If you’ve been looking for new ways to get even cleaner floors, it’s time to check your kitchen pantry. There are all sorts of multitaskers hiding on your shelves that can deliver sparkling clean floors as effectively as a floor-cleaning solution you might find at the store.
Of course, make sure you know your floor type before adding something to your mop water—some cleaning agents only work well with certain types of flooring, and adding the wrong one can potentially damage the finishes or sealants.
Ahead, we spoke with cleaning experts who revealed which pantry staples you can add to your mop water to deliver beautifully clean floors.
Meet Our Expert
Ryan Knoll, cleaning expert and owner of Tidy Casa, a home cleaning and maid service
Aaron Traub, cleaning and organizing expert and owner of the Organizing Directory
Related: How Often You Should Mop Every Floor in Your Home
White Vinegar
White vinegar is a powerhouse household agent—it can be used to whiten your laundry, wipe down windows and mirrors, and even kill weeds in your garden. One other use? Cleaning and sanitizing your floors. “The acidity helps cut through grime and grease and kills some bacteria—especially in the kitchen,” says Ryan Knoll, owner of Tidy Casa. White vinegar works best on tile, linoleum, and vinyl flooring but shouldn’t be used on natural stone or hardwood floors. “Vinegar can eat away at sealants or etch the surface,” he says.
How to use: For best results, mix ½ cup of vinegar per gallon of warm mop water.
Lemon Juice
The high concentration of citric acid in lemon juice is what makes it an effective natural cleaner. Lemons are great for removing stains, deodorizing cutting boards, and yes, mopping your floors. “Adding fresh lemon juice to your mop water is an easy, natural way to help tackle everyday messes and residue while also making your floors smell clean and citrusy without using artificial plug-ins,” says Aaron Traub, owner of the Organizing Directory. “It works best on tile, vinyl, or laminate floors but shouldn’t be used on wood or stone floors.”
How to use: Add ¼ cup of lemon juice per gallon of warm mop water.
Rubbing Alcohol
You may need to check your medicine cabinet instead of your pantry for isopropyl alcohol (commonly known as rubbing alcohol), but Knoll swears by it for mopping floors. “It helps the water dry faster with fewer streaks as well as adding a level of disinfecting,” Knoll says. “It also helps in cutting through oily grime and works great on shiny floors or in humid areas.”
Rubbing alcohol can have a stringent odor, so Knoll suggests adding some of your favorite essential oils to mellow the scent. This combination works best on tile, laminate, vinyl, and sealed stone floors, but keep it away from unsealed wood or raw stone. “Alcohol will strip the finish or discolor and dry out porous surfaces,” he says.
How to use it: Add 1 cup of 70 percent rubbing alcohol per gallon of warm mop water.
Dish Soap
Dish soap is notoriously effective at cutting through grease when washing dishes, and it can do the same for your floors—if used sparingly. Too much can leave a residue behind. “A small amount of dish soap is great to add to your mop water because it helps break down sticky messes like food crumbs, spilled drinks, arts-and-crafts messes, and everyday dirt tracked in from outside,” says Traub. “I avoid using it on hardwood floors or natural stone since it can leave a residue or affect the finish over time.”
How to use: Add 3 to 5 drops of mild dish soap per gallon of warm mop water.
Tips
When using these pantry staples for mopping, go back over your floors with just plain warm water to remove any potential residue left behind.
Baking Soda
Baking soda is a mild abrasive perfect for scouring and scrubbing hard-to-clean pots and pans, lifting stains from coffee mugs, and even unclogging drains. This versatility makes baking soda great for harder-to-clean floor messes (think dried spills or scuff marks) that might need a bit more elbow grease to get the job done. Baking soda is also a natural deodorizer, great for cleaning pet messes and lingering odors on floors. Use baking soda on sealed tile, vinyl, and linoleum floors but never on waxed or hardwood floors due to its abrasiveness.
How to use: Add 2 tablespoons of baking soda per gallon of warm mop water.
Read the original article on Martha Stewart