As you put your bare legs on the bed the white sheet gets covered with dirt. You must have gathered all those dirt while walking over the floorboard.
Feels horrible, doesn’t it? In situations like these, you seek out ways to remove dirt from the floorboards.
To help you get out of these sticky situations we present to you the process of cleaning floorboards with methylated spirit and we will come back to this further down the article but here’s a link if you want to see more about the special drywall dust cleaners for hardwood floors.
All you have to do is sweep the floor with a broom. Then mop the surface. Afterwards, wash the floor with a methylated spirit. Later on, you have to wait for the floor to dry. And lastly, you need to apply some floor wax.
Sounds easy, right? Well, it really is. Now, why don’t we take a look at this in more detail?
Steps you got to take for cleaning floorboards with methylated spirit
The process of cleaning a floorboard is super easy and only takes a few minutes of work. However, the downside is that the woody floors need to be maintained regularly.
It is recommended to clean them every week. Otherwise, the dirt and fungi will make it their home. And no one wants that.
Thus, to keep your floor squeaky clean, let’s check out the steps in cleaning the floorboards.
Things you’ll need
Hold on, before we dive into the topic let’s talk about the materials you’ll need for methylated spirits cleaning floors. Remember, it’s always handy to gather up all the instruments before starting a job.
List of items-
- Broom.
- Mop.
- Methylated Spirit.
- Floor Wax.
Here are some of our recommendations for cleaning with methylated spirits-
- 18″ Professional Microfiber Broom –Best Broom for Floorboards
- Bissell PowerFresh Steam Mop –Best Mop for Floorboards
- Sunnyside 83432 Denatured Alcohol – Best Methylated Spirits for Cleaning
- Minwax High Gloss Finish Hardwood Floor Liquid Wax – Best Liquid Wax for Hardwood Floors / Best Floor Waxes.
Step 1- Sweep the floor
The first and most important step is to remove the visible dirt from the floorboard. You can do this by using a broom to sweep the floor.
You can also use a vacuum if you have access to one. This will be faster and your backbone will be spared.
Well, no matter what you use, make sure you get the corners as well. Dirt and fungi love those places.
Step 2- Mop the surface
Once you’re done sweeping, you can start the next step. That’s mopping the floor. For this, you need to dip your mop in a bucket of water.
Some people complain that they hate mopping the floor. However, your floorboard will love you for it.
One more motivation for you is that if you mop the floor regularly, your floor will last longer. So, get the mop, and let’s start mopping.
However, make sure that your mop is not soggy and wet. As excess water can cause your woody floor to deteriorate faster.
Step 3- Wash the floor with methylated spirit
After the floorboard has been mopped thoroughly, you have to clean it again using methylated spirit. The trick is to use a cotton cloth to rub it all over the floor.
Before cleaning the surface make sure the methylated spirit is diluted by 70% with water. Since, using a strong acid can cause damage to the weak, woody floor.
At the same time make sure you ventilate the area. This is because the methylated spirit has a very strong smell. So, to make sure your lungs are spared open the door and windows.
Once you’re done taking preparation you can clean the floor with your prepared solution.
Step 4- Wait for the floor to dry
Now, your floors are clean and it’s shining again. But wait, that’s not all. You also have to wait for the floor to dry.
Otherwise, the dirt from your shoes or foot will make the floor dirty again. As the wet floors have the capability to absorb more dirt.
You can just let the air dry off the floor or simply turn on the fan to speed up the process. After 20 to 30 minutes your floor will be dry and clean.
Step 5- Apply some floor wax
You might be wondering why the extra step when your floor is already clean. Well, this last step will provide a deep clean for your floor.
So, what do you have to do for this step?
Simple, just apply some floor wax using a piece of cloth. Not only will it make your floor extra clean, but it’ll also make it glow.
Don’t believe us? Try it for yourself.
Related Questions
Question: Can you clean tiles with methylated spirit?
Answer: Yes, the methylated spirit can be used to clean the tiles in your house. The cleaning agent in a methylated spirit helps to get rid of the dirt and grease from the tiles.
Question: Can I use methylated spirit to make hand sanitizer?
Answer: The good news is the methylated spirit can be used to make hand sanitizer. They contain 99.9% ethanol. This means if they’re diluted by 70% they can be used to make sanitizers.
Question: Is rubbing alcohol and methylated spirit the same thing?
Answer: Although rubbing alcohol and the methylated spirit have some similarities, their main differences lie in one key property. The rubbing alcohol is made of isopropyl alcohol. On the other hand, the methylated spirit is made of ethanol alcohol. Here I’ve talked about alcohol in detail.
Question: What can I clean using methylated spirit?
Answer: You see, the methylated spirit can not only clean floorboards but it can also clean other stuff. These include- glass, paintbrush, stickers, and marking from marker pens.
Parting words
We hope that this article gave you some insight into the process of cleaning floorboards with methylated spirit. As a parting gift, we want to give you one last piece of advice.
If you want to know when it becomes mandatory to clean your floor, just spray some water on the floorboard.
After that just sit back and watch what happens to the water. If it’s sucked into the wood then you need to clean it properly. On the other hand, if it floats over the surface then you can slack off from your cleaning duties.
So, why not give this process a try? And don’t forget to let us know how it turned out.