3 Best Hardwood Floor Cleaners, Lab-Tested and Reviewed

Of the cleaners we test, the three listed below are the most effective at cleaning hardwood flooring. Two of the recommended cleaners below are designed specifically for wood, while the other is a multisurface cleaner that also works well on wood floors.

Regular cleaning is important to ensure the longevity of your hardwood floors, says Adam Sartain, senior marketing manager at the floor accessories company TotalWorx. For light cleaning, Sartain recommends using a soft-bristle broom or microfiber dust mop to remove dirt and debris from your floors. 

When your floor needs a deeper clean, try a pH-neutral floor cleaner paired with a damp, but not wet, mop. That cleaner can be a dedicated hardwood cleaner or a multisurface formula that lists hardwood as one of the surfaces the product can be used on, Sartain says.

Here are some additional precautions you should take when caring for your wood floors:

Avoid cleaners that contain bleach, ammonia, or wax. Those ingredients can strip the protective coating off your wood floors or leave a residue that’s difficult to remove, Sartain says. 

Stay away from acidic substances. Distilled white vinegar and other acidic products could pit or etch the finish of your flooring, according to guidelines from the flooring company AHF, maker of Bruce and other popular flooring brands. And don’t use water or steam to clean your wood floors because it might permanently damage the floor and void the warranty.

If you’re trying a new cleaner, always test the product first. Try it on a small area on your floors before you apply it more broadly. Given that not every cleaner is compatible with every type of hardwood or finish, it’s best to consult the care guidelines from your flooring manufacturer before you use a cleaning product, Sartain says. And when you use a cleaner, avoid leaving any excess cleaner on the surface of your floor because that might damage the wood’s fiber, according to AHF.

For more tips, see these five ways to keep your floors clean and protected year-round. 

To find the best cleaners, our testers first create tough messes to clean up. We apply a measured amount of mustard and concentrated tomato soup onto hardwood floors and let it dry. We also use black crayons on the surface of the wood to simulate scuff marks. 

Our testers then apply a specific amount of cleaner to the floors and scrub the messes with a mop. After 100 passes with the mop, we evaluate how effective the cleaner is at removing the mustard, tomato soup, and scuff marks from the hardwood. The results are combined into the product’s cleaning score. Better cleaners manage to clear away the grime before the 100-pass mark, while the worst fail to clean the hardwood even after we scrub it 100 times.