Flooring is the starting point towards creating a beautiful home. Adding elegance and warmth is better with hardwood flooring. It gives your home a pleasing appearance and adds luxury. However, maintaining wooden floors requires minimal upkeep.
Here are top tips to know about cleaning and maintaining wooden floors:
Daily maintenance
- Use humidifiers. Hardwood shrinks during summers and expands in winters. Thus, using humidifiers regularly is best as it minimizes the gaps.
- Avoid liquid cleaners. Cleaning hardwood flooring using a wet mop should be strictly avoided. Keep liquid cleaners to ensure regular flooring. The best is to dust the floor daily and to use a microfiber cloth for daily cleaning.
Preventing damage and dirt
- Vacuum the floor: Using a vacuum cleaner featuring squeezed mop, you may clean dirt. Vacuum cleaning once a week ensures removing dirt from all the corners and furniture.
- Use doormats: It is a no-brainer’s job. Placing a doormat at the entrance prevents dirt from reaching your floor.
Long-term maintenance
- Floor polish: Polishing hardwood flooring every three to five years is recommended. It refreshes and renews the wood finish and gives a new look.
Important dos and don’ts
- Avoid wooden exposure by adding beautiful carpets and rugs to the flooring.
- If there are pets, be more cautious. Trim their nails regularly to avoid scratches on the wood floors.
- Immediately wipe stains of any kind using a slightly dampened soft cloth.
- Get sticky stuff such as chewing gum. Avoid scratching it. Use ice to harden and scrape it gently out.
- Avoid dragging or moving things on the floor. Instead, pick and place things to prevent scratches.
- Avoid using liquid detergents as it may damage the floor finish and is difficult to maintain.
- Do not buy a vacuum with a beater bar as it will damage the hardwood flooring.
- Never directly clean the hardwood floor with water. Wipe it using a damp cloth.
Wooden floors last for decades but need proper care. Most wooden flooring types are hardwearing and reasonably durable. Yet, they need care and protection from damage. However, looking after any wooden floor type is straight forward and easy.
Clean the wooden floor surface using a soft bristle brush. It removes surface dust or dirt. Then use a vacuum cleaner with the correct attachments to remove surface marks or stains once a week or even on noticing stains. Use a PH neutral cleaning spray and a microfiber mop, as it is effective and gentle.
