Can You Steam Clean Wooden Floors?

Wooden floors usually have longer lifespan with regular care. In terms of wooden floor maintenance, you must use something that doesn’t involve any harsh chemical. And steam cleaning is one of the most effective methods that don’t involve any chemicals. So, Can You Steam Clean Wooden Floors?

Yes, you can use a steam cleaner on your wooden floor. However, wood isn’t something you want damp from overusing steam. Using a microfiber mop barrier and keeping the timing minimal is necessary.

This in-depth analysis and guideline will help you keep your wooden floors nice and clean with a steam cleaner.

Can You Steam Clean Wooden Floors?

So, how can you steam clean wooden floors? Steam cleaning is a reliable and easy way to disinfect and clean your wooden floors.

It doesn’t cause any unwanted damages to the wood surfaces if you use them properly. It’s time-consuming to clean hardwood floors using traditional cleaning methods. Also, there’s the risk of damage to the floor by excessive water.

Harsh chemicals or acidic cleaner like vinegar or other abrasive cleaner are never good for hardwood floors.

They damage the protective layer of your hardwood floors which you have as a finishing coat. Instead, if you use a steam mop as a hardwood floor cleaner, it won’t damage. If you use a microfiber mop, hot steam won’t damage your hardwood floor’s shiny finish.

Here are the steps to cleaning your wooden floors:

How to Steam Clean Wooden Floors?

Can You Steam Clean Wooden Floors

Step 1: Vacuum

Before starting to clean your floor, determine types of flooring, if its sealed or not. Either way, use a vacuum cleaner and clean the surface.

Then clean the groves if you’re not cleaning a sealed hardwood floor. Do this to the entire floor to remove loose dust, grit, debris from the floors and expose the tough stain and grime.

Step 2: Prepare

Prepare your steam cleaner and assemble the proper cleaning head. A good steam cleaner will have the right heads. Fill up the tank with water (regular tap water is fine) and let the water heat up for a while.

Attach a microfiber cloth around your cleaning head. It will help to insulate steam and scrub to loosen up any tough dirt.

Step 3: Setting

Set your steam cleaner’s pressure at the lowest heat setting or medium; it depends on your flooring type. If you want dry cleaning, lower the steam cleaner pressure. Don’t use high pressure; it may form condensation.

Step 4: Clean

Now pass your steamer and cleaning head thoroughly everywhere to sanitize and deep clean. The slow cleaning process will help eliminate 99.99% of germs and bacteria on the clean hardwood flooring and revitalize them.

Clean

Step 5: Wash

After cleaning continuously, the microfiber cloth may saturate with stubborn dirt; remove and wash it.

If you complete your whole floor cleaning, wait for a while to dry properly, and you are done with your cleaning. If there are excess water around, mop them with a soft, clean cloth to avoid unwanted water damage.

How to Choose a Steam Cleaner to Clean Wood Floors?

Most people avoid chemical cleaning because they are aware of their effect. If you know what to look into a steam cleaner, it will be easier to pick the most suitable one. So, here are some to help you out:

How to Choose a Steam Cleaner to Clean Wood Floors?

Size and Weight:

Lots of brands manufacture steam cleaner with a range of sizes and weights. Though steam cleaner can clean almost every household, you should be careful when shopping for your floor cleaning.

Lightweight and portable steam cleaners are easy to move and control; also, they need minimal storage space. Try to get a compact but durable steam cleaner, and it will make your cleaning task easier.

Attachments & Accessories:

Most of the steam cleaner comes with various accessories and attachments. Different types of accessories allow the steamer to use it for versatile purposes.

But if you want a steam cleaner for showers, wooden, vinyl, laminate floors, your cleaner must contain a handle and rectangular tool. These tools can provide effortless and effective cleaning against tough and stubborn stains.

Pressure & Temperature:

Proper pressure and high-temperature make your cleaning process easier. High pressure and temperature can eliminate any stains and viruses on floors.

So when you are shopping for a steam cleaner, look carefully at how fast it can heat up and how much pressure it can produce to clean. Your steam cleaner should have 220° F temperature and at least 3.5 bars/50 psi pressure.

Special Features:

Special features can add more convenience to your cleaning task. Modern steam cleaner comes with many user-friendly special features like fingertip control on the steam gun to control steam level with ease.

Besides, an indicator light allows you to know when your steam cleaner is ready to clean, and when you need to refill your water tank. Some come with a pressure gauge, maintenance indicator, and locking mechanism to prevent any accidental burns.

Special Features

Safety Precautions:

Your steam cleaner should have some safety features to prevent any accidents. You need an automatic overheat shut-off function to shut your steamer when it becomes too hot for safe operation.

Besides, your steam cleaner should have a child safety lock to prevent accidental turning on by a child. A low water indicator will let you know when you have to refill the water tank to protect the steam cleaner.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you have any more confusion about steam cleaning your floors. Let’s resolve them with some simple and short answers.

Is it safe to steam clean wood floors?

Yes, steam cleaning is safer than any other cleaning method. While cleaning wood floors, you have to be careful. Maintain low pressure and use less water than other surfaces to prevent any damages to your floors.

Do handheld steam cleaners really work?

Like the regular ones, a handheld steam cleaner can effectively remove dirt, stains, viruses, bacteria to clean and disinfect your houses.

Can I put vinegar in my steam cleaner?

If you wish, you can add vinegar to your steam cleaner to clean vinyl, tile floors. But it is not necessary because a steam cleaner can easily eliminate everything without chemicals. But do not use vinegar while cleaning hardwood floors. It may cause damages to your floors.

Does steam cleaning kill bed bugs?

A steam cleaner produces hot steam and high pressure that is lethal for bed bugs. If you face any bed bugs problem in your house, a steam cleaner could be a sustainable solution for you.

Final Thought

If you ever are questioned by someone Can You Steam Clean Wooden Floors? You know the answer with a detail now. This is how do you clean hardwood floors naturally without using any harsh chemicals.

Most users choose steam cleaning for its effective results for almost every household cleaning process from hardwood to vinyl floor and more.

It can also clean any hard to soft surfaces, for example, clothes, mattresses. If you want a perfect solution for your hardwood floor cleaning, there’s nothing better a good steam cleaner.

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