Using Black Tea as a Hardwood Floor Cleaner
Do you have tired hardwoods that could use a refresh? In addition to being a comforting and refreshing drink for your body, black tea can also refresh and even clean your hardwood floors. The tannins in black tea act as a light and warm stain that bring the natural warm tones out of your hardwood, while the polyphenolic compounds found naturally in the Camellia Sinensis plant black tea is made from attack germs and prevent their growth.
Here is how to refresh and clean your hardwood floors with Black Tea:
You Will Need 
- Large clean bucket that can hold a half gallon or more
- Very large pot that can hold at least a half-gallon of liquid
- Good quality mop
- Clean white rag
- Vacuum
- Broom and Dustpan
- Half gallon of filtered or distilled water
- 8 black tea bags
Tea Color Tips
You can change the intensity of the tea color and as such the color of the “stain.” The recipe above is good for medium to dark wood floors, but you can adjust the color by adding in more water or using less or more tea bags. For lighter floors 4 to 6 tea bags would be good and for really dark hardwoods 10-12 tea bags is recommended. If you test the tea and decide it is too dark you can lighten it by adding more water.
How To Do It
Before mopping with the tea, you want a dust and dirt free floor. You will want to sweep and then vacuum to ensure the floor is thoroughly free of all dirt and dust.
Step One
Bring a half-gallon of water to a boil in the large pot over high heat on the stove.
Step Two
Once the water is at a rolling boil, turn the heat off and steep the 8 black tea bags in the hot water for around 10-15 minutes. After 10-15 minutes has passed and you are pulling the tea bags out of the water make sure to press all remaining liquids out of the tea bags and into the tea before throwing them out.
Step Three
Let the tea cool down to a barely warm temperature so that it will not damage the finish on the floors. Tip: if you need the tea to cool faster you can start by boiling only half of the water, steep the tea, and then add another eight cups of cool water when the tea is steeped.
Step Four
When the mixture has cooled to lukewarm, pour it into your bucket and bring it over to an area that it sort of hidden or less seen to test the tea on your floor. A great place would be in a corner. Use the clean white rag and dip it into the tea and ring it out well. (You never want to soak your wood floors in water) Moving in the direction of the woodgrain, apply the tea to the test area.
Step Five
Once you have tested the tea in a little noticed area and are happy with the color it adds to the floor, you can mop the rest of the floor with the mop using small amounts of water.
Let the floor dry and enjoy your newly refreshed hardwoods. For professional hardwood floor cleaning in Everett and surrounding areas make an appointment online or by phone with All Kleen.