Hardwood Flooring Care & Maintenance Guide
In this article, we offer a few important tips to show how you can clean and take care of your hardwood floors.
28/10/2020
Hardwood floors have been a long-time favourite, and for good reason. They’re durable, highly versatile and boost the overall value of your home. To preserve the look and integrity of your hardwood floors, it’s best to clean and maintain them regularly. Take a look at these tips to see how you can clean and take care of your hardwood floors.
Make Floor Cleaning a Daily Habit
It’s easy for dirt and dust to accumulate on
your floors, especially if you have a large
household. To keep them looking fresh, make the
conscious effort of cleaning them daily.
● For daily cleaning, a regular microfiber dust
mop or vacuum cleaner will help you get the job
done. These tools easily remove dust, dirt and
pet hair.
● Using a regular broom to
sweep your
hardwood floors just spreads dust
and debris into the air – which eventually will
trickle back down to the ground. A microfiber
dust mop, on the other hand, attracts dust and
holds onto it so you don’t have to worry about
spreading dust everywhere.
● If you want
to clean your hardwood floors with a vacuum
cleaner, avoid using the beater bar attachment.
The beater bar’s bristles can scratch or damage
your wood. Instead, you can use an attachment
made specifically for vacuuming hardwood floors.
● Not only does skipping out on daily
cleaning keep your floors dirty, it can also
damage the wood. Repairing or replacing hardwood
floors is expensive – one of the best ways to
avoid this is to maintain a regular cleaning
schedule.
Use Liquid Cleaning Periodically
Your floors might still look dull or grimy, no matter how much you clean it with a dust mop or vacuum cleaner. At this point, you should consider using a liquid cleaner to get rid of the build-up of dirt and grime.
● Look for a pH-neutral, wax-free and petroleum-free cleaner.
● An important step to keep in mind is to avoid getting too much liquid on your floors. Start the cleaning process by soaking your sponge mop with the cleaner, and then wring out the excess liquid until it is damp.
● Mop one small area at a time in circular motions. Afterwards, rinse your mop in fresh water and wring out the excess. Damp mop your floor once more and then use a soft towel to dry it off.
● It’s best to use a floor cleaning product that your hardwood supplier or contractor recommends. If you can’t get your hands on the recommended product, try cleaning with water and liquid dishwashing soap. To make this mixture, all you need to do is add 1/4 cup of liquid dish soap to a bucket of water.
Repair and Refinish Your Floors When Needed
While it hurts to see scratches or gouges in your beautiful hardwood floors, accidents happen. Luckily, there are a few ways to restore your floors.
● Use a wood stain to minimize the appearance of deep scratches. You can find wood stains that are water-based, oil-based, gel-based or made with a combination. The type of wood stain you should pick depends on your needs. Oil-based stains offer rich and long-lasting colour, while water-based stains come in several shades and are easy to work with.
● If you have deep gouges in your hardwood floors, you should consider using a wood filler. While wood fillers are available in many colours, you might need to blend some to match your floor’s colour.
● If your hardwood floors are covered in scratches, your best option might be to refinish it. Refinishing your floors involves sanding down the top layer of your floor and applying fresh stain and lacquer over the existing wood. The end result is a gleaming floor that looks brand new again.
It’s A Hardwood Life
By taking good care of your hardwood floors, they can easily last for several decades. As interior design trends come and go, the love of hardwood floors never seems to fade. That might be because real hardwood flooring brings an unmatched sense of warmth and beauty to any home.
To explore
your hardwood flooring options, visit
Sarana Tile.