Are you looking for the best hardwood floor cleaner out there? Or maybe you’re looking for the best DIY cleaning products? Or you’re one of the many people out there who notices streaks after cleaning floors, and you want to know how to clean hardwood floors without streaks. Luckily, you’ve found all the info right here with my DIY hardwood floor cleaner recipe. 

This great DIY cleaning product is the ultimate solution to cleaning floors because it doesn’t require rinsing. That means less work for you because you don’t have to do a second pass at your floors to get that floor cleaner off! 

And this floor cleaner is super versatile! You can use it in a spray bottle and apply it with a flat head mop. Or, mix this in a bucket and use it with a microfiber head wring mop. And yes, we will talk about the best mop for hardwood floors. So all you hardwood floor owners, get ready for the best hardwood floor guide you could ever ask for. 

Make sure to check out Maker’s Clean line of premium products for all your cleaning needs!

Melissa Maker mopping the floor

DIY Hardwood Floor Cleaner

This recipe works because the small amount of dish soap gently lifts dirt off your floors without leaving residue behind. The vinegar cuts grease and residue and reveals your hardwood floor’s natural shine. 

To make this recipe, you need three ingredients that you probably already have in your home. 

  • 1/2 teaspoon dish soap 
  • 1/2 cup white vinegar 
  • 2 cups water 
  • 5 – 10 drops essential oil (optional)

The essential oil isn’t for cleaning purposes. It’s just a nice way to customize the scent of your cleaning product. So if you don’t have essential oils or you don’t like them, skip them!

Best Mop for Hardwood Floors

I’m not saying you need to rush out and buy a new mop just to clean your hardwood floors. Whatever mop you have, you can certainly use with a proper hardwood floor cleaner. However, a great mop cuts your cleaning time down by SO MUCH. And you’ll get better, streak-free floors with a great mop. 

So what mop should you choose? The Maker’s Clean Mop. The Maker’s Mop features a 360° pivot head so you can easily maneuver in and around tight spaces. And the Swivel lock lets you steady the head when you’re cleaning walls, windows, and more. Pair the best hardwood floor cleaner with the best mop and watch your floors get clean and streak-free in no time!

Melissa Maker holding Maker's Mop

How to Clean Hardwood Floors

So now you know the best hardwood floor cleaning recipe out there, but how do you use it? For a flat head mop or the Maker’s Mop, add the ingredients to a spray bottle and shake to mix. Then, spray a section of floors and mop. And don’t forget to mop in the direction of the wood grain to reduce the appearance of streaks.

For a microfiber head wring mop, you’ll want to double the amount of soap and vinegar, quadruple the amount of water, and mix in a bucket. And don’t forget to wring your mop out very well. And, just like with a flat head mop, move in the direction of the wood grain to reduce the appearance of streaks.

Best Hardwood Floor Cleaner

Personally, I think this is the best hardwood floor cleaner out there. If you think so too, or you have a modified recipe drop a comment below! Plus, Clean My Space wants to know your questions about floor cleaning! 

Do you have hardwood floors, vinyl, laminate… playdoh?! Leave your cleaning questions below, and we just might write an article and answer them. And we want to connect with you on Instagram too! If you post your cleaning adventures on Instagram, be sure to tag @cleanmyspace to be featured. 

And if you need more help cleaning your floors, be sure to check out my article How to Clean Hardwood Floors Without Streaks!, for more DIY floor cleaners, read DIY Floor Cleaners (Hardwood, Laminate, & Vinyl), and for more info on floor materials don’t forget Hardwood vs. Laminate vs. Engineered Hardwood Floors | What’s the Difference?

If you’re looking to up your cleaning game, take a look at our E-Book Bundle! It gives you three amazing e-books (The Complete Guide to Essential Oils, My 3-Wave Cleaning System, and 50 DIY Cleaning Recipes) and is the perfect gift for any cleaning fanatics out there!

AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases on amazon.com.

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Melissa Maker is an entrepreneur, cleaning expert, founder of Toronto’s most popular boutique cleaning service, and star of the Clean My Space channel on YouTube (but she still hates to clean!). Every week, Melissa delivers new videos dishing expert advice on cleaning products, tools, DIY substitutes, and practical, timesaving solutions to everyday problems. Melissa has appeared on the Today Show, and has been featured in InStyle, Real Simple, and Better Homes and Gardens.

14 COMMENTS

  1. Your floor cleaner is the best, no kidding. My kitchen and bathroom floors are linoleum and laminate everywhere else and were dull. Commercial products did nothing. They look new, shiny and are not slippery. Best tip ever. Thank you.

  2. So, she never replies here, but I’m going to post anyway. I was just about to make this but I wanted to do a little cross-checking first. There are a lot of hardwood floor sellers that say you SHOULD NOT use water and vinegar to clean hardwood floors. In many cases, it actually voids the warranty. I am wondering if using this solution with rubbing alcohol could help evaporate the mixture faster and prevent moisture damage, but I don’t know enough about combining different ingredients to know if that’s wise or if that would damage hardwood floors either.

  3. The first thing you need to be aware of is that there are different hardwood flooring cleaners that are made for specific kinds of floors. A tile cleaner would not be a good idea for a hard wood floor, so read the directions carefully or you could do more damage than good. When you are looking for a hard wood floor cleaner make sure the manufacturer says that it is specifically designed for wood floors or pre-enameled flooring.

  4. Hello Melissa, I am new in your channel and I love it, first of all I would like to congratulate you.
    I have seen that you use a lot the “dish shoap” for your “recipes”, but what ingredients mean that?
    There are a ton of dish soaps that have ingredients very harmful.

    Thank you.

  5. Hi Melissa, please can you tell me where I can find the recipe for a homemade tile cleaner? We have tiles and we use tile cleaner from the store, but would rather like to make our own. I typed tile cleaner in the search field but cannot seem to find a recipe. Please help?

  6. Hi, I have heard that vinegar dries out wood floors that have been coated with polyurethane. Does your recipe compensate for that? Thank you, Gloria

  7. Hi Melissa!
    Since we don’t have white vinegar here, is it the same if I use a cheap grape vinegar I can find in the market? Could it be too strong to use as a cleanser?

  8. I like to use a little bit of Citra-Solve, an orange oil based concentrated cleaner. 1st question: Can this kind of cleaner be used with microfiber cloths? 2nd question: Do you have any DIY recipe with this ingredient that does not leave residue?

    Thanks

  9. This recipe seems much more concentrated than the one in the “how to clean hardwood floors” video, but maybe I’m just doing the math wrong. Can you clarify? Thanks!

  10. Melissa,

    I have old fashioned waxed hardwood floors and water makes dark grey/black marks on the grain and looks terrible. Is this solution just for the new laminate wood floors?

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