. Please advise how to clean it off and what to use in the future.
Hi Mary … I’m not familiar with the Rejuvenate product. I’m also not an expert in flooring. I recommend that you go to a local flooring store and ask them how you should proceed to clean the product off and what to use in the future. I love Bona for my engineered hardwood floors. I’ve been using it for about 14 years. Good luck! – Carrie
I used the boba high sheen and it left smudge look . The floor person told me not to use high sheen. I haven’t since and after almost a year my floors look great.
Thanks for providing this useful information on this blog about the hard floors for a wood floor. ceramic tile floor cleaning
Hello all,
We just got new tile in the kitchen and engineered, waterproof, maple wood made by the Robbins company installed in other living spaces. I was clueless about how to clean off the cloudy, looking smudges that the installers footwear left, so I called Robbins and a lady there told me to get Bruce hardwood and laminate floor cleaner, but first to use low odor, mineral spirits to clean off the smudges left by the workers. The installers did a great job, but in the daylight, you can see lots of places where, it’s just smudgy looking. I’m looking forward to getting the mineral spirits which I am ordering from Amazon today. Hope this is beneficial and thanks, Caroline for your great posts! Has really helped me to decide what kind of mops/vacuums to get. .❤️😊❤️
Thank you so much for sharing, Ann :).
If you’ve been using Bona and it leaves your engineered hardwood cloudy, the Bona help site says you are using too much. I loathe cleaning and my house is entirely engineered hardwood and tile. I’ve bern looking for an eady sweeper but not necessarily battery operated. Our house is 1900sq ft but I do mot have the correct space to leave a plug in sweeper in. Any suggestions on corded models you like?
For years l have been using water/vinegar on my dark engineered floors. l first swift the floors, then finish cleaning with slightly damp clothes (Water/vinegar)
not cloudy/or smudges.