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Substitutes for Mop & Glo

Katherine Harder

The purpose of the Mop & Glo product is contained in its name: the cleaner claims it can both clean and shine almost any type of hard floor with a single swipe of the product. Like many well-known commercial cleaning products, however, Mop & Glo isn’t exactly inexpensive compared to homemade cleaners.

Use only hot water on stone floors to maintain their shine.

Play with substitutes to find an acceptable alternative, focusing on the type of floor you’re cleaning for the best results.

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.

The Drip Cap

  • The purpose of the Mop & Glo product is contained in its name: the cleaner claims it can both clean and shine almost any type of hard floor with a single swipe of the product.
  • Like many well-known commercial cleaning products, however, Mop & Glo isn’t exactly inexpensive compared to homemade cleaners.
  • 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.