The Best Hardwood Floor Cleaners on the Market 2020

More than aesthetics and style, hardwood floors have many features that make a gorgeous home. Cost effectiveness, improved air quality, and improved acoustics to name a few. Moreover, you can also expect durability to go along with that stunning foundation.

However, hardwood floors also require proper cleaning and care to preserve their beauty and life throughout years of use.

Luckily, there’s an abundance of cleaning solutions specifically formulated for keeping hardwood floors in tip-top condition. To help you choose the best ones for your floor, we’ve picked out and reviewed a variety of cleaners. From spot-cleaning solutions to organic child-safe options, there’s one here for you.

From wide areas, all-natural options and baby-friendly cleaners, we’ve got one covered in this review. Some options come as ready-to-use solutions while some are concentrate solutions you can dilute for use. Moreover, these cleaners are effective, leave no residue, easy-to-use and dry-quickly as they leave your hardwood floors shining and clean.

Note however, that these solutions are all for sealed, finished floors. This considers that most floor cleaners for sealed wood may be damaging for unsealed wood.

Coming on top as hardwood floor users’ favorite, this 100-year old brand offers the best. Effective and easy-to-use, Bona earned the trust of many when it comes to caring for their hardwood floor. It’s even a big enough brand to be one of the NBA’s official sponsors.

Check here our guide about the Cost to Refinish Hardwood Floors .

While this cleaner features a water-based solution, it effectively loosens and removes dirt, grime and dust. Moreover, since it’s water-based, no more need for rinsing. You just need to spray it and mop it and you get a clean shiny floor.

Water-based also means extra safe, and parents will be happy to know that it’s Greenguard Gold certified. This means the formula features kid and pet-safe ingredients.

Customers with Engineered Wood Floors and other hardwood floors found it effective in bringing out their floor’s natural beauty. Some even note how dry-wall stains come off with the cleaner and how the solution definitely leaves no residue.

Not a fan of the harsh smelling cleaners that give your space a kind of utilitarian smell? Try this citrus orange scented hardwood cleaner, Orange GLO. It carries a citrusy scent that gives your room a vibrant scent, livening up the place even on a lazy day.

It comes in an easy-to-use spray bottle so you just simply have to spray and mop as you go. Plus, the solution dries within a few minutes getting your floor fresh and clean in a synch. Many customers also appreciate how it doesn’t leave any residue or streaks as they clean.

Orange GLO works well on any wood surface including wood cabinets, fixtures, panels, laminate floors and wooden furniture. Moreover, while it smells great and cleans effectively, it’s not too harsh making it useful for daily cleaning.  

Coming from a brand dedicated to non-toxic family-safe products, this hardwood floor cleaner by Method works well and works safely. Featuring plant-derived, biodegradable, non-toxic formula, it’s a healthy eco-friendly choice.  Eco-friendly because even its bottle comes from 100% recycled plastic.

This non-toxic, all natural formula also means no harsh offensive scent. Method’s hardwood floor cleaner smells almonds. It gives your floor that sweet, nutty rich smell that many people like (also seems fitting for wood).

Many customers like it’s squirting bottle design and prefer it over the spray types. Moreover, this formula requires no more diluting or rinsing, making it easy to use. You just squirt and mop as the name says without the need for heavy buckets to carry around while cleaning.

Method’s solution works on sealed hardwood and laminate floors. You’re sure to get a clean floor without any residue or streaks. Plus, you’re cleaning with a clean conscience because Method carries products that are cruelty-free (not tested on animals).

Coming from a brand that makes hardwood, it’s easy to trust Bruce when it comes to cleaning them too. However, apart from being great for cleaning hardwood and laminate floors, this cleaner also comes at the best price.

Bruce Hardwood and Laminate Floor Cleaner comes in a ready-to-use no water needed solution. Simply spray it and mop it without having to rinse after. As you clean, you’ll see how shiny your floor becomes too, and without residue.

Note, however, that like most hardwood floor cleaners, waxed or oil finished floors don’t work well with this solution. Meanwhile, any urethane-finished surface can enjoy the benefits of this cleaner.

This may be a budget choice but it cleans effectively. Moreover, it’s tough enough for stains but works great for routine cleaning. Many customers give it raving reviews for its great value, giving them shiny and clean floors at a great price.

With a large floor -area to cover you’ll need something that dispenses easily and spreads evenly as you mop. This is why this wood floor cleaner with squirt + mop feature gets our vote for wide coverage. See, unlike your typical diluted sprays, the squirt dispense allows you to get more solution on the floor.

The dispensing is one plus when it comes to cleaning a wide area, but this cleaner spreads evenly too. This means no need to worry so much about getting a filmy or sticky coat as you spread and mop the solution. With this floor cleaner, you get an even, clean and shiny finish on your hardwood floors.

Another thing that many customers like about this product is its scent. Pledge comes in a citrus lemon scent giving a fresh overall feel in your area. We know that a citrus scent is always easier on the nose compared to harsh detergent smelling ones.

While you’ll be happy with how well it does on your floors, other users found that it works great on furniture too. Just make sure to grab a bulk when you can, some say supplies tend to run out fast in their local markets.

Looking for something tough on scuffmarks and stains but friendly on your hardwood? Then you definitely have to try this hardwood cleaner from Zep.

While it’s a solution marked for commercial use, it’s not so intimidating to use. See, many users easily use it for home cleaning without any trouble. That’s because it comes in a ready-to-use formula so you simply spray it and mop it, no need to dilute.

Freely use it on hardwood floors, crown molding, laminate and acrylic floors or even furniture doors and surfaces. Any non-oiled finished wood floors and surfaces works well with it, not recommended for oiled types that need waxing. Moreover, while it cleans so well it doesn’t have that harsh commercial scent; rather, it leaves a mild fresh scent.

Zep cleans so effectively that many customers give it raving reviews for their bright and shiny floors without any residue.

Having kids at home changes our whole approach to cleaning and the different products we use at home. For one, when it comes to hardwood floors and furniture, we consider how much time kids spend on those surfaces. Conscious parents want to keep those hands and feet away and safe from toxins.

Whether their crawling on it, playing on it or leaving their stuff all over it, kids make contact with the solution we use. The good news there’s Babyganics, a great brand that understands both child safety and good cleaning. This floor cleaner comes in a formula that’s both kid-friendly and floor-friendly.

Babyganics Floor Cleaner Concentrate features a solution completely devoid of the scary stuff. This means zero toxic or harsh substances like bleach, parabens, phthalates, or ammonia. It doesn’t even have any artificial scents or dyes since it’s a formula that comes from completely plant-derived ingredients.

More than just sealed hardwood floors, this cleaner works well for multiple surfaces. This even includes carpet, tile and vinyl floors or surfaces.  The only exception would be unsealed wood.

Now, note that this is a concentrate solution so you’ll need to dilute it for use. However, it’s a simple formula of 1oz. for every gallon and it doesn’t require any rinsing. Moreover, this also means you get more out of every bottle.

When it comes to an all-natural solution, Murphy has over a century’s worth of good reputation. It’s a name popular in many households for a very good reason, it’s effective. That’s extra particular to hardwood floors too.

This makes it our top pick for multi-purpose because apart from hardwood, it works on great on other surfaces too. This solution works great on both finished and non-wood floors and furniture, particularly tile, linoleum, vinyl and the like. As long as it’s a sealed or finished surface, Murphy cleans it well without any residue.

The cleaner comes in a concentrate solution. This means it requires the little extra work of diluting it. This at least gives you the option to dilute it for regular use or heavy-duty use, following the provided product directions. Other than the need to dilute, it gets easy from there. No more rinsing, just mix it, spray it, and mop it.

If you are looking other alternatives to clean your hardwood floor surfaces, check out our guides about: 

• ​Best vacuums for hardwood floor
• Best steam mop