Wooden floors often lose their shine in winter, but there is a simple way to make them gleam again in just a few minutes without needing any fancy cleaning products. Winter is when floors start to get extremely grimy, as we start tracking grit and mud into our homes.
And if that residue is not cleaned, it can grind into the floor when walked over and leave tiny scratches in the wood. Sweeping or vacuuming every day can quickly become tiring, but Audrey Bruno, from Angie’s List, a home maintenance company, has shared that there is an easy way to deep clean a floor, as all you need are some teabags. Audrey said: “Tea isn’t just great for its health benefits — it can also work wonders on your hardwood floors. Cover up stains and scratches by brewing five to six tea bags in boiling water.”
It might sound a little strange, but tea bags can be used to clean wood because they contain tannins, a natural plant compound, which can quickly break down dust and grit. Using teabags to mop wooden floors is an old-fashioned cleaning technique that has been around for decades, but it makes it easier to get rid of any embedded grime or stains.
Tannins help flavour tea but are also known to enhance wooden surfaces, as they will deepen the colour to stop a floor from looking dull and instead make it look a lot warmer. This can also help hide small scratches, so it can make a floor look shiny and much more refreshed without having to do any deep cleaning.
It should be noted that tea cannot fix scratches and will not work on big or deep ones in the wood, but is one of the best ways to restore a wooden floor to make it look better by just mopping it.
How to clean a wooden floor with teabags
All you need to do is place five to six teabags into a big container and then fill it with boiling water from a kettle. Leave the teabags to steep for about 10 to 15 minutes, until the water has completely cooled down.
Pour the solution into a mop bucket and then mop in small sections. Be careful not to soak the floor, as too much moisture will ruin the wood; you just want it to be barely damp.
Allow the floor to dry naturally, and it should be gleaming in just a few minutes with a natural remedy you already have in your kitchen.