Discover how to make floors shine and smell good using Marseille soap

It's always pleasant to enter the home and smell a clean smell, especially that left by freshly washed floors: it spreads throughout the home and really gives off a clean, fresh feeling. To obtain this result, we often buy a whole range of detergents suitable for our types of floor, with different fragrances that we may change often. And there is an old-fashioned way to do this.

As you may have guessed, Marseille soap is used in this household hack:  Marseille soap is made from of olive oil, soda and water. Nowadays, it can also be produced with other vegetable oils, and very often it is enriched with some perfume. However, it remains a very effective soap in degreasing and cleaning thoroughly, but without being aggressive on more delicate surfaces such as wood, marble or granite.

So, how can we make a DIY floor cleaner using Marseille soap?

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• For ceramic or stoneware floors you will need to dissolve 2 tablespoons of Marseille soap flakes in a bucket of hot water. Then everything is used in the usual way (mop, rags, etc). If you want, you can add white vinegar, or even baking soda.
• For wooden floors, on the other hand, it is always necessary to use very little water, and dry everything thoroughly to prevent the wood from becoming deformed. So, you can use two or three liters at most, and use a spoonful of Marseille soap flakes. To pass the product over the floor, it is always recommended to use a special mop, or soft and wrung out cloths.
• For marble or granite floors, proceed as in the first case (stonewear), but never add vinegar. Instead, you can use baking soda.

Since grating the bar of soap into flakes takes some time, it is always best to pre-grate a bar, storing the flakes in a tightly-sealing glass jar. Otherwise, you might consider diluting the soap directly in hot water to create a liquid detergent. All you need to do is dissolve the soap flakes in a little water (consider starting with about half a liter for a bar of soap, possibly adding more later). This will give you a concentrate which you can store and use later: dilute with more water when you have to use it for actual cleaning.

You can also add 5-10 drops of an essential oil to all the preparations above: mint, citrus or lavender go very well with the smell of Marseille soap!