I am going to rip up the carpet, how do I clean the wood floors underneath?

[wishforabird]

I neeeeed a bird-safe way to clean the wood floors under the carpet when I rip it up this summer ( !!!!! ) 
I know of Murphys oil soap, but I do not have any clue of if it is safe, I have NO experience with wood floors/care... I know it is going to be scary under there as ten years of kids have made it necessary to shampoo the rugs over and over and over and over and over and over...

...... and over and over and over.............



I neeeed some serious advice here!  pweeease? 

[steptoe91(tozie)]

oh wow. i'm not sure. i use the biokleen allpurpose cleaner or the biokleen floor cleaner on my wood floors, but they havent been covered for years. are you refinishing the floors and leaving them or covering them back up with different flooring?

[Debz]

ugghhh... yuck.... I hate carpet....   That's not even close to the first part of your problem.  The first part of your problem is what gets released into the air as you start pulling up that old carpet. You have an entire house full of sensitive nosies. Not just your fiddies.  Kat, I would tell you send everyone out for about a week while you and some friends quickly start and finish this whole process of pulling up and cleaning the wood. or hire a pro co to git er done real quick. while even you are out of there.  Xman owned a carpet business some time ago and i learned all this yucky stuff about carpeting. 

[Sondra]

Murphys is a No-No with birds around, as is anything with oil in it, as the oil and fragrance can burn /clog lungs. Put you birds outside for the day when you do this. Run Box fans with hepa filters on the back to collect the nasties floating around. Use a steamer with your bioclean to do the floors. If you strip and re-sand the floors make arrangements to keep the birds out of your house until it is completely aired out - 12 to 24 hours with box fans and hepa filters running and windows open.

[BPMar]

 :deer: I just literally pulled up the carpet in our bathroom! Yes, there was carpet in the bathroom...not sure if the landlord did that or the tenants before us and thinking they did it as there is a slight "lip" by the shower that encloses it so carpeting was easier.  I am more of a safer distance from the fids though.  I would love to do tile in there and could prob do it and take it off the rent but went with linoleum.  Are the floors finished?  I too use the bio kleen and/or vinegar/water on my floors and they also make a steam cleaner that is supp safe for hardwood.

[wishforabird]

i am going to rip it up and leave it au nateral....but it needs to be cleaned.  the stuff that has no-doubt trickled down under... we put the carpet in ten years ago so I know that there are wood floors below.   I do not want to sand and refinish, I don't need the museum high-polish look..the reg floors with their own personality suit me fine.  I am not recovering/retiling..nothing.  I hate the rugs, I want them GONE.  they are a dust/mess nightmare...one can only shampoo them so much!

 i can put the budgies out into the sun room and Julian too..in his travel cage for the day. this house is teeny so it can be done in one day , or in stages considering that I am not 20 anymore and have messed up my back.....(considering I am doing this alone, I think stages. )  :deer:  I will close the door to the room I am demolishing, and open the windows for ventilation, then let er rip.  I would love to afford pros but that is not happening lol, and I have to remove all the furniture from the rooms.  i do have a box fan :)

my hubby's mom had carpets up and they were NASTY (i could smell the ..."old"), thay had been there 30+ years and the dogs had peed all over them, etc... NASTY.  his cousin actually went outside to vomit during the process.   

when the babies were small she was all insulted I would not let them crawl on her floors.  she did shampoo them from time to time, but with dogs and shoes, um...no..
hubby thought I was being too neurotic; then the day he came home after helping her pull them up he apologized to me.  I was so close to saying "Tolja."  they also wear shoes in the house (we do not) so that right there eliminates a ton of dirt that would be.   maybe I will get lucky. 

biokleen I do not have, I will have to invest.  i want the floors to be cleaned of all the ickies that will no doubt be there, I cannot WAIt... but it will be a very long and tiring and dirty job for me.  so I have to pace myself.   i have no idea if the floors are even finished, the house was built in the late 50s early 60s, so maybe...?  they were built for the blue collar workers in the city who could afford a little more than a rowhouse and for the returning WWII troops for 'starter homes' (most of them are still here!).

i have a crowbar to remove the tack rails, I have a bucket and rags and a hankie for my head, I can do this. 
hubby doesn't see why, but he is not the one shampooing the rugs in his hands and knees either.  it has lost its draw for me lol, OUT THE DOOR!   

i wish I had local friends who would be willing to help me, but it is like when you move....everyone disappears! (especially when you/they get over 30)

[Sondra]

You could use white vinegar and water. You may want to sand the floors and put down a decent finish - doesn't have to be "high gloss", just clean. A finished floor will clean easier and repell yuckies much better. You can rent a sander, or just do a fine sanding with a belt sander to ruff the existing finish, then put down a good finish. Ask at ACE, or Home Depot what would be a good finish for what you want. Who knows, you may find the floor in really nice condition if it was that way when you put down the carpet!

[YoshiMike13]

GRAPEFRUIT SEED EXTRACT!! parrots for dummies! thats something i remember from it

[grey782163]

any citrus oil based cleaner (goo gone) would do well. It will take a bit of elbow grease.

[wishforabird]

the oil in the citrus oil is ok?

thanks guys! if anyone has any more ideas let me know.. the thought of moving all that furniture... my back aches already.  lol.. ah, youth, why hath thou forsaken me?

[Sondra]

Read the label on Goo-Gone, I think it has some pretty strong fumes (burns my nose, but everything does). Because it's an oil based fragrance birds need to be removed from the area.........sigh, their lungs are so small all oil based items can be inhaled which can cause lung issues in them - I'm so paranoid of causing harm.   :dufus:   I do know you can use mineral oil as it can be digested, but I doubt that would help you any. 

I'll ask hubs what he would suggest when he's back from his walk.