Cleaning Tip #2 - Maintenance for Hardwood Floors Cleaning Tip #2 - Maintenance for Hardwood Floors

Cleaning Tip #2 - Maintenance for Hardwood Floors

So you have a hardwood floor in the living room and kitchen, or maybe even in a bedroom. How do you keep it looking nice? As with maintaining a floor covered with carpet, there are certain steps you can take to care for your wood floors.

One thing that we'll discuss in the future, in another post, is how to determine the best way to clean your hardwood floors. This post will be more about the simple steps you can take each day or week in between regular cleanings. In addition to your weekly maintenance and regular cleanings, a floor made of wood needs to be cleaned by a professional periodically as well, which can bring back more of the beauty and shine of the hardwood.

So what can you do now to make your regular cleaning easier? Let's talk about it. The first thing you'll need to do is sweep often. Use a regular broom or a dry micro-fiber mop to sweep the floor. This makes the floor look nice, but also prevents scratching. The dirt and sand that inevitably accumulates on the floor acts like sandpaper and will scratch the finish/wood of the floor. So in order to prevent this, sweep often. If you have kids, especially sweep under their chairs. Another thing to help with less sand and dirt gathering on the floor is use floor mats at any entrance into your home. This will collect or trap some dirt and prevent it from damaging the wood floor. Shaking and vacuuming these mats often is important, too. You can, however, vacuum your wood floors, if you use a suction only vacuum.

As with any type of flooring, cleaning spills up quickly will help prevent damage. If water is allowed to sit on the hardwood over an extended period of time, it will cause water stains, warping, or buckling. In order to stop this, just make sure to clean up spills quickly, preferably with a white towel. Another good tip is to use floor mats near places where water is more prone to drip or spill onto the floor, such as in front of the sink and frig.

When choosing a mat to place on your wood floors, make sure not to use mats that have rubber backings as they may leave a stain on the floor where they were placed. The rubber backing slowly releases a chemical, which causes the floor to stain. After choosing a good mat, if it gets wet, dry the area and wait until the mat is completely dry before laying it back down.

Now that you know how to properly maintain a wood floor, it's just a matter of finding a little bit of time here and there to keep it clean.

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