DIY wood floor oil

Our entire upstairs is hardwood floors, minus the kitchen and bathrooms. With over 1000 sq ft of hardwood, I spend a lot of time cleaning fluff and trying to polish floors without drying them out. I've used a lot of different floor polish products that all seem to make my floor very slippery. And as much fun as A and B think it is to slide around the house in socks, I don't think C enjoys falling down all the time while learning to walk and run.

This past weekend I decided the front room was over due for a good deep cleaning and went in search of a floor oil I could make at home. Nothing seemed like it would be just right or not smell terrible, so I took a few ideas and came up with my own plan.

Begin by cleaning the floors as normal. Vacuum and mop. It's best to either dry mop or, for a deeper clean, use a vinegar/water solution. Make sure not to leave any water sitting on the floor. I opted for the lazy deep clean using my scuba electric floor mop. Of course instead of getting other things done while it cleans I sit and watch it run back and forth because I still think it's neat. I had to vacuum myself though, don't have the vacuum robot, yet!





And if you think these don't clean very well? Check out how gross the water coming out of this was.

Once everything is clean you want to mix up your floor polish. This is a very simple two part solution. Measure up 1/3 cup olive oil and 2/3 cup lemon juice. You may use vinegar in place of lemon juice but personally I mixed a little and it smells awful. The lemon covers the oil smell and leaves just a subtle lemon clean smell when you are done.

Take your mixture and pour it into a spray bottle. If you don't have a spray bottle you can just dip your sponge or rag directly into the mix, it's just a little more work that way.

Working in sections, spray a light mist over one area and using a floor sponge mop or thick rag on a dusting mop (like the Swiffer floor duster) rub the spray along the floor in the same direction as the wood is cut. This will keep you from getting visible streaks.

Over lap each section old to new as you work your way across the room. Make sure you spray only the section you are working on to avoid spots.

When you have finished the entire floor grab a towel and run over the surface to gather up any extra solution left on the floor. This is a fun time to give a towel to the kids and let them slide along the floor while it's still a little slippery.

Once everything has dried a bit you should have nice shiny, clean floors.