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February 18, 2008

Orange Glo vs. Method Floor Cleaner

In this corner we have the tried and true Orange Glo floor cleaner. Guaranteed to polish your floors and make them shine for more than five minutes! In this next corner stands Method's Wood for Good non-toxic floor cleaner! In a battle royale of floor polishing feats who will come out the clear winner? Let's break it down shall we?


Orange Glo Hardwood Cleaner & Polish- (about $6.99) It claims to clean your hardwood floor in one easy step. First it cleans, then shines and finally protects your floors all while revitalizing the hardwood. Using a dry mop I squirted the milky, orange-scented cleaner onto my floor and spread it out evenly. I follow the grain of the wood and I really do see a difference. It takes some scrubbing on some of the sticky parts of the kitchen floor but my floor really does shine and the orange scent thankfully isn't too strong. A day later my floor is still shiny even in the high traffic areas. The rooms I clean that barely see any foot traffic, like my dining room, stay shiny for up to a week. Fabulous! I was looking for a cleaner that was a bit more green though. Plus the solution does not squirt out of the bottle well. The spray goes wayward and hit a few walls despite pointing it nowhere near a wall. This left an oily stain on my wall which thankfully is being repainted soon. I also noticed that after a few uses my floor did not look shiny anymore but dull in fact and in a room with new hardwood this should not be the case. Then I read this review and I am now throwing away my Orange Glo. It is true! I now have my work cut out for me really scrubbing my hardwood floors.


Method's Good for Wood Almond Floor Cleaner- (about $5) I used this product first and found that while it takes some scrubbing to actually clean my floors it does work. It is not a fantastic floor cleaner like Murphy's Oil soap but the wood seems to drink it in and remain shiny and polished for a few days even in the high traffic areas. I love the light almond scent that lingers for a day leaving my home smelling clean and fresh. Just like the other cleaner, this one is a squirt and mop job. The oval shaped bottle doesn't drip cleaner out and it dries faster than the Orange Glo, which is great as my child constantly walks on the floor even as I clean it. Still, I didn't feel that it really cleaned the floors deeply, it simply takes a bit of the surface dirt off and maintains a pleasant shine. When I combine this product with Murphy's Oil soap hardwood cleaner it works beautifully, however that is a long process with me on my hands and knees for a while. I do not have time for this each week. The added bonus and the clincher for Method in my opinion, is that this is a non-toxic cleaner that will "put the hurt on the dirt and not on my home or family."

So which one did I go with? Method's Good for Wood floor cleaner wins out. There is no nasty build-up or residue left behind. My floors shine and really absorb this cleaner. It is good enough for those quick dry mop jobs and works fabulously when combined with a deep floor scrubbing. I'll stick with the Method and know that my floors will look great longer. The Orange Glo is already in the trash.

5 comments:

Stephanie said...

I use the Method wood-cleaning wipes for our bookcases. I love it. The scent is so much better than Pledge.

Anonymous said...

We've been using Orange Glo for sometime with excellent results. I noticed you mentioned using a DRY applicator, it must be damp, not dry and not wet. You rinse the microfiber applicator regularly for each floor section, then wring it out and use to spread the Orange Glo.

Anonymous said...

I found a really effective green cleaner that I thought I might share

Anonymous said...

I just spent hours scrubbing Orange Glo off of what was once beautiful hardwood floors... never again will I use this stuff. We scrubbed with ammonia, then went over it with Windex and they are back to the original beautiful floors.

Rachel said...

You can use equal parts vinegar to equal parts veg oil and add your favorite essential oil for the ultimate "green" wood floor cleaner. This combo made my 100 year old wood floors look fantastic. And it costs pennies compared to premixed cleaners.