In this post, we’re comparing two hardwood floor cleaners: Bona Pro Series and Basic Coatings Squeaky.
You want an ultra-clean floor with a shine, one you can walk across in white socks without them getting dirty. A good cleaner gets you there on a floor whose finish is in good shape. It shows off the finish you have, but it won’t turn a matte floor glossy or hide worn spots.
The short answer: both are excellent choices for finished hardwood when you follow the directions. Bona Pro is the specialist, ready-to-use bottle, and Bona makes it for hardwood alone. Squeaky is commercial-grade and also covers laminate and luxury vinyl. Squeaky concentrate gives you the best value per gallon if you don’t mind mixing.
We compared them using each maker’s technical and safety sheets and how we clean our own showroom floors. For each one, we looked at:
Browse our hardwood floor cleaners.
Product overview
Bona Pro Series Hardwood Floor Cleaner
Bona calls it “a professional strength, waterbased cleaner” for unwaxed, polyurethane-finished wood, including prefinished floors with an aluminum oxide finish.
Its full name on Bona’s data sheet is Bona Professional Series Hardwood Floor Cleaner.
It comes ready to use in a 32-ounce spray or a gallon refill, and Bona says not to dilute it.
Bona Pro Series isn’t regular Bona
Bona sells both the regular Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner, marketed to homeowners, and Bona Pro Series, part of its professional line. They’re different cleaners.
Both are safe on a polyurethane floor. In our experience, Pro Series does a better job on buildup.
Zach Stewart, owner of 5th Generation Hardwood Flooring, recommends Bona Pro Series. He says it’s the best at everyday wood floor care.
When shopping, look for “Pro Series” on the label to make sure you’re getting the cleaner compared here.
Basic Coatings Squeaky Cleaner
Basic Coatings calls Squeaky “an excellent commercial-grade cleaner for all woods and laminate floors,” and its blog adds luxury vinyl tile (LVT) and stone plastic composite (SPC).
Basic Coatings makes it to dissolve oil-based soils like shoe marks, furniture polish, and dust mop treatments.
You can buy it ready to use or as a concentrate you mix with water.
We’re Panel Town & Floors, family-owned and in business since 1967. We use both of these cleaners to keep our showroom floors looking their best every day.
Feature-by-feature comparison
Here we go through what sets these two premier cleaners apart.
Which floors does each one cover?
Attia Soliman describes Squeaky as a “multi-faceted cleaner” that works across floor types, including hardwood finished with water-based or oil-based polyurethane.
Basic Coatings lists Squeaky for wood, laminate, and luxury vinyl. One bottle can handle hardwood in the living room and vinyl plank in the kitchen.
Bona makes Pro Series for finished hardwood alone, so if that’s all you have, it’s all you need.
Waxed, oiled, and hardwax-oil floors need the cleaner made for that finish, not either of these. Your flooring maker’s care instructions come first.
How do they handle residue and haze?
You finish mopping, but your feet still stick to the floor, or it dries with a cloudy film that shows every time the light hits it.
Both makers say their cleaner leaves no dulling residue. In our experience, when a floor does end up hazy, the cause is too much cleaner or a dirty cleaning pad.
Dust mop or vacuum first and go light on the cleaner. Bona says to rinse the pad often to avoid streaking, and Basic Coatings warns that a dirty pad puts oil and dirt right back on the floor.
If your hardwood floors are sticky no matter what you clean them with, try Squeaky. The problem may be the film other cleaners left behind.
Basic Coatings makes Squeaky to dissolve oil-based soils in one pass, and it has directions for using it to remove the film oil soaps leave.
Spray it onto a clean microfiber pad, work one area at a time, and switch to a clean pad when it gets dirty. If the floor feels slippery afterward, use less next time.
Two problems your everyday cleaner won’t fix. Floor polish, a shine product put down as a coating, has to come off with something like Basic Coatings IFT Intensive Floor Treatment before a recoat. A worn finish may need a screen and recoat.
How do they handle dirt and scuff marks?
Both clean everyday dirt. Squeaky is the one made for scuffs. Bona says Pro Series cuts through dust, dirt, water spots, and grime, but it doesn’t list scuff marks. Basic Coatings lists dirt, grease, and scuffs, and says Squeaky dissolves oil-based soils like shoe marks. To get scuff marks off hardwood floors, Squeaky is the one we reach for.
Keep a clean pad on the mop with either one. If your microfiber mop pad is dirty, you won’t have clean floors.
How easy are they to use?
Both are ready to use with a microfiber mop, but they go down differently. Bona says to mist Bona Pro right on the floor and mop it up. Basic Coatings says to spray Squeaky onto the mop pad, not the floor, because excess liquid on any hardwood floor may damage the wood fibers.
In our showroom, a light touch is all it takes after a busy day. A flat microfiber mop like the Bona Premium Microfiber Mop works with either cleaner.
What does each one cost?
Sale prices on paneltown.com, checked October 19, 2026, before tax and shipping. The concentrate rows assume 1 part Squeaky to 4 parts water.
One gallon of concentrate makes five gallons of cleaner, enough to fill a 32-ounce bottle 20 times. Only the concentrate gets mixed, so don’t dilute Bona or the Squeaky refill. The 5-gallon pail makes 25 gallons, which is more than most homes need.
It suits schools, offices, and churches, and in an automatic scrubber, Basic Coatings calls for 1 part Squeaky to 16 parts water.
How do they smell?
Bona describes Pro Series’ odor as mild. Squeaky contains isopropyl alcohol, and Basic Coatings describes its odor as alcohol-like. I think they both smell clean, and Squeaky’s alcohol smell fades fast as the floor dries.
For volatile organic compounds (VOCs), Bona lists Pro Series at under 0.5%. Basic Coatings lists Squeaky at up to 3.0% ready to use and up to 3.9% from concentrate. Basic Coatings also labels the concentrate flammable, so store it away from heat.
Comparison at a Glance
Who should pick which
- Only finished hardwood, and you want it simple: Bona Pro. Start with the spray, then switch to the gallon refill.
- Hardwood plus laminate or luxury vinyl: Squeaky, so one bottle covers those floors.
- Sticky floors or scuff marks:
- Lots of floor to clean, and you don’t mind mixing: the Squeaky 1-gallon concentrate.
- Waxed or oiled floors: Use the cleaner made for that finish.
Conclusion
So which is the best hardwood floor cleaner? Between these two, there isn’t one winner.
Both makers design their cleaner for finished hardwood and either one is a solid pick as long as you follow the directions.
Start with the Bona Pro 32-oz spray or the Squeaky 32-oz spray, whichever fits your floor. If you’re feeling scientific, order a bottle of each, test them on your floor, take pictures, and email us your results.
