Almost ruined my hardwood floors after using a steam mop for 2 years before a floor guy at Lowes told me it warps the boards

Had water stains showing up between the planks and after the guy pointed out the gaps were swelling I pulled out the steam mop manual and sure enough it says right there "not for unsealed wood" which I never read, has anyone else switched to a different cleaning method and seen their floors bounce back?

2 comments

2 Comments

nelson.cameron2d ago

The Bona mop system is what I switched to after my floors started looking the same way. That spray mop with the microfiber pad works way better because you control how much moisture actually hits the wood. It took about 4 months of using Bona cleaner and a dry microfiber pad in between to get the gaps to close back up, but they did eventually settle down. Those steam mops are basically just pushing hot water into the cracks over and over, bad news for any wood that isn't sealed with polyurethane.

dakotacraig2d ago

That bad news for wood without polyurethane" sounds a bit dramatic to me @nelson.cameron. My floors are old and unsealed, and I've used a steam mop on them for years without any gaps or issues.