A few years ago I realized the cleaning products I was using on my engineered hardwood at my house was building up & making the surface look scratched up. My youngest & I spent a few hours a day for several weeks on the floor with Simple Green, toothbrushes, and rags hand cleaning every bit of that floor. Looked like NEW again!
Fast forward to now. We moved into a rent house closer to the old man's job that belongs to a friend of his. The guy is maybe in his early 30s and lived alone in this 3000 sq ft behemoth with his dog until moving in with the new fiancé. I don't think he ever really cleaned or updated anything. So this is a massive undertaking, to say the least. To give you an idea what I'm talking about here, it took me 2 afternoons with tools, scotch pads, and Simple Green to get the master shower clean & white again. I still need to retouch the gaps in the grout, seal it, and silicone the joints. But it's clean.
So the downstairs flooring is 2/3 real parquet hardwood. I'm thinking its oak. The house was built in '96 so I'm guessing its original. I'd rip it out & go down with new (always wanted to do a wood floor!) but the foundation has to be leveled first. Should be done by the end of the year (after the guy's wedding). Until then, I gotta get that floor clean. I was cool using Simple Green on my engineered hardwood but this oak parquet is more porous. Not as confident I won't damage it. The crud is built up seriously bad especially in the family room. Any suggestions what might be safe to use to clear thru that buildup without damaging the wood??? Obviously I can't use the scotch pads to scrub. That would kill the finish for sure. God, I do not want to do the toothbrush thing again. I'm also unsure what scrubby tool to use. Maybe one of those plastic scrubbies that's kinda like a scouring pad but safe for non-stick pans???
I've recently been exploring the uses for baking soda + vinegar. Cleans an oven & stainless like a champ! I read in my Googling of this subject where apple cider vinegar is a good option. Anyone tried apple cider vinegar as a cleaner of anything? The article mentioned cider vinegar vs. white vinegar because of a conditioning agent for the wood. Interesting.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I hope to have the kitchen tile defunked (hands & knees w/Simple Green) by mid week next week. Then that wood is gonna get an overhaul its obviously not had in at least 5 years.
Fast forward to now. We moved into a rent house closer to the old man's job that belongs to a friend of his. The guy is maybe in his early 30s and lived alone in this 3000 sq ft behemoth with his dog until moving in with the new fiancé. I don't think he ever really cleaned or updated anything. So this is a massive undertaking, to say the least. To give you an idea what I'm talking about here, it took me 2 afternoons with tools, scotch pads, and Simple Green to get the master shower clean & white again. I still need to retouch the gaps in the grout, seal it, and silicone the joints. But it's clean.
So the downstairs flooring is 2/3 real parquet hardwood. I'm thinking its oak. The house was built in '96 so I'm guessing its original. I'd rip it out & go down with new (always wanted to do a wood floor!) but the foundation has to be leveled first. Should be done by the end of the year (after the guy's wedding). Until then, I gotta get that floor clean. I was cool using Simple Green on my engineered hardwood but this oak parquet is more porous. Not as confident I won't damage it. The crud is built up seriously bad especially in the family room. Any suggestions what might be safe to use to clear thru that buildup without damaging the wood??? Obviously I can't use the scotch pads to scrub. That would kill the finish for sure. God, I do not want to do the toothbrush thing again. I'm also unsure what scrubby tool to use. Maybe one of those plastic scrubbies that's kinda like a scouring pad but safe for non-stick pans???
I've recently been exploring the uses for baking soda + vinegar. Cleans an oven & stainless like a champ! I read in my Googling of this subject where apple cider vinegar is a good option. Anyone tried apple cider vinegar as a cleaner of anything? The article mentioned cider vinegar vs. white vinegar because of a conditioning agent for the wood. Interesting.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I hope to have the kitchen tile defunked (hands & knees w/Simple Green) by mid week next week. Then that wood is gonna get an overhaul its obviously not had in at least 5 years.