Cleaning and maintaining bamboo floors can be easier than you may be thinking, as long as you know what products and methods are best. Below, you can discover more about the most effective cleaning products and washing methods to leave your bamboo floors shining.
You can also learn more about the things to avoid to make sure that you don’t damage your bamboo floors and keep them looking brand new for years.
Bamboo Floors-Friendly Vacuums
We recommend vacuums as the number one item to clean bamboo floors. This is because vacuums provide you with the easiest and quickest way to remove all kinds of dirt from bamboo floors. When you use the right vacuum, cleaning and maintaining bamboo floors doesn’t have to be such a time-consuming chore.
Ideally, you’ll want to use a vacuum that’s lightweight as you’ll be putting yourself through less physical strain while cleaning your floors. The easier you find a vacuum to use, the more likely you are to stay on top of a regular cleaning schedule which is great for maintaining the quality of bamboo floors.
In addition to this, heavy vacuums can lead to bamboo floors becoming damaged. The best cordless vacuums that are available nowadays are generally lightweight and easy to use.
It’s also best to use a vacuum that doesn’t come with a beater bar or a function that enables you to remove it. This is because beater bars can cause damage to bamboo floors.
You’ll want to make sure that your chosen vacuum comes with plenty of suction power so that it’s effective at sucking up dirt from within the joints of bamboo floors. Check out our recommended vacuum for bamboo floors below.
Dyson Cyclone V10 Cordless Vacuum
Dyson’s Cyclone V10 Cordless Vacuum has been made with a lightweight design to prevent damaging bamboo floors. It also comes with a filtration system that targets 99.97% of dirt particles that are as small as 0.3 microns for deeper cleans.
You can transform the Dyson V10 cordless vacuum into a handheld vacuum which is great for reaching edges and corners. (Read our full V10 Review Here)
Bamboo Floors-Friendly Mops
When it comes to using mops on bamboo floors, we recommend swapping out string mops for ones that come with microfiber pads. Using a mop that comes with a flat microfiber pad is great for covering a wider area which means that you can mop your floors quicker.
If there are no stains or grime on your bamboo floors, you can use a dry mop to pick up the dust. Microfiber pads are excellent for capturing more dust rather than pushing it around your floors.
It’s best to use a wet microfiber mop in cases where there’s grime or stains. However, we recommend using a small quantity of water to mop with. Microfiber pads work well to help you remove grime and stains while also soaking up excess moisture so that you don’t have to wait too long for your floors to dry.
Many microfiber mops come with pads that can be washed and reused which makes them more eco-friendly.
Turbo Microfiber Mop
The Turbo Microfiber Mop comes with a 360-degree swivel handle feature that makes it super easy and comfortable to use. We liked how the microfiber pad is 17” long as it lets you cover a wider area to finish cleaning jobs quicker.
You can also easily wash the microfiber pads to reuse them over and over again.
Bamboo Floors-Friendly Brooms
Brooms can be a handy way to provide bamboo floors with a quick clean for those times where there’s only a small area that’s dirty. You can use traditional bristle brooms on bamboo floors and they’ll likely do an adequate job.
It may be a good idea to consider using a dustpan and small brush when it comes to clearing smaller messes. Dustpan and brushes let you sweep the dirt and dust into a pan that you can easily dispose of.
You should keep your expectations in check when using a broom as they’re best for spot cleaning smaller messes and not an ideal option for cleaning your entire bamboo floor.
SANGFOR Broom
SANGFOR’s dustpan and brush feature a brush that has been made with soft bristles that are effective at collecting dirt from bamboo floors. We liked how the pan has a rubber lip to prevent scratches when you’re sweeping dirt into it.
The pole can be extended in length so that you can use it in a way that feels comfortable for your height.
What’s The Best Product To Clean Bamboo Floors?
People with bamboo floors often feel confused about what products they should use to clean it with. Generally speaking, the types of products that are used on hardwood floors can also be used on bamboo floors.
Having said that, you don’t want to rush into purchasing just any kind of cleaner that claims to be appropriate for hardwood and bamboo floors. This is because some cleaning products can cause damage to hardwood floors.
We recommend that you find a pH-neutral bamboo cleaner. This will ensure that the acidity levels are low enough to avoid causing damage.
There are also bamboo floor cleaner recipes that involve diluting the solution with water. It’s important to follow the directions down to a tee to make sure you’ve got the correct ratio of solution and water.
Using floor cleaners isn’t something that you’ll need for maintaining bamboo floors regularly. Vacuuming does a fantastic job but bamboo floor cleaners can be used every once in a while and for the times where there are extra dirt and grime.
Bona Bamboo Floor Cleaner
Bona’s Bamboo Floor Cleaner is super easy to use as the solution has been pre-mixed. All you have to do is spray it onto your floors and use a mop to start cleaning.
Is Bona safe for bamboo floors? It’s a water-based cleaner which is great for preventing discoloration and damage. Users also like how the solution dries quickly to prevent excess moisture from getting deep into bamboo floors.
How To Protect Bamboo Floors?
Keeping bamboo floors well protected is an overlooked aspect of maintenance. If you don’t properly care for bamboo floors, they’ll diminish in quality a lot faster.
If you have furniture in rooms with bamboo floors, you must use pads or caps underneath the legs. These items keep your bamboo floors protected from becoming scratched when people sit down and more around on your couches.
You can also place thick blankets underneath heavy pieces of furniture to prevent them from creating dents and scratches on your floors. In addition to this, too much UV exposure can cause discoloration to bamboo floors.
Therefore, you may want to think about implementing curtains that prevent your bamboo floors from being overexposed to UV light from the sun.
FURNIMATE Furniture Pads
The FURNIMATE Furniture Pads come with 136 pieces that are available in different sizes. Therefore, you can use the appropriate size for different pieces of furniture.
We liked how the pads are 0.2” thick to prevent your bamboo floors from being scratched. Furthermore, the pads are very easy to apply to your furniture legs.
RYB HOME Blackout Curtains
We were impressed with how these curtains can block out 85.99% of sunlight to prevent your bamboo floors from being overexposed to UV rays.
There is a range of colors to choose from and they’ve all been made with heavy-duty materials that are washable and made to last.
Best Way To Clean Bamboo Floors
After learning more about the best way to clean and protect bamboo floors, you may be interested to discover how to start putting the products into practice. Below, there’s a step by step guide on how to clean bamboo floors and leave them shining.
Clearing The Room
If you’re doing a deeper clean that involves mopping and vacuuming afterward, the first step is to move furniture out of the room. Be sure that any furniture pads and coasters have been added before you start moving things around to avoid scratching your floors.
For some, moving all the furniture out of the room can be a big hassle. Therefore, it would be a good idea to move the furniture to one area of the room, deep clean the open space, and move the furniture back and deep clean the space that was being covered up.
Cleaning Time
Once you’ve moved furniture out of the way, use a microfiber mop to start sweeping the top layer of dirt. If there are grime and stains, you can dampen the mop with a small quantity of water to get through the dirt easier.
When you’re satisfied that the grime has been cleared and the floor is dry, you can use a vacuum to start sucking up the rest of the dirt. To clean bamboo floors without streaks, it’s best to go with the grain of the floor.
Using Cleaning Products
If you’re wondering how to make bamboo floors shine, this is a crucial step for you to follow. Apply a cleaning product in a small quantity on one area on your floors to make sure that it doesn’t cause damage.
After finding that it doesn’t leave any marks or discoloration, you can go ahead and start applying the product to the rest of your bamboo floors. It’s best to use the product in small areas as you can focus on using the mop in figure-eight motions that go with the grain.
Some people may notice that they’ve used a little too much cleaning product and their floors are too wet. In this case, simply use a dry mop to go over the area and soak up excess moisture. You may also want to open the windows to let more air in to dry out the floors quicker.
Cleaning Schedule
The more often you clean your bamboo floors, the less time you can spend on the chore altogether. As soon as you see an area of mess on bamboo floors, be sure to use a mop or broom to sweep it away.
It’s a simple way to make sure that you don’t have to spend a long duration of time cleaning the entire floor that has become full of dirty areas. Vacuuming bamboo floors every few days is one of the quickest and easiest methods to maintain them.
Things To Avoid When Cleaning Bamboo Floors
We’ve taken you through the various products that are best for cleaning and protecting bamboo floors, along with steps on how to deep clean bamboo floors. In this section, you can learn about some of the common mistakes to avoid and properly maintain your bamboo floors for years.
When people find dirt and grime on bamboo floors, they often grab a sponge to start scrubbing the floors. However, these sponges are often too abrasive and can lead to scratches. Furthermore, brooms or mops that come with rough bristles should be avoided.
When it comes to vacuuming, be sure to avoid heavy options as they put a lot of stress on bamboo floors which can cause them to become dented. Moreover, vacuums with beater bars are likely to damage bamboo floors as well.
A big mistake that people make when mopping their floors is using too much water and cleaning product. When bamboo floors become too moist, it causes them to swell which leaves them more prone to being damaged. Start with smaller quantities of water and cleaning products and add more as you go along if necessary. As far as cleaning products go, avoid ones that contain bleach, ammonia, and strong acids.
Can you use a steam mop on bamboo flooring? We recommend that you avoid using a steam mop because it can add too much heat and moisture to bamboo floors and cause damage that’s difficult to reverse.
Those of you who have pets will want to pay close attention to how long their nails get. When pet’s nails get too long, it can quite easily lead to surface scratches that can ruin the quality of bamboo floors. So, be sure to keep your pet’s nails trimmed to avoid scratches.
Conclusion
That concludes our post on bamboo flooring maintenance and cleaning. Hopefully, we’ve provided you with some useful information on the types of products to use, cleaning methods, and things that you should avoid to prolong the lifespan of your bamboo floors. By implementing the tips mentioned above, you can spend less time on cleaning chores!
