7 Best Hardwood Floor Cleaners, Tested by Cleaning Experts
- Carolyn Fortée Alice Garbarini Hurley
- Apr 13
- 7 min read
Hardwood floors may be favored for their clean and polished aesthetic, but foot traffic, kids and pets can quickly make those pristine floors look tired and worn. Luckily, cleaning and caring for a wood floor isn't that difficult. Good upkeep means using the right mop for hardwood floors or a vacuum cleaner designed for hardwood floors to remove gritty, abrasive dust that can scratch and choosing a liquid cleaner that is wood-safe.
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In the Good Housekeeping Institute Cleaning Lab, we test all kinds of cleaners for all types of floor surfaces from carpet stain removers to robot mops to wood floor cleaners. When evaluating the latter, we track efficacy — how well each product removes simulated stains — plus other important factors like ease of application and dry time. In the end, the best cleaners are the ones that contain ingredients that dissolve dirt and grime without damaging the coating or dulling the shine of the floors we used them on.
1
Best Overall
Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner Spray
Now 11% Off
Credit: BONA
Pros
Dissolves tough soil
EPA Safer Choice-certified
Dries quickly
Cons
Requires a separate mop
Bona has a top-tier reputation when it comes to cleaning wood floors. It began as (and still is) a professional wood floor refinishing company, so it knows how to safely clean wood. And in our testing, Bona's Hardwood Floor Cleaner cut through our sticky test soil and erased shoe scuffs faster than all the other products we tested.
You do have to use a microfiber pad mop to get the job done, but there's no need to dilute the product, so it's overall a fairly simple process. Just lightly mist a 3-foot section of floor at a time and go over the area with said mop. Bona's formula evaporates quickly, so there's no need for extra dry buffing before you move on to clean the next section of the floor — important for the overall longevity of your flooring.
We also like that the formula is EPA Safer Choice-certified, which means it's made with ingredients proven safer for both humans and the environment — great for households with kids and pets.
Form: Spray | Size: 32 oz | Requires diluting: No
2
Best Value
Murphy Concentrated Wood Cleaner
Credit: MURPHY
Pros
Erases scuff marks
A little goes a long way
Can be used on more than floors
Cons
Requires mixing in a bucket
Some users don't like the scent
Murphy Oil Soap is a time-tested wood cleaner that's been around for generations. Our cleaning pros love the versatility — it not only tackles grime on hardwood floors, but can also clean wood cabinets, furniture and more. It needs to be diluted in water in a bucket, so the concentrated formula will last you a long time, making it a great overall value. (The cost per bottle is less than $4.)
In our tests, this wood cleaner did a nice job erasing scuff marks with just a few swipes. It was also impressive at removing sticky soil, though it did take a little more scrubbing than Bona to completely banish the residue. It's worth noting that the scent may be overwhelming to anyone with sensitivities — while the signature fragrance has many fans among testers, a small percentage said they didn't like it.
Form: Liquid | Size: 32 oz | Requires diluting: Yes
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3
Best Microfiber Spray Mop
Bona Hardwood Floor Premium Spray Mop
Credit: BONA
Pros
Large cleaning head to clean faster
Reusable microfiber pad
Refillable cleaner cartridge
Cons
Mop pole may be too long for some users
Cleaning is a whole lot easier with Bona's all-in-one microfiber spray mop system. It has an oversized head to cover more ground quickly, and it cleans floors with a washable, reusable microfiber pad. We also appreciate that its onboard cleaner cartridge is refillable with Bona formulas for less waste.
In our tests, we found the mop dispenses a wide, fine spray evenly onto the floor. The long rectangular head maneuvers easily into narrow spaces, and the corners on each side are soft and flexible, so they flip up when you go along walls and baseboards to catch every speck.
Bona offers deep-cleaning and even dusting pads that can also be used with this mop for added versatility. While the pole has a second grip section to make scrubbing easier, it may be a little long for short users and might fall over in storage if not hung from a hook.
Form: Microfiber spray mop and refillable cleaner cartridge | Size: 34-oz cleaner | Requires diluting: No
4
Best for Deep Cleaning
Bona PowerPlus Hardwood Floor Deep Cleaner Spray
Credit: Bona
Pros
EPA Safer Choice-certified
Leaves no residue behind
Dissolves grime and reveals the shine
Cons
Requires a separate mop
True to form, we're recommending another impressive product from the best-performing wood floor cleaner brand in our tests, Bona. This time, it's the PowerPlus Deep Cleaner Spray designed for wood floors that haven't been wet-cleaned in a while or are in need of deeper cleaning.
Like our top overall pick from Bona, you do need to use a mop with this solution, but the heavy-duty formula performed so well during testing that it earned a previous Good Housekeeping Best Cleaning and Organizing Award. One of our Cleaning Lab experts who used it said afterward, "My wood floors were so clean and shiny after using it that they looked like they had been refinished!"
Certified by the EPA's Safer Choice program, its oxygenated, fast-drying formula penetrates grime and heavy build-up without leaving any trace behind. Plus, when it's time to re-purchase, you can buy this formula in a 128-ounce size to refill the spray bottle and reduce your plastic waste.
Form: Spray | Size: 32 oz | Requires diluting: No
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5
Best for Vacuum Mops
Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner Machine Formulation
Credit: BONA
Pros
EPA Safer Choice-certified
Recommended for most major brands of vacuum mops
Dries quickly
Cons
Some machine brands may require using their own cleaner
If you already own or are in the market for a vacuum mop, you'll need a cleaning formula to use in it. Most machine brands offer their own multi-purpose formulas designed to clean a variety of floor surfaces, but when it comes to cleaning wood floors, we like the idea of using a product specifically made for wood.
Given how well Bona products perform in the Lab, we were pleased when the brand launched its EPA Safer Choice-certified Hardwood Floor Cleaner Machine Formulation. When we put it to the test in our machines, we found it cleaned well, dried quickly, removed marks and left our floors streak-free.
The consumers on our test panel agreed — so much so that it earned a spot in a past Good Housekeeping Best Cleaning & Organizing Awards. While Bona claims it's safe to use in most brands of vacuum mops, we recommend checking with your mop's manufacturer to ensure it won't void your appliance's warranty.
Form: Liquid | Size: 64 oz | Requires diluting: Yes
6
Best Disposable Spray Mop
Swiffer WetJet Wood Mop Kit
Credit: Swiffer
Pros
Disposable pads for easy clean-up
Easy to navigate under furniture
Cons
Need to buy pad and cleaner refills
Swiffer's Good Housekeeping Seal-holding, battery-operated WetJet Wood Floor mop dispenses a wood-safe cleaning solution at the press of a button. It uses disposable and absorbent textured pads designed with a scrubby strip to attack dirt and grime and keep it trapped in the pad rather than redepositing it back on your floors.
In our tests, it received a perfect score for how easy it was to dispense the liquid onto our hardwood floor test panels. And, because the pads are disposable, there's no dirty, germy mop to store or pads to wash.
Lights on the mop head make it easy to navigate under furniture too. We reviewed test data supporting that the liquid cleaner is safe on wood, and in our tests, the floor dried quickly after mopping and without streaks or residue. Like the pads, however, the cleaner bottle is not refillable and will eventually need replacing.
Form: Spray mop with disposable pads and cleaner cartridge | Size: 10 pads and 40-oz cleaner | Requires diluting: No
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7
Most Versatile
Libman Hardwood Concentrated Floor Cleaner
Now 54% Off
Credit: Libman
Pros
Dissolves scuff marks and removes sticky residue
A little goes a long way
Easy to measure
Cons
Requires diluting
Whether you prefer cleaning your floors using a traditional mop and bucket or a newer spray mop, Libman's Freedom hardwood floor cleaning formula can do both. It's made to be mixed with water for use either in your own bucket or with Libman’s Freedom Dispensing Microfiber Mop. In our tests, it did a very good job of quickly dissolving sticky soil and scuff marks, and because it can be diluted, a little goes a long way.
The bottle top has a handle for easy carrying and a built-in cup for mess-free measuring. Simply squeeze the bottle to fill the measuring cap with the recommended dose of cleaner and pour it directly into a bucket or the Freedom Mop canister. One little bottle makes 4 gallons of cleaner, and this innovative package prevents spills and eliminates the need for a separate measuring cup.
Form: Liquid | Size: 16 oz | Requires diluting: Yes
How we test hardwood floor cleaners
Jodhaira Rodriguez/Good Housekeeping
To test hardwood floor cleaners, we evaluate how well they remove a sticky, dried-on gelatin mixture that we paint precisely onto hardwood planks, how quickly and completely they remove the scuff marks we make with a rubber shoe heel, how easy they are to apply and how quickly they dry.
We’ve found that the best cleaners are those specifically formulated for hard, surface-finished or polyurethane-treated floors. These cleaners have ingredients to dissolve dirt and grime without damaging the coating or dulling the shine.
In the Good Housekeeping Cleaning Lab, we’re continuously testing floor cleaning essentials like vacuum cleaners, mops and robot vacuums. During our initial test, we tested 24 wood floor cleaners exactly the same way, cleaning 216 stains and scuff marks from wood flooring panels. We tested how well each product cleaned after an equal amount of passes and how many passes had to be made with each product to completely remove scuff marks and stains. All product labels were reviewed for proper safety and precautionary notices.
Since then, we have continued to test new wood floor cleaning products as they become available, updating this story with the latest noteworthy ones.
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