The secret to making your floors shine again: glycerin

After washing the floor, you may still notice stains and streaks on it. You can, of course, ignore this but it's still very frustrating.

So, what can be done about this inconvenience? Well, aside from correcting cleaning techniques, you can resort to using a specific product to "right this wrong": we are talking about glycerin.

Use glycerin to get shiny floors

Freepik

A little vegetable glycerin (available in pharmacies and online) can help eliminate dirt, remove dust and ensure that floors - whether tiled, laminated or parquet - stay clean and shiny. This is what you will need:

• a bucket of hot water;
• a drop of Marseille soap (or mild dish soap, especially if you are about to wash a laminated or parquet floor);
• vegetable glycerin - for a full bucket, you can use two or three tablespoons of liquid glycerin;
• 5 drops of an essential oil of your choice (consider using lavender, citrus, cedar, mint, eucalyptus or even tea tree oil);
• a microfibre cloth.

How to proceed:

• Pour the glycerin into the bucket of hot water and mix well;
• If you want, add the essential oil you chose;
• Wash the floor as you normally would. For a laminated or parquet floor, wring out the mop very well so that it is is damp and not dripping;
• Immediately after mopping, use the dry microfiber cloth to rub and polish the film of glycerin that has now been deposited. For ease of use, put the cloth on a flat mop.

That's really all there is to it! There are also those who recommend using a small amount of glycerin directly on a freshly dampened cloth, then wiped over the floor. This can also work, provided you do not use too much glycerin.

Other uses for glycerin at home

master1305/Freepik

There are also other ways you can use glycerin at home:

• To polish furniture: pour a small quantity onto a cloth suitable for polishing wood, and rub the wood until any stains are removed.
• To polish leather, for example the upholstery of sofas and armchairs. Vegetable glycerin can also help "camouflage" any scratches, marks and worn spots.
• To clean the windows: use 70 ml of distilled water, 20 g of liquid glycerin and a few drops of ammonia, and rub (with gloves) over the glass using a microfibre cloth.
• To condition the rubber of seals, such as those on refrigerators and freezers.

Have you ever tried using glycerin to clean around your home?