Even with doormats at every entrance, shoes can bring in dirt, mud, and grime that build up over time, making floors look dull and worn. Spills, pet messes, and everyday foot traffic can also leave behind stains and bacteria, requiring more than just a quick sweep to keep your floors clean. That’s where a high-quality floor cleaner comes in—helping to restore shine, remove stubborn debris, and even disinfect surfaces.
Choosing the right floor cleaner depends on your flooring type and cleaning needs. Some formulas are designed specifically for hardwood, while others work best with mops for a streak-free shine. Disinfecting cleaners eliminate germs and bacteria, while cleaners with high-quality, eco-friendly ingredients offer a safer alternative without compromising effectiveness.
To help you find the best floor cleaner for your home, the This Old House team researched top-rated options on Amazon. Here are our recommendations.
Top 5 Floor Cleaners
- Swiffer WetJet Floor Cleaner: Best For Mops
- Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner Refill: Best Hardwood Cleaner
- Pine-Sol All-Purpose Original Pine Cleaner: Best Disinfectant
- Fabuloso Multipurpose Professional Cleaner: Longest Lasting
- Aunt Fannie's Floor Cleaner Vinegar Wash: Best Ingredients
Compare Top Floor Cleaners
| Product | Floor Type | Scent | Dilute | Bottle Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Swiffer WetJet Floor CleanerCheck Price | Sealed hard floors | Lavender | No | 42.2 ounces (x2) |
Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner RefillCheck Price | Hardwood floors | Unscented | No | 128 ounces |
Pine-Sol All-Purpose Original Pine CleanerCheck Price | Hard, nonporous surfaces | Pine | No | 40 ounces (x2) |
Fabuloso Multipurpose Professional CleanerCheck Price | Most hard surfaces | Lavender | Yes | 128 ounces |
Aunt Fannie’s Floor Cleaner Vinegar WashCheck Price | Sealed hard floors | Lavender | Yes | 32 ounces |
Best For Mops
Swiffer WetJet Floor Cleaner
Swiffer promises to deliver a quick and effective cleaning with this multipurpose cleaner. It has a unique formula that dissolves dirt and grime on sealed hard floors to restore their natural beauty. For the best results, use it with Swiffer’s WetJet mopping pads.
Pros and Cons of Swiffer WetJet Floor Cleaner
- Comes in several scents, including this lavender one
- Eliminates sticky messes
- Comes in a two-pack
- Not compatible with unfinished, oiled, or waxed wooden boards
- Must be used with a Swiffer mop
What People Are Saying About The Swiffer WetJet Floor Cleaner
Most customers praised this product for being effective and easy to use. However, some customers were dissatisfied with its scent. They said that it was strong and didn’t smell like lavender.
Best Hardwood Cleaner
Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner Refill
This jug is meant to refill your Bona floor spray bottle. With one gallon of cleaner, it provides you with multiple refills for months of cleaning. Though it’s made with eco-friendly ingredients, it’s still effective at cleaning hardwood floors and restoring their natural shine.
Pros and Cons of Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner Refill
- Made with a water-based formula
- Meets the Environmental Protection Agency’s Safer Product Standards
- Doesn’t contain parabens, phosphates, ammonia, or other harmful ingredients
- Some orders arrived without a lid
- Some customers indicated that it left a light residue behind
What People Are Saying About The Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner Refill
Most reviewers agreed that this product was easy to use and effective on hardwood floors. Many customers liked that it reduced waste by allowing you to refill previous spray bottles. Customers who were unsatisfied said that the product arrived with the foil tab and no lid.
Best Disinfectant
Pine-Sol All-Purpose Original Pine Cleaner
This product has a multipurpose formula. It cleans grime, kills germs, and leaves a fresh pine scent that’s subtle and not too overpowering. It works on most hard, nonporous surfaces inside and outside of your home, including sealed hardwood floors and stainless-steel appliances.
Pros and Cons of Pine-Sol All-Purpose Original Pine Cleaner
- Comes in a two-pack
- Tackles grease stains
- Leaves behind a fresh pine scent
- Has a smell that can be overwhelming for some customers
- Works only on hard and nonporous surfaces
What People Are Saying About The Pine-Sol All-Purpose Original Pine Cleaner
Reviewers stated that this cleaner worked well. They also said that it was a good value because it cleaned their surfaces while also replacing their disinfectants. However, some customers didn’t enjoy the pine smell of the product.
Longest Lasting
Fabuloso Multipurpose Professional Cleaner
This multi-use product cleans a variety of surfaces, but it works especially well on floors. With a highly concentrated formula, the one-gallon jug can make up to 64 gallons of solution. You can even purchase multipacks to get additional cleaner at a cheaper per-ounce price.
Pros and Cons of Fabuloso Multipurpose Professional Cleaner
- Works on stone, porcelain, tile, linoleum, and other surfaces
- Available in multipacks to keep your floors clean for longer
- Has an easy-pour spout
- Comes in a bulky, heavy jug
- Has an artificial purple color
What People Are Saying About The Fabuloso Multipurpose Professional Cleaner
Most customers enjoyed the effectiveness and scent of this Fabuloso cleaner. The most common complaint among unsatisfied customers was that the product wasn’t packaged well for shipping.
Best Ingredients
Aunt Fannie’s Floor Cleaner Vinegar Wash
This floor cleaner consists of a vinegar wash concentrate that’s people-friendly, pet-friendly, and approved by the Environmental Working Group with their top safety rating. The natural floor cleaning solution also contains lavender essential oils to provide a pleasant aroma.
Pros and Cons of Aunt Fannie’s Floor Cleaner Vinegar Wash
- Safe for use on sealed floors including hardwood, tile, concrete, and linoleum
- Takes only a 1⁄2 cup of solution for every 2 gallons
- Cruelty-free and never tested on animals
- Expensive compared to other floor cleaners that use more volatile ingredients
- Requires diluting the concentrate, adding another step to the floor cleaning process
What People Are Saying About The Aunt Fannie’s Floor Cleaner Vinegar Wash
The vast majority of customers were satisfied with the effectiveness of this all-natural floor cleaner, stating that it wiped away dirt, grime, spills, stains, and other blemishes from their hard floor surfaces. Happy customers also appreciated the product’s natural ingredients and pleasant lavender scent. However, select customers thought that the cleaning solution wasn’t concentrated enough and, therefore, was poor value.
Buyer’s Guide
From plant-derived cleaners to bleach-based cleaners, there are many cleaning products on the market. To decide what works for the floors in your home, consider the factors below.
Ingredients
Some floor cleaners use harsh chemicals, such as bleach, to cut through grime. While highly effective, these products aren’t as safe for you, your family, or the environment as plant-based cleaners. If you have pets or young kids, consider a natural cleaner.
Quantity
Many floor cleaners are sold in multipacks or large jugs. With these big quantities, you spend more money up front but save money in the long run. Many floor cleaner bottles contain 32 to 64 fluid ounces of cleaner.
Concentrates
Some floor cleaners are pre-diluted and ready to apply to your floors, while others are concentrated and require mixing with water for the best results. With floor cleaning concentrates, you can control the strength of the mixture, unlike pre-diluted products. However, this adds another step to the cleaning process.
Floor Type
Not all floor cleaners are safe to use on all surfaces. For example, some don’t work on unsealed or porous floors. Read the cleaner’s label to make sure that your floor is listed as a compatible surface.
If your floors are carpeted, consider looking into carpet shampoos and carpet cleaner machines.
Scent or Odor
Many cleaning products, especially ones with harsh chemicals, tend to produce an acrid and unpleasant odor in your home. To cover the smell of cleaning chemicals, some products have a pleasant lavender, mint, or pine scent. Natural cleaning products that use vinegar as their main ingredient may also give off a strong odor, but some contain essential oils to mask the vinegar.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best way to clean floors?
The best way to clean floors is in stages, starting by removing any furniture or other items on the floor in the area you want to clean. From here, sweep the area to remove larger pieces of dirt, crumbs, and pet hair. Then, thoroughly mop your hard floors using warm water and a powerful floor cleaner that’s safe to use on your type of floor.
For best results, let the floor air dry and re-mop the surface if necessary.
How do I dilute my floor cleaner?
If your cleaner is a concentrate, its label should give you instructions on how to dilute it. Diluting involves mixing some amount of the concentrate with some amount of water.
Should I use a mop with my floor cleaner?
Yes. Mops spread the cleaner and scrub stuck-on grime. If it’s a small patch of hard floor, you can use a cloth instead of a mop.
How can I remove scuff marks on my floor?
You can remove scuff marks by scrubbing the area with a floor cleaner and microfiber mop or cloth. Scrubbing in a circular motion usually gives you the best results.
Why Trust The This Old House Team
This Old House has empowered homeowners for more than four decades with top-notch home improvement content in the form of television programs, print media, and digital content on its website and social media platforms. The This Old House Team focuses on creating in-depth product and service review content to help inform your purchasing decision for just about any item or resource that you might need for your home. The This Old House Team has written over 1,000 reviews on products in the home space, from cordless drills to kitchen trash cans, lawnmowers, and dining room decorations.
We recommend products in each review using an intensive research process, spending hours combing through the best available models on Amazon. For a product to make our list of top picks, it must hold a solid sales record on Amazon, have consistently positive customer reviews, and offer unique features, among other factors. After narrowing down our list of recommendations, we conduct additional research and sometimes in-person testing to ensure that the products meet our standards. Once we conclude the research phase, we craft a well-rounded, user-friendly article that includes our recommended products and additional information to help homeowners like you make the right purchase.