The Kitchen Staple That'll Keep Your Hardwood Floors Clean And Dust-Free

Hardwood flooring remains a top choice among homeowners for its beauty and longevity. However, after several years of wear and tear, the floors can start looking dull and dingy. When cleaning your hardwood floors, it is important to use products that are safe for use on wood and effective for bringing back the shine. Avoid harsh cleaners that may damage the wood. The kitchen staple you need to keep your hardwood floors looking clean and dust free is black tea.

The way to keep wood flooring looking like new, according to experts, is to vacuum before mopping and use the right tools and cleaning methods for your floor's finish. After vacuuming, mopping the floor with black tea will do more than keep your floors looking clean and shiny. Black tea, which is derived from the Camellia sinensis plant, has microbial properties and can repel dust. This is due to the polyphenolic compounds found in black tea. 

The easiest ways to clean wood floors often use common household ingredients. You probably already have everything you need for this effective, budget-friendly cleaning method. You will need eight black tea bags, boiling water, a mop, bucket, rag, broom, and vacuum cleaner. Before mopping the floor, brew the tea and sweep and vacuum the floor to remove dust and dirt on the surface.

Boil half a gallon of water in a large pot. Place eight black tea bags in the water and allow it to steep for 10 minutes. After that time, squeeze the remaining water from the tea bags and throw them in the garbage. Let the tea cool completely before mopping the floor. Do not put hot tea water directly onto the floor to prevent damage to the finish.

When the tea has cooled, pour it into a mop bucket. It is important to test a small area of the floor before mopping the entire room. You can adjust the amount of tea used in your mixture to fit the color of your wood floors. If you have lighter floors, use less tea or increase the number of tea bags used for dark wood flooring. Testing an inconspicuous area will allow you to ensure that the brew is right for your floor. 

Although this method may seem strange, people have used tea for cleaning for centuries. Tea is an affordable, environmentally friendly way to naturally clean wood flooring. In addition to the cleaning and microbial properties, using tea to mop the floor can help mask scratches. Tea's effectiveness for cleaning and staining scratches is due to tannins, which give tea its color.

Tannins are slightly acidic, which works for removing dirt, but not as acidic as vinegar and chemical floor cleaners. The tannins will bring out the natural warm tones in your wood and darken the grain. This can fill in light scratches on the floor and improve its appearance. If you have larger marks in the wood, try some inexpensive ways to fix the huge scratch in your wood floor.

There are a few precautions to take when using black tea to mop the floor. Wood should not be soaking wet, as it risks damage. You should only need to mop the floor every month or two. Be sure to wring the mop out fully, so it is only slightly damp before mopping. This method works well for hardwood floors but should not be used on laminate flooring.