Suppose you have a new hardwood floor and want to keep it looking new for many years to come. How do you maintain that new, clean look? Vacuuming is a must because dirt and sand can act as sandpaper to degrade the quality of your floors. Well-placed rugs near doors and sliders can minimize the amount of dirt entering the home. Keeping trimmed the nails of any furry residents is also advisable to preserve your floor’s good looks.

What about floor care products? Some owners use oil soap products to clean wood floors but one must take care not to get water between the floor boards; swelling and degradation of the wood integrity may follow. Waxes are also not recommended for today’s modern sealed floors. Wax removal is a tedious and time-consuming chore.
An after vacuum follow up with a Swiffer® or similar dry wipe cloth should pick up any residual dirt and dust. Polishes and cleansers are readily available at your local supermarket. Better quality and specialized products can also be found at stores selling flooring materials. Some of these products are recommended by some manufacturers of wooden flooring. These cleaners can be bought singly or packaged with handled applicators.

For several years I had been using assorted cleaners, mostly a hardwood floor cleaner from Bruce. The Bruce product works well enough, but we were looking for a little more sheen on or floors. Also the cleaners I had used previously were eye and skin irritants, emitted harmful vapors, were poisonous, and bore paragraphs of health warnings on their labels. One day I stumbled quite by chance on an alternative, Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner. It’s a nontoxic water based cleaner bearing the “environment choice” seal on its label. I wondered if it would perform or perhaps outperform the chemically laden competitors.

Bona?

Bona is a Swedish company tracing its roots back to Wilhelm Edner in 1894. They have grown over the ensuing years and have developed into a international company specializing in floor care products, including a total system for hardwood floor finishing and care. A visit to bonakemi dot com will introduce the visitor to the whole line of floor care products, floor care advice, and even some informative floor care movies. One of the products that may be purchased from the Bona site or local Bona dealers is their Swedish formula Hardwood Floor Cleaner, the subject of this review.

Details

I purchased a 32-ounce spray bottle of the cleaner from the local Ace Hardware Store.
The design is like those of many other spray products, tapered at the top with grips for the user’s fingers. The spray nozzle has two positions, on and off; the trigger squeezes comfortably with the press of one finger. For 25 dollars one may choose to purchase a gallon of the cleaner from the Bona site. I’d recommend trying a smaller size first to make sure you like the product.
The Bona Floor Cleaner has a non-toxic waterbased formula.
It cleans all unwaxed polyurethane finished wood floors.
It is PH neutral and leaves no dulling residue.
This Bona cleaner may also be used on sealed wood cabinets.
Bona is designed to be used full strength.
Not surprisingly this waterbased product is nonflammable.

On The Floor

After a thorough vacuuming and/or Swiffering lightly mist a 4 by 6 foot area of the floor or the Bona mop cover or pad with cleaner. I mostly spray the Bona directly on the floor and use a soft cloth or towel to clean. Using Bona’s patented MicroPlus mop or floor cloth, wipe using a back and forth motion finish one area before moving on to another.
When the mop covers, pads or cleaning cloths become soiled, replace with clean ones.

I’ve cleaned our floors with an applicator bought for the Buce cleaner. It works just as well with the Bona. I do plan on purchasing some of the Bona floor cloths soon out of curiosity. Often I clean the floors the old fashioned way – on my hands and knees. This getting up close and personal with the floor is just a personal preference of mine. The closer I am to the floor, the less likely I am to miss a spot.

After a cleaning with the Bona we think the floor looks as good as it did when we moved into our current house, with its newly installed wood floors, three years ago. The floor has a pleasant matte gloss, spotless and clean. Duration of the shine depends on the vagaries of the weather and the activity of our pooches.
Stubborn spots can usually be removed with a reapplication of the Bona cleaner.
There are no obtrusive fumes with this cleaner; only the sparkling floor hints at its recent application.
On the back label of the Bona cleaner one reads,” May cause gastrointestinal irritation. If swallowed, drink 1 or 2 glasses of water to dilute.” On most other cleaners the user is advised to call a doctor or 911. I’ll go with the dilution drill any time.

Since it’s also recommended for sealed wood cabinets, I cleaned our kitchen cabinets with the Bona cleaner also. The results were superb with lots of accumulated grime visible on the cleaning cloth.

In summary, the Spuds are very pleased with the performance of Bona Hardwood Floor
Cleaner. At eight or nine dollars for the 32-ounce container, it’s worth a relatively inexpensive test drive.

One More Thing

For sealed wood floors that are dull, scratched, or showing wear, Bona also markets a specially formulated waterborne urethane refresher for all unwaxed, polyurethane finished wood floors. I haven’t had the opportunity to try this product personally.


Thanks to LARRY!






Recommended: Yes