I have a cleaning question for hardwood floors. The bedrooms in my house are hardwood and my two had bouts of diarreah over the weekend. I got them straightened out but Friday and Saturday night one or both of them went on my floor while I was sleeping so I didn't get it cleaned up right away. I now have dark spots on my hardwood. Anyone know what I can use to fix this??? It looks aweful! Also, waking up to the smell, was a very rude awakening!!

I wish I had advice. My mom's house was hardwood floors, and while Koda never had an accident while we lived there, one of the chis was sick for a few days and would have tons of diarrhea through the night and never seemed to make it out the dog door. Not sure how long her diarrhea would sit as we woke up at 5:30AM, but once we cleaned up (just pick up with a cloth and floor cleaner) we never had any dark spots left.

We inherited hardwood floors that are messed up because of the Orange Glo that the previous owner put on them! I would QUICKLY advise that if you are not sure what to use, you should call a local floor care company or even a floor refinisher. Last month I even tried to remove this Orange Glo. I can get the floors looking better but they still really need refinished.

You must be extra careful with the amount of water you use or the product itself. You can mess up the finish or even warp the wood.

Bona is a great hardwood floor cleaner.

Yes! Do research online for what not to use - also no mop n glo or Murphy's Wood Oil soap.
See Garden Web for ideas to clean it - incl. vinegar and water:
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cleaning/msg0310392916103.html?17

Lisa, you may be able to get away with a "screen and recoat" instead of refinish if it's just surface issues (scratches, dullness, etc) instead of major floor issues. It's waaaaaaay cheaper and faster! We did that to a dull finish (light sanding and recoat of varnish) and they looked brand new! (before dogs - sigh...darn claws!)

hollywoodhuskies wrote:

Do research online for what not to use - also no mop n glo or Murphy's Wood Oil soap.

What? This is opposite of what I've heard. I've heard nothing but wonderful things about Murphy's and I know people who use Mop N Glo who haven't had an issue with it. In fact I've never heard anyone suggest not using either. Why do you say no Mop N Glo or Murphy's?

I use Murphy's Wood Oil soap, Pledge wood floor cleaner, and Mop N Glo on my wood floors and they've all been great. They all leave my floors really clean, no damage whatsoever, and leave a very attractive shine that always gets us comments on our floors from visitors. I've got nothing but great things to say about all 3.

I've never had to get a stain out of my wood floors, thankfully all accidents have been cleaned up right away so we haven't had to deal with a stain.

From what I understand, those cleaners leave 'residue' and over time will have build up which will cause hardwood floors to dull. When we moved in our home, the delivery people for our fridge ended up leaving marks on our floors from moving. They weren't scratches, but it left grooves in the hardwood floors that could be sanded and then buffed. Since you can't see those grooves, we opted to just keep the insurance money but while we were getting estimates from companies to fix the floor, all 3 told us NOT to use Murphy's, Mop n Glo, or Pledge, or any of those type cleaners as they ALL tend to leave build up of some kind which will make the life of your wood floors less. When I asked, 'What should I use to clean/mop my hardwood floors?', all 3 companies we got estimates on said Bona! I was also told that hardwood floors should last you about 10-15 years and should look pretty much the same if you use the 'right' cleaner...

Val, all or those can cause a filmy, white build-up. Well, maybe not the Murphy's. Back in our parents day, housewives used a paste wax to shine their floors. I think the oiliness of Murphy's worked well with that. But those housewives still had to periodically get down on hands and knees and, using ammonia, remove the waxy build-up.

We are now causing the same buil-up with polymer-based products. If a floor has been properly coated with polyurethane by the installer, then there should be no need for these products. I had a refinisher look at my floors and he said IF we were to have them refinished and never use anything on them but vinegar and/or water, he will come back and resurface them every few years and really make them shine (for a price, of course)! I think this is like the "Screen and Recoat" that hollywoodhuskies mentioned...without the "screen". I need to have mine totally refinished since I have some water warp-age under the fridge and some gouges at the front door...

SabakaMom wrote:

Val, all or those can cause a filmy, white build-up. Well, maybe not the Murphy's. Back in our parents day, housewives used a paste wax to shine their floors. I think the oiliness of Murphy's worked well with that. But those housewives still had to periodically get down on hands and knees and, using ammonia, remove the waxy build-up.

We are now causing the same buil-up with polymer-based products. If a floor has been properly coated with polyurethane by the installer, then there should be no need for these products.

Yeah! What she said!
That's pretty much what all 3 companies I got estimates from told me! I just couldn't remember the details - I just remembered I should only use Bona to clean my wood floors.

Yup - all those other products were fine back in the day but with modern floors it starts building up. I've heard numerous reports of Mop n Glo/Orange Glo working great for a few months or years and then being sticky - and never being able to get it shiny again. All of the floor guys we spoke to said the same thing, and our floor guy wouldn't warranty the floor if we washed with anything other than Bona.

Awesome explanation from hardwood guy about cleaners:
http://www.cinhome.com/murphys.html

You're actually cleaning the finish on the floor, not the actual wood (which is protected by the finish) - so if you use Murphy's you're putting oil on a urethane finish. It builds up over time.

Thanks guys! I've considered Bona several times but didn't know what the benefit of Bona over other products was. So what makes Bona stand out from the rest and a better cleaner? I'm genuinely interested to know. Think of me as the 2 year old asking "why?" LOL

I guess I'll switch once I finish up what I have, I'm not at all worried about my floors though since we don't intend to be here long term. We're hoping to move in 2 years or so, so the wood floors won't be my problem.

Call me crazy but I much prefer wood laminate over real wood floors.

Oh another thing I am wondering with the water and vinegar suggestion. I've tried a water/vinegar mix in my steam mop in the past and it left streaks all over the floors. Most of the time I just use water only in my steam mop but it takes so much longer to mop the floors with the steam mop that I sometimes prefer the quick and easy "squirt and go" type cleaners.

I wonder if a steam mop might help with a stain?

Back to the stain question...

I'm gonna guess that the finish is messed up in that area already either due to age of the floors or due to acid in the diarrhea... A stain usually means you have penetrated the polyurethane finish and have had contact with real wood.

I still don't know what to tell you to do, though...

Ya - maybe post pics? I would let it dry a couple of days and see what happens. If it's permanent perhaps a pro can do a spot repair. We had our pro cut out damaged pieces and replace them with new prior to refinishing - which is harder to do when your floor is refinished already - but can be done.

Huskyluv wrote:

Call me crazy but I much prefer wood laminate over real wood floors.

As much as I like the look of the laminate in the kitchen I'll never install it again. For the simple reason that the dogs have a dangerous to difficult time trying to navigate it. The older they get the worse it gets for them. By the time Mylo passed away we had hall runners going from one end of the kitchen to the other.

Do you have tile? We want to put mostly ceramic tile down on our floors, I'd really prefer tile over any type of wood flooring. But if we had to go wood I prefer laminate. I find Dakota has just as difficult a time on real wood flooring as he does on laminate, neither provides much traction. I hate wood floors for the fact that they are so easily scratched, hence we've had to cover our wood floors with rugs as much as possible to protect them. Wouldn't have that problem with tile and I know the sibe would appreciate the tile more for the simple fact that it will be cooler. We plan to replace our downstairs carpet with ceramic tile...hopefully within the next year.

My uncle has wood floors in his kitchen and he regrets it every day. Because a lot of things get dropped in the kitchen and his wood floors have dents all over in the kitchen.

Huskyluv wrote:

My uncle has wood floors in his kitchen and he regrets it every day. Because a lot of things get dropped in the kitchen and his wood floors have dents all over in the kitchen.

I would never choose hardwood in a kitchen, but I got it in this house. Our fridge leaked and ruined a section! I hate the thought of all the leaks that can and do happen and then the wood swells up and warps then shrinks and separates... I hate it! Even though this house is 18 years old, I would not view denting as a problem. I have a few small ones here and there in the kitchen (I have bigger ones right inside the front door). The floor guy said that most oak flooring (like mine) should withstand a decent whop before denting.

Oops, I kinda forgot about this thread. I have a really old house and the wood floors do need some lovin. I actually don't use a cleaner on my floors. I have gone "green" and I use the Norwex mops that allow you to clean with water only, no chemicals. If you want streak free floors, this is the mop to get! I love it! They do have a "green" cleaner and I ordered it see if it will work. If not, then I will try your suggestion of Bona. I will go take a pic of the stains and post it...

Ok, here is a pic. I have several of these spots right in the entrance of my room. I gotta get this fixed because I am looking to sell in the next three to five years.

So I used the Norwex cleaner on one of the smaller spots and it worked, however, it also took the finish off. I'm gonna try the vinegar and water next.

I thought the dogs were all worked out and they have diarreah again! Ugg! I called the vet today and they said to put them back on pumpkin or yogurt for a bit longer. They are acting normal other than the diarreah so I'm wondering if it isn't the chews I've been giving them. It's the same stuff I always buy but I thought the color looked alittle off from usual so maybe I got a bad batch. I had already decided to go to all grain free treats since it seems Willow has had soft pooh for months now but I was going to use up all the treats I already have first. Oh well...

We just bought our first home this past December, a new construction with hardwood floors.

I researched this topic and spoke directly to the builder who I maintain a good relationship with.

Do NOT us orange glo, mop and glo, murphy's oil soap or any of the like. As stated it can build up over time and dull out the finish. The major down side to these is that you may not be able to refinish the floors down the line, I read this and heard it from the builder but I'm not sure why.

I use the bona cleaner on my floors. Surface scratches and etc will happen. I have nothing but great things to say about the bona cleaner. I also like that unlike the swiffer system it does not use batteries its a spring loaded trigger. I also like that the microfiber cleaning pad can be washed and reused over and over.

Truthfully the laminate on the wood should be the only protection it needs. I have heard, but you would have to call a floor refinish place to confirm, that they can spot sand and refinish. This may be the answer to your problem.

HuskyLuvver wrote:

I have heard, but you would have to call a floor refinish place to confirm, that they can spot sand and refinish. This may be the answer to your problem.

I had to call 3 different wood floor finishing companies to get estimates because the movers that delivered our fridge put grooves in our floor because they dragged it in at one point.

Wood floor finishing companies can spot sand and refinish wood floors, providing you use a cleaner like Bona.

All 3 companies I called suggested Bona to clean wood floors.