We recently had company and so I gave our home a thorough cleaning. I washed the floors, carpets, walls, etc. Probably cleaning more than I would do for myself this time of year. The floors were the hardest to clean, as we have cats and I have been tracking in some dirt from the garden these past couple months.
That put me on a tangent of thought. What is good to clean the floors that will not harm them, me or the cats. Here was what I came up with:
In our old house we had wood floors, real wood floors, not pergola. These were finished with varnish and tung oil, so as a result I used mineral spirits or Murphy’s oil soap with water. I infused the water with herbs for disinfecting. I like to use thyme water as thyme is a natural germ fighter (thymol -essence of thyme- is the main ingredient in items like Lysol). Herbal waters are herbs steeped in warm water for a long period, like a concentrated tea.
Here is the recipe I use to make a Murphy’s oil soap cleaner.
Versatile Cleaner Concentrate –
This concentrate can be mixed with herbal waters or vinegars for more powerful cleaning.
1 Tablespoon essential oil (you can use your favorite scent or a combination of scents)
1/2 cup concentrated oil soap paste
Mix the soap paste (like Murphy's Concentrate available at the hardware store) with the essential oil in a glass container with a metal or plastic spoon. Blend until the oil stops separating (sometimes a bit more paste is needed to get a good consistency and no separation). I use lemon oil as a first choice, but a combination with thyme oil, grapefruit or other citrus oils will also work well.
TO USE -- Dilute by adding 1 to 3 teaspoons of concentrate to 4 cups of plain or herbal water.
I also make vinegar cleaners, but you should never use vinegar on a wood floor, as this will discolor the finish or sealant. Murphy’s Oil Soap will work with vinegar too. I like a thyme or lemon herb vinegar using the recipe above on my tile floors (vinyl and ceramic) in the bathroom and kitchen.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Its providing good knowledge about cleaning wood. I liked it. Thank you too much.......