Machine that cleans hardwood

I saw a hardwood floor cleaner at Orchard (do you have one of those near you?) the other day. The solution that it uses is only good for unfinished floors, and I'm not sure if you can use it without the solution.

I am looking for something to clean wood laminate flooring.

Yes there is, I clean homes for a living, so I  do alot of floors, all kinds. A steam mop is the best I have found, one that produces dry steam is better. Sharks pro is a good little steam mop. but if you want one that cleans everything in your home Oreck has a very good one. You uses only water so you get no build up on your floors and the hot steam kills all the germs. Do not put any  hardwood or tile cleaners on your floors, over time it builds up and starts to peel off, u will have to get down and scrub it up. Steam is the way to go. Hope this helps you.

If you are cleaning wood floors that are real wood you want to be careful using water or steam because it will damage and cause the wood planks to shrink and expand a bunch and ruin the sealer between the planks. It is helpful to use a humidifier or steam a bunch of water on the stove and get the house really moist and then dust mop the flooring with a microfiber mop which works AMAZING and that will clean them like you never believe.

If you have engineered wood floor definately do not use water and steam as this will destroy the flooring over time. I had a friend that spilled boiling water on the floor and it ruined the flooring and they had to re-do the floor. What a mess.

Anyhow just took classes on water remediation and learned these things about wood floors. Hope this helps as I learned that I was using too much water on my indigenous floors and have ruined between the planks and now we have to reseal the floors.

i do floors for a living and trust me a microfiber mop is the way to go!

Thank you everyone.  Specifically, i am looking for a machine that cleans my hard floors (bamboo wood, slate, tile, vinyl). I purchased a Bissel Steam mop and while it does steam, i had to squegee the floor afterwards.  Isn't there a hard floor cleaner that suctions the steam and water?  Please help. 

I use a floor mate machine. I too have vinyl, tile, and wood floors in my home. I works great. It dry vacs, scrubs and wet vacs. It also comes with a grout attachment.

It isn't clear whether the thread is about everday cleaning of floors, once-a-year cleaning or even rarer cleaning.  Do you wax your hardwood floors?  You might have to use ammonia to strip off the wax to do a really good cleaning.  I don't think it would be wise to get water on hardwood floors on a frequent basis. 

I'm with fishfacejr2. microfiber mops are what housecleaners use. They're gentle, absorbent, and do a great job picking up dust as well as dirt. A mild dilution of floor cleaner like Pine-Sol sprayed on the microfiber will do wonders for your floor. And, it can be laundered and re-used.

I'm looking for a small electric buffer. I had one years ago and it was wonderful for my wood floors and for my kitchen floor. Any suggestions?

Phyllis from Carle Place, NY

What is a floor mate machine?

When we lived in the Pacific Northwest, we had random-width alder hardwood throughout our home. I used the following method: first, vacuum if necessary (or if you prefer). Next, using a professional window cleaner's strip washer (attach it to a broom handle), apply Trewax Floor Cleaner in the middle of the room. Now, spread it all around the floor; then starting in the area farthest from the door use a squeegee on a broom handle to bring all the crud towards the door. At this point, you can use an old towel or rag to scoop it all up. Once you get the hang of it, you can do an entire house in about an hour; maybe an hour and a half and you'll find that you no longer have to vacuum first. The great thing about this method is that you actually remove the crud, not just rearrange it. I purchase all my cleaning supplies by the gallon at janitorial supply houses. I find these to be the best products at the best prices. Don't worry about buying it by the gallon, you'll use it and it doesn't go out of date. Cleaning the entire 1800sf of wood floors once a week, I found that a gallon lasted about 1 ½ to 2 years. Can't beat that for $15.00! Another advantage to this method is that the cover of the washer strip can be put in the clothes washer with the rags, washed in hot water with bleach (use the whitest whites, sanitary or diaper cycle)and you have truly eliminated the dirt from the house!   

To clean laminate flooring use the method I described above but substitute white vinegar. No, your house wil not smell like a pickle. It will simply smell clean. If you have streaks, it means that you either have not removed all the dirt or you did not follow the grain of the flooring. I got the tip for white vinegar from the international headquarters of Pergo when we put it in our Lake Tahoe home. That was over 1800sf. Purchase it at Costco or BJs for less than $3.00 per gallon. Another bargain.

Yes. Model 86891, the Hoover "All Terrian" steam vac can be used on both carpet and flooring. It features a squeege in the front for floors and bristles for both surfaces.

CarlePlacePhyllis said…

I'm looking for a small electric buffer. I had one years ago and it was wonderful for my wood floors and for my kitchen floor. Any suggestions?

Phyllis from Carle Place, NY

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look at the "motor scrubber" its a small battery pack powerd buffer that i think is 8" and its on a pole that extends so you can clean walls and such :D