Whether you own engineered, solid or reclaimed wood flooring, maintaining it should be at the top of your priorities. Thankfully, the process remains the same regardless of the type of hardwood flooring. Furthermore, the importance of cleaning your hardwood flooring cannot be understated. The solid construction and natural resilience of wood mean that this flooring is expected to last for a long, long, time. However, this is predicated on learning how to maintain hardwood flooring.
To maintain hardwood flooring, it’s also important to put current weather conditions into perspective. The winter season comes with snow ice and salt while the summer brings with it chlorine and increased humidity. As a natural product, these are factors that can affect the quality and performance of hardwood flooring. Therefore, it is important to put these into perspective when discussing the tips for maintaining hardwood flooring.
Undoubtedly, keeping up with all of these may seem like a huge ask. However, with the aesthetic and financial implications of owning hardwood flooring, it’s an endeavour that is well worth it. In this article, we will help simplify the process by discussing all you need to know about cleaning and maintaining hardwood flooring. Come along!
Maintaining Hardwood Flooring: What You Need To Do
Generally, floors have to deal with a lot of damage. As you would expect, hardwood flooring is not exempt. Owners have to deal with the effects of foot traffic, spills, dents, scuffs and other forms of mishaps.
However, when learning how to maintain hardwood flooring, the first step is to take preventive measures. Some tips to help protect the integrity of your hardwood flooring include:
- Use floor mats to prevent dirt from being tracked in. Place them both inside and outside.
- During bad weather, make sure that boots are removed before people walk in.
- Keep a rag around to quickly take care of puddles and stains.
- Ensure that indoor humidity levels are kept between %45-55.
When you follow the preventive measures above, the effects of the following maintenance efforts are maximized.
Clean all spills immediately
To prevent stains, it is very important that you clean all stains immediately after they happen. The key to maintaining your hardwood flooring is to wipe up spills using a slightly damp cloth. With consistent usage, steam or wet mops will only cause damage to the floor.
Cleaning up spills immediately after they happen is important due to humidity. Since wood swells and shrinks in response to moisture present in the air (humidity), wiping off spills immediately after they happen is vital to this. The failure to do this may result in gapping, splitting or cupping of wood. Also, to make this step effective, absolutely ban wet shoes from your flooring.
Related article: Know-how On Refinishing Hardwood Floors
Equip your furniture with floor pads
When learning how to maintain floor pads, it is vital to deal with scratches appropriately. Scratches are a tough problem that may be impossible to solve. Of course, it’s impossible to prevent your flooring from being scratched, some scratches are completely avoidable. By placing pads under the legs of your furniture, you can avoid needles marks on your floor.
Sweep daily
Having to sweep every day may seem like a bother. However, it’s a solid recommendation that can help maintain hardwood flooring. If you don’t sweep hardwood floors on a daily basis, it is possible for dust to settle everywhere. If you have pets, more allergens will find a home on your flooring. Apart from the obvious health issues, in the long run, this may affect the integrity of your flooring.
Vacuum Weekly
Another routine task that will greatly help maintain hardwood flooring, vacuuming is key to a proper cleaning habit. With vacuuming, you’ll be able to remove any specks of dirt or crumbles missed during the daily sweeping. Additionally, despite its thoroughness, vacuuming won’t scratch your wood floors.
Refinish flooring every 3-6 years
Over time, depending on the rate of wear and tear, it is possible that your hardwood flooring will start to look dull after a few years. To restore the elegant, polished look, all you need to do is apply a new matte/glossy coat of finish. This part of how to maintain hardwood floors should be done every 3-6 years.
How To Choose The Best Hardwood Floor Cleaner
In the next section, we will discuss how to mop hardwood flooring correctly. However, this has to be done with a floor cleaning product. Typically, we recommend that when you buy hardwood flooring, you should talk to the manufacturers about the best cleaning product.
However, if this isn’t an option, there’s a simple hack that will do the trick. Simply pick a cleaning product that is specially made for use with wood floors.
Make sure that you don’t use tile or vinyl floor cleaners. This will contain chemicals that affect the integrity of your hardwood flooring. Alternatively, if you are concerned about the presence of harsh chemicals, ensure that the product is certified for use with pets and kids. This way, you enjoy maximum cleaning efficiency without compromising on safety.
How to Mop Hardwood Flooring
The preventive tips and regular cleaning activities described above are effective. However, sometimes, a deep cleaning step is necessary to maintain hardwood flooring. Sometimes, a buildup of dirt, grime and oil may not be easily removed via weekly vacuuming.
Here’s how to mop hardwood flooring properly:
- Timing is important. Spring season is the best time to deep-cleanse your floor.
- Use a wood mop paired with the right cleaning product as described before.
- Mix the cleaning product with water as indicated on the package.
- Put the mop in the mixture taking care to squeeze it almost dry before removing it.
- Damp-clean the hardwood floor taking care to avoid leaving behind standing water.
- Afterward, rinse the floor with water and a clean mop.
- Be sure to clean any standing water.
- To hasten the drying process, use fans or an air conditioning system.
Conclusion
Maintaining your hardwood flooring will take serious dedication on your part. However, it’s an activity that offers plenty of rewards. With a healthy cleaning schedule, you stand to gain an increase in aesthetics, durability and performance.
Remember that buying top quality hardwood flooring is key to enjoying long-term usage from hardwood floors. Here at LV Flooring, we offer a wide variety of top-notch hardwood flooring options. Check our online store or contact us today!
Related article: What is the Best Way to Install Hardwood Floors?
