Hardwood floors look great, so it’s no surprise they can cost up to $10 per square foot. That means your wooden floor may set you back several thousand dollars. Having spent a small fortune you will want to make sure your floor lasts and continues to look amazing.
Wood is a natural product, and although it’s very strong, it’s by no means indestructible. With the heavy flow of foot traffic associated with flooring, it will show signs of wear if it isn’t well looked after and cleaned. That begs the question, how do you clean a natural product like this so that it’s truly clean but without damaging it in the process?
In this article, you will learn 7 pro tips for cleaning your hardwood floors. Armed with this knowledge, your wooden floor will not only be the envy of your neighbors for the time being, but it will stay that way for a long time to come.
Contents
1. Introduce All Your Friends to Mat
Who is Mat and what’s he got to do with your hardwood flooring? One of the first tips for cleaning your floor is making sure it doesn’t get too dirty in the first place. You should have mats at every entrance into the room as well as placed in key areas of your kitchen.
Choose the right mats, and they will look good, but most importantly they will catch all sorts of undesirable things off peoples’ shoes before it has the chance to be trodden into your wooden floor and further walked around the room.
2. Time For a Caddy
We’re not talking about a round of golf. This caddy is something you should get to store shoes by the entrance to your room with wooden floors. Some people call them shoe stores or shoe organizers, the most important thing is that you have a place to put shoes so that people will see they need to take their shoes off before coming into the room.
This follows a similar principle to the above point. You can save cleaning hardwood floors from dirt and grim that will come into the house on the bottom of your shoes. This may seem like a small thing and even inconvenient to some degree, yet it’s good to think about how nice it is to walk on natural floors barefoot knowing that the surface is free from the grime of the outside world.
3. No Grain No Gain
Whenever you clean the floor try to remember that is a natural product and that means it’s vulnerable to damage. For example, one of the attractions to using wood flooring is the natural grain that can be seen in the wood. This not only looks good but also offers texture and a sense of touch to the feet that is also appealing.
When cleaning the floor make sure you clean with the grain. Don’t clean across the grain or even against the grain. This will help preserve the beautiful pattern in the wood and the integrity of the protective sealant on the wood.
4. Think Moist Not Wet
Cleaning hardwood floors requires some moisture but not a lot of water. Moisture is necessary at times because it helps stubborn stains to be lifted off the floor surface. At the same time, too much moisture can damage the wood’s surface and penetrate tiny cracks in the protective sealant of the wood.
Using a microfiber cloth is very effective as it attracts dirt and grime from the floor while at the same time not holding on to excessive water. These types of clothes are easy to clean and replace as needed.
5. Don’t Forget the Vacuum
We may associate the vacuum cleaner with carpet and similar types of flooring but not necessarily with wood flooring. Yet, the vacuum cleaner is an excellent tool to pick up dust, hair, and animal dander in a very quick, easy, and convenient way.
Another great advantage of the vacuum is that it doesn’t involve any water or moisture at all. So it’s an effective cleaning tool that can be used as much as you like without worry you’re wearing or damaging the floor.
6. Keep It Simple
Natural materials like wood are often best cleaned using simple and natural products. For example, vinegar is a very effective cleaning agent that can be used on wooden floors. It is well known for its cleaning properties.
That said, you’re wise to test the use of vinegar first on a small spot of your floor away from obvious eyes. Sometimes, vinegar can cause wood to discolor so make sure you test it first. If you can use vinegar, you will find it’s effective at cutting through grime and oil that has been well-trodden into the wood.
7. Elbow Grease Versus Machine
This really comes down to how big of an area you need to clean. If your wooden floor is an average size and you can manage, then elbow grease may be all that you need. However, if it is a very large area you should consider floor scrubber rental as this will save you a lot of time and energy.
The frequency of cleaning is important with your wooden floor, so if it’s a large area consider using a machine so that you can stay on top of the cleaning and not let dirt and grime build up on the floor’s surface. This will be much more difficult to remove later on.
Perfect Hardwood Floors
In this article, you’ve read about 7 pro tips for keeping your hardwood floors looking perfect. There is something special and deeply satisfying about natural wooden floors. To keep them looking good, make sure you stick to these tips.
Remember that natural is beautiful but nature can be damaged if not treated with understanding. From wooden floors to security tips, even more home-related advice can be found on our website, so check out the latest articles.