There’s no need to reach for expensive floor cleaners when a cheap kitchen ingredient can keep wooden flooring shiny and dust-free for a good while.
Hard flooring is ideal for higher-traffic areas of the home, but while it’s more hard-wearing than carpet, it can still get pretty dirty. Plus, wear and tear becomes more evident over time, which is why it’s essential to clean your hard flooring regularly and use the right products.
While wooden floors are usually easy to clean, as the weather warms up, households may notice that their floors stay dusty no matter how much they vacuum and mop.
All wooden materials tend to produce significant static electricity when it’s warm, causing dust to enter homes through windows and settle on the floor continuously.
However, floor-cleaning experts at All Kleen Carpet Cleaning Services claim that dust can be prevented for longer and wooden flooring can remain shiny if you have black tea to hand.
They said, “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 experts pointed out that you can adjust the intensity of the tea colour and, as a result, the colour of the “stain”.
For lighter wooden floors, it is recommended to use four to six tea bags, and for really dark hardwoods, 10 to 12 tea bags.
If you test the tea and decide it is too dark, you can lighten it by adding more water, and if you need it to be darker, add more tea bags.
However, before mopping with the tea, you want to start with a dust- and dirt-free floor. Make sure to sweep and then vacuum to ensure the floor is thoroughly free of all dirt and dust.
How to clean wooden floors with black tea
Bring 1.9 litres of water to a boil in the large pot over high heat on the hob. Once boiling, turn off the heat and steep the eight black tea bags in the hot water for 10 to 15 minutes.
After the time has passed, remove the tea bags, making sure to press out all remaining liquid before throwing them away.
Let the tea cool to barely warm so it will not damage the floor finish. If you need the tea to cool faster, start by boiling only half the water, steep the tea, and then add another eight cups of cool water.
When the mixture is lukewarm, pour it into a large bucket and bring it to an area that is somewhat hidden or less visible to test the tea on your floor. A great place would be in a corner.
Use a clean cloth and dip it into the tea and wring it out well, as you never want to soak your wood floors in water. Moving in the direction of the woodgrain, apply the tea to the test area.
Once you have tested the tea and are happy with the colour it adds to the floor, you can mop the rest of the floor with the mop using small amounts of water. Let the floor dry and enjoy your newly refreshed wooden flooring.
