Cleaning expert's hack to revive wooden floors with just one kitchen staple

If you've had your wooden floor for a few years, you are not doubt noticing growing signs of wear and tear. Years of muddy shoes, dust, and other factors can leave them far from their original clean and shiny state. But there's no need to put up with dull and dirty wooden floors any longer, as there's a simple homemade solution to restore their new look.

Annette Griffin, who regularly shares household tips on Facebook, has posted about a handy "all-natural" floor cleaning solution. Annette claims that using black tea to clean your floors is not only is it effective, but it's also a cheap method.

READ MORE: 'I'm a cleaning expert and everyone mops their floors wrong'

Sharing a snap of her gleaming hardwood flooring, Annette wrote: "Clean your hardwood floors with tea! Looking for an all-natural way to keep wood floors and furnitureshiny, clean and dust-free for longer?

"Look no further than your morning cup of tea! Due to its tannin content,brewed tea is perfect for adding extra lustre to your wooden decor on the cheap. As an added bonus, you'll also ditch thecleaning product smelland still get results you'll love."

For this method, boil a large pot of water, place two tea bags into the water and let them steep for several minutes, as reported by The Express. Allow the water to cool to room temperature and dampen a mop as usual with the tea mixture to "clean and help bring out the richness of the wood".

Flooring experts at Just Wood also suggest using tea to clean hardwood floors. They explained: "Black tea works great to clean and polish floors. This is due to the tannic acid inblack tea that helps to remove dirt and leave your floors shiny and new."

They provide cleaning instructions similar to Annette. "Boil a litre of water and add three tea bags, allowing it to steep for around ten minutes. Then dip a cleaning pad into the solution and begin to clean your floors."

Another alternative they proposed was to use vinegar. They stated, "White vinegar is one of the most versatile cleaners you can find. Simply add 100 millilitres of white vinegar to 3.5 litres of water, dip a sponge in and wipe across your floors. Make sure you then take a dry cloth and wipe any damp areas."

If you want your floors to smell fresh and mask the smell of the vinegar, add a few drops of essential oil to your mixture before you start cleaning.

Another exceptional floor-cleaning tool: a tennis ball. Scuff marks, often caused by dragging shoes across the floor, can be difficult to remove with traditional cleaning methods. Mopping or using floor cleaners doesn’t always do the trick either, leaving nasty black marks on otherwise immaculate flooring.

However, the thick felt surface of a tennis ball is perfect for drawing stains from solid wood flooring, and available for as little as £1 a pop, or even less, this is an affordable way to keep your home looking spotless.