Substitutes for Mop & Glo

Borax for Vinyl

• Use water and borax to get vinyl flooring clean and shiny at the same time. Borax, which is available in most laundry aisles as a detergent booster, preserves shine even on waxed vinyl and won’t require a rinse. Dissolve a few teaspoons of borax powder into a gallon of warm water, then apply the mixture to your vinyl floors with the same type of mop you’d use with Mop & Glo.

Tea for Wood

• Wood floors are sensitive both to moisture and cleaning solvents. Use a mixture of tea and hot water to restore shine to your wood floors while simultaneously cleaning them. Since wood floors are so easily warped and discolored by sitting water, remove the risk by forgoing your mop altogether. Instead, spray your tea mixture on a soft rag, dampening it, and use the rag to wipe and shine your wood floors.

Vinegar for Laminate

• Mop your laminate floors with a mixture of diluted household vinegar to gently get the floors clean without risking damage. Use one part white vinegar to every 10 parts water, and only use enough of the watery mixture on your old Mop & Glo mop to get it damp, not soaking wet. Buff your clean laminate floor to a shine with a soft rag.

Hot Water Only for Stone and Tile

• Using a commercial cleaner such as Mop & Glo is actually completely unnecessary for stone and tile floors. These floors come clean with very hot water only, and most other cleansers pit their surfaces and reduce the shine. By scrubbing these floors with hot water, you remove the need to shine them, since you aren’t eating away at their facade.