Homemade Floor Cleaner
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You probably already have all of the ingredients needed to make homemade floor cleaner. This DIY mopping solution gets your wood, tile, laminate, or vinyl just as shiny and streak-free as the commercial stuff without introducing irritants to your home.
Why Make Your Own Floor Cleaner for Mopping?
One of the great things about homemade cleaners: you don’t need a lot of different products that only clean one kind of surface. So, once you’ve got your standard cleaning ingredients on hand, it’s easy to mix up various homemade cleaning products.
Safer for Indoor Air-Quality
Commercial cleaning products contribute significantly to indoor air pollution. For people with allergies or asthma, indoor air quality is critical to good health. Companies that manufacture cleaning products aren’t required to disclose their ingredients on the label. As a result, there’s no way to tell at a glance whether a product contains volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that may cause irritation or even cancer.
Switching to homemade natural cleaners lets you know exactly what you’re using in your home so that you can avoid dangerous combinations of cleaning products.
Easier on Your Budget
The cost of commercial floor cleaners is crazy. Using a Swiffer mop, for instance, runs about $0.32 per wet pad — and you have to use two or three of them in even a small kitchen or bathroom. Even bottles of commercial mopping products run anywhere from $4 to $15, depending on the brand. Over time, those expenses add up. Cleaning shouldn’t cost a fortune, and it doesn’t when you use this homemade floor cleaner recipe.
It’s Safe for ALL Hard Flooring
This homemade mopping solution is a safe homemade cleaner for any kind of hard flooring.
Ready to love your home again?
✓ It works on laminate floors.
✓ It works on hardwood floors.
✓ It works on vinyl, linoleum, and tile floors.
✓ Yep, you can use it on marble or granite.
✓ It even works on cement.
Have I mentioned that, after powering through grime, it also leaves a gorgeous shine?
It Works With Mopping Robots, Too!
I’ve written before about my search to find the best floor cleaning robots. One of my requirements was being able to use a homemade floor cleaner. After spending that kind of money on a robot, I didn’t want to be stuck buying a special floor cleaning solution or wet mopping pads. I’ve been using it in my mopping robot for over two years now, and I’m always thrilled with the results.
Homemade Floor Cleaner
Equipment
- Spray bottle or bucket
Materials
- 2 cups warm water
- 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
- 1/4 cup isopropyl (70%) rubbing alcohol - or 120-proof clear liquor
- 1/8 tsp liquid dish soap - (See notes)
- 5-10 drops essential oils - optional
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a spray bottle or multiply the recipe for use in a bucket. Change or rinse mop heads with fresh water after each room, or when it looks dirty.
- You do not need to rinse your floors after use. Allow floors to completely dry before walking on them.
- Store unused homemade floor cleaner in a cool, dark spot away from kids and pets. Use within 1 month.
Notes
Questions about Substituting Ingredients
Below you’ll find answers to the most frequently asked questions about this homemade floor cleaner recipe.
Can I Use this If I Have Pets?
As with any floor cleaning product, you should put your pets in another room while using this and allow it to dry fully. If you have pets, use pet-safe essential oils or skip them altogether.
Can I Use a Stronger Version of Rubbing Alcohol?
If you have a stronger form of isopropyl alcohol on hand, like 90%, you can use it, but your results will change. At that concentration, the rubbing alcohol will evaporate so quickly that it may leave streaks. Before mixing up the full recipe, try making a small batch of homemade floor cleaner to see how it does on your floors. Then, add more water until it cleans but doesn’t leave streaks while it dries.
Do I Dilute this Before Use?
This DIY floor cleaner isn’t a concentrated mix — it’s used at the exact strength described in the recipe. So, if you want to make a larger quantity, you need to multiply the ingredients, not add additional water.
Can I Substitute Something for the Rubbing Alcohol?
If you can’t find rubbing alcohol at the grocery store, pharmacy, or chemist, you can substitute a “neutral spirit” or “rectified spirit” for it as long as it’s 120-proof. Everclear is one brand that’s available in most states.
When substituting spirits for rubbing alcohol in a homemade cleaner recipe, you need to select unflavored, clear varieties. Flavorings may contain sugars or other substances that attract pests, while colorings may stain the surfaces you’re cleaning. Both can leave streaks.
Can I Substitute Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)?
Unfortunately, no. Apple Cider Vinegar contains pectin, a naturally occurring starch that will leave a film or streaks on your floor. Worse yet, it will attract household pests.
Tips for Making Homemade Floor Cleaner
Remember, there are reasons for using specific ingredients in homemade cleaning recipes. If you change them, you’re changing the formula, which may alter your results.
What These Ingredients Do
• Water: Loosens grime and helps the other ingredients combine.
• White vinegar: Degreases and provides mild disinfection. It’s safe for wood and natural stone surfaces at this dilution because it’s not acidic enough to cause etching. If you have any concerns, don’t use it.
• Isopropyl (70%) rubbing alcohol: Speeds up evaporation to avoid streaks. Degreases and helps disinfect. (In the UK, if you can’t find it inexpensively at the chemist, it’s available online.)
• Liquid dish soap: Dissolves bonds between dirt and floor, degreases, and cleans. Don’t use a dish soap that contains moisturizers, antibacterial ingredients, or “oxygen bleach.” I use Dawn Original (Classic). (Fairy is the UK substitute.) Please don’t swap Castile soap for the dish soap. Castile soap is great for cleaning other household surfaces, but the olive oil it contains will leave streaks on your floor.
• Essential oils: Optional ingredients to offset the smell of vinegar and rubbing alcohol. If you have pets or children, verify the safety of any essential oil you use. Be sure they aren’t compounds (i.e., those with fragrance added to grapeseed or some other form of oil). I buy these from Amazon.
Keep Your Mop Clean
A “no-rinse” floor cleaner means you don’t have to rinse the floor after mopping. It is important to follow best practices for mopping your floor and rinse your mop as needed so you aren’t smearing dirt around. If it’s been a while since you mopped your floors, you may need to rinse it several times per room. Continuing to use a dirty mop will leave streaks, so make a point to check yours every few minutes and rinse it in hot water when it begins looking dirty.
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