A. I’d really rather you didn’t. Even small amounts of water can cause your floor to swell and cup over time and even a well-wrung sponge mop leaves visible water behind on the floor. Using an actual sponge on your hands and knees delivers much less water to the floor, but it seems cruel to recommend that cleaning method.

Here’s a better option.

For day-to-day maintenance, use a spray cleaner formulated for hardwood floors, immediately followed by a wipe with a dry cloth.

Please, please do not use Orange Glo, Future, Mop&Glo or Murphy’s Oil Soap because all of them can leave a residue that will make your floor impossible to recoat.

At Pete’s, we sell and use the Bona brand spray, and particularly like using a micro-fiber mop to do the scrubbing part.

For the full scoop on maintaining your hardwood floor, go immediately to our floor maintenance page.