Hardwood floors add a classy touch to your home. However, it is important to take care of them if you want them to look good throughout their lifetime. The true key to safeguarding and taking care of their appearance is thorough maintenance of it.
Hardwood floor care material in use combined with daily cleaning will improve the life and quality of your floor. Since your floors go through a lot, like daily trafficking, uninvited spills, dust, etc. The best cleaning tip begins with preventing these damages.
But if you’re a beginner and want to know the cleaning do’s and don’ts in-depth, here are a few smart hardwood floor cleaning tips that you should remember. These tips won’t just help you to understand your hardwood floor better but also cut down your cleaning time and costs.
Hardwood Floor Cleaning Tips For Beginners
1. Remove Outerwear Shoes
I’m a strong believer in taking off my shoes as soon as I get in the house. There’s a scientific reason behind it. Dirt and grit are nasty, which over time will spoil the floors. At the same time, small bits of grit or stones can also scrape your wooden floor if you step on it by mistake. Thus, you protect your residential hardwood flooring by just removing your shoes outside your home.
2. Sweep Every Day!
Sweeping is the easiest way to get rid of surface-level debris from any flooring type. To maintain your hardwood floor’s luster, sweep the surface every day. It will also keep your wooden floor dust and dirt-free. Use a gentle brush that is delicate yet powerful and remove all tiny dust particles, keeping your home flooring clean.
3. Vacuum Daily
Nothing extracts dirt and fine particles from holes and cracks from the wood floor like a good vacuum cleaner. The best option in this category is a vacuum canister because it has a long, circular floor brush connected to cover tiny spaces. If you do have an upright type, make sure to turn off the rotating brush to prevent the brush from scraping your surfaces.
4. Clean Spills ASAP
Spills are natural, but if you let them dry on the surface, they leave behind stains that are hard to ignore. Plus, they dull the finish and attract extra mud. So, instead, blot spills with an absorbent cloth instantly. Since hardwood is a natural absorbent of water, to prevent water damage, it’s necessary to clean up water mess as soon as it occurs.
Mopping The Right Way!
5. Dry Mopping
Dry mopping or dust mopping allows you to clear loose dust, debris, and clutter from the surface of the hardwood floor. Do this religiously depending on how filthy your floors are. One essential thing to know about dry mopping is that you must do it before wet mopping. Otherwise, you are running the risk of pushing dirt to your floors instead of pulling it out!
6. Wet Mopping
Wet mopping is another part of the hardwood floor cleaning process. It involves the usage of a wet mop along with any form of cleaning solution to scrub off messes existing on the surface. This includes spills, dirty footprints, etc. But remember to not get the floors too wet. Because even that isn’t good for your floor as it can cause swelling and discoloration.
7. Damp Mopping
This unique form of floor-sweeping is new! The trick of wet mopping is that you dampen the microfiber mop head with a spray bottle and not with a water bucket. Water is partially the enemy. The spray bottle contains a diluted solution of a neutral detergent that does not damage the wood. Also, know that a completely soaked mop or steam mop will ruin the wood on your hardwood floor!
8. Safeguard Your Floor
Furniture pads do wonders to prevent scratches and damage to occur on your hardwood floors due to heavy furniture. They offer a layer of protection between the furniture and the floor, thus safeguarding your floor. Besides protection, these pads also make it simpler to push or drag your furniture without you having to lift them or put them on wheels.
9. Mats and Rugs
Utilize mats and rugs on all entrances for protecting and elongating the life of your hardwood. Doormats trap the dust and dirt from your shoes so it doesn’t let them enter your home. Whereas rugs, when used in high-traffic areas, cover the exposed hardwood floor from daily sunshine. Thus, ensuring that the UV rays do not damage or alter the color of the wood.
10. Say No To Oil-Based Soaps
Oil soaps should not be used to clean hardwood flooring because they leave behind a residue on your floor. For the betterment of your flooring, opt for neutral pH-based wood floor cleaners. You can use this cleaner to scrub the hardwood floors. Besides that, make sure you use proper cleaning equipment and also dry the floors before using them again.
11. Ban High-Heels
Hardwood floors are susceptible to shoe damage. The pressure of a pointed heel can create a hollow space in the wood floor that is difficult to repair without professional assistance. Since prevention is better than cure, avoid wearing high heels inside your home. This will save you lots of money in hardwood floor replacement.
12. Polish
Nowadays, hardwood floors have a polyurethane coating. These finishes are designed to leave a shiny finish that seals and preserves them. Improper cleaning and heavy wear and tear lead to scraping and dulling of the finish. So polishing them from time to time will help refresh, renew, and also preserve their shine.
13. Never Use Furniture Polish
This is simple. Furniture polish is designed for furniture, not for wooden floors. So if you were to use it on a wooden floor, it can leave a slippery residue behind that is very hard to remove. As a result, your floor will be slippery and thus risky to walk on.
14. Steam Mop = Destruction of Hardwood Floors
A steam mop is great for tiles, but not suitable for hardwood floors. It can do significant harm to them. That is because steam can reach deep inside the wood. This will cause it to swell, which can cause the floor to discolor and warp. Besides that, if the steam remains inside the hardwood floor, it may give rise to mold growth in them.
15. Be Careful Of What Products You Utilize
Invest in the correct products. You can ask professional hardwood cleaners to suggest a good cleaning agent. Few cleaning materials can be harmful to your wood floor. Make it a habit to check the pH of the cleaning solution you’re planning to purchase. Always choose a neutral cleaning solution as both an acid and a basic one cause significant harm to your hardwood floors.
16. Coverings
Direct sunlight discolors and damages all wood, not just hardwood floors. But you can use coverings such as curtains and window blinds to prevent it from happening. They protect against UV rays and intense heat from direct sunlight. Hence, allowing the wood fibers to either swell or shrink, causing the wood floor to warp.
17. Lift And Carry Heavy Items
If you want to reduce the risk of scratching your floor, always lift, carry, and gently place down heavy items when moving them. If you drag things such as furniture, washing baskets, or heavy toys, across your floor, they could cause dents, and marks, and spoil the surface. So no more scratched floor by simple lifting and a moving mechanism.
18. Recoating
If your hardwood floor has severe damage, such as deep cuts, gouges, or discoloration, then you may need to sand and finish them. If you haven’t done this before, please contact a professional floor care service provider. It’s best to let the professional handle the technical job and deliver excellent-looking hardwood floors in the end.
Pro Tip:
The walnut challenge! Use the walnut to fill the scratches. Don’t worry if you find tiny bruises on your hardwood floor! You can patch them quickly with a walnut. Crack the nut open and rub the inside of the marred floor. Rub your finger on the nutty oils and watch how the damage vanishes.
Smart Cleaning
Make a smart cleaning regime for long-lasting hardwood floors. Clean floors are not hard to obtain, especially if you stay ahead of the game. Layout mats and rugs, park dirty boots and shoes at the door, sweep, dry-mop, wet-mop, or vacuum often. If the floor looks dull, here are tips to hire hardwood floor cleaning services to deep-clean them.
Hope this blog has simplified hardwood floor cleaning tips for you. And now you can acknowledge the right and smart methods of getting the best and most out of your hardwood floors.
