Plants Used As Floor Polisher

Home Remedies

• Lemon, often used as an artificial scent in commercial cleaning products, is one plant that can help polish floors. This all-natural remedy, easiest to use in juice or extract form, contains acids that cut through stains and destroy bacteria, and you can't beat its fresh scent. A few drops of lemon oil, jojoba oil, linseed oil or tung oil in a half cup of warm water creates a polish for wood floors, as does a solution of half vegetable oil and half vinegar, the latter of which is another highly useful plant-based remedy. A cup of white vinegar mixed into a gallon of water works wonders on brick and stone tiles.

Polishers With Plant Ingredients

• Various manufacturers offer ready-made floor polishing and cleaning products with plant-based ingredients. Examples include Ecover Floor Soap, Biokleen Floor Cleaner or Soy Cream Cleaner, Naturally It's Clean Enzyme-Based Floor Cleaner and Epic Floor and Hard Surface Cleaner. These natural cleaners contain plant products such as linseed oil, lime extract, citrus oil, grapefruit seed extract, soybean oil extract and coconut surfactant. In most cases, plant-based organic cleaners do not contain ammonia, unnatural fragrances or dyes, though they may contain biodegradable preservatives.

Other Eco-friendly Polishers

• Plants aren't the end of the line when it comes to eco-friendly floor polishers. Mineral-based solutions can lend a hand. Use a cup of vinegar, a gallon of water and a few drops of baby oil -- plus a quarter cup of borax for touchups -- to polish vinyl or linoleum floors. Likewise, a teaspoon of washing soda (e.g. sodium bicarbonate) mixed with a gallon of water shines painted wood floors.

Considerations

• Not every plant-based polisher caters to every type of floor. Consult the label on store-bought plant polishers and avoid using highly acidic plants on vinyl and linoleum. Damp-mopping with a vinegar and water solution is a safe bet for virtually any hard floor; you can even spice up the smell with a few drops of pure peppermint oil. If you use entirely plant-based floor polishers, you can use the excess gray water on your garden, though you should avoid using gray water that has traces of vinegar.