Wooden floors can accumulate a lot of dust as the weather warms up, but floor-cleaning experts say mopping with a kitchen staple could help keep them shiny and dust-free for longer.
Hard flooring works brilliantly in busy parts of the house, but while it’s tougher than carpet, it still accumulates dust and grime. What’s more, signs of ageing become increasingly noticeable as time passes, making regular cleaning with appropriate products absolutely crucial.
While wooden floors are generally straightforward to maintain, as temperatures rise, many households find their floors remain dusty regardless of how frequently they vacuum and mop.
All timber materials tend to generate considerable static electricity during warmer periods, drawing dust indoors through windows, where it continuously settles on the floor.
Nevertheless, floor-cleaning specialists at All Kleen Carpet Cleaning Services suggest that dust can be kept at bay for extended periods and that wooden surfaces can maintain their lustre if you’ve got black tea in your cupboard.
They explained, “In addition to being a comforting and refreshing drink for your body, black tea can also refresh and even clean your hardwood floors. The tannins in black tea act as a light and warm stain that brings the natural warm tones out of your hardwood, while the polyphenolic compounds found naturally in the Camellia Sinensis plant that black tea is made from, attack germs and prevent their growth.”
The specialists noted that you can modify the strength of the tea’s colour and, consequently, the shade of the “stain”, reports the Mirror.
For paler wooden floors, they advise using four to six tea bags, while for particularly dark hardwoods, 10 to 12 tea bags are recommended. If, upon testing, the tea appears too strong, simply dilute it with a splash more water, or alternatively, pop in an extra tea bag or two if you’d like a deeper shade.
Before you get going with the tea mop, it’s essential to start with a spotless floor. Give it a thorough sweep followed by a vacuum to rid the surface of every last speck of dirt and dust.
How to clean wooden floors with black tea
Begin by bringing 1.9 litres of water to a rolling boil in a large pot on the hob over a high heat. Once boiling, switch off the heat and leave the eight black tea bags to steep in the hot water for 10 to 15 minutes.
Once the time is up, fish out the tea bags, squeezing out every last drop of liquid before discarding them.
Allow the tea to cool until it’s barely warm to avoid damaging your floor’s finish. To speed up the cooling process, try boiling just half the water initially, steeping the tea, and then topping it up with another eight cups of cold water.
Once the mixture has reached a lukewarm temperature, decant it into a large bucket and head to a less conspicuous area of your floor to carry out a test patch – a corner would be ideal.
Dip a clean cloth into the tea, wringing it out thoroughly, as saturating your wooden floors with water is a definite no-no. Apply the tea to the test patch, working in line with the direction of the wood grain.
Once you’re satisfied with the results from your test patch, go ahead and mop the remainder of the floor using modest amounts of the mixture. Leave the floor to dry completely and revel in your beautifully revitalised wooden flooring.
