If you want to maintain the look of your hardwood floors but you aren’t quite sure how, rest assured that there are plenty of easy ways to keep your gorgeous flooring looking like new. Check out the tips below to get started.
Figure Out the Finish
Before you even begin cleaning your floors and before choosing the methods and products that you’ll use to clean your floors, you need to figure out what the finish is. This is because the type of finish, rather than the type of wood, is really what determines how you should be maintaining the hardwood.
When you have your hardwood flooring installed by reputable companies, you should be able to ask if the wood will be sealed and, if so, what type of sealant will be used. You’ll likely have the following options:
- Penetrating-seal-treated
- Oil-treated
- Varnished
- Shellacked
- Lacquered
- Surface-sealed
- Untreated
Hardwood Flooring Basic Maintenance
For basic maintenance, all you need to do is dust your floors using a mop (preferably one that has a dusting agent that will allow it to effectively pick up dirt, pet hair, dust, dander, etc. with ease). You want to dust before you do anything else because the debris could lead to scratches if you don’t remove it first.
Clean the floors every week or more often. You can do so by vacuuming using a floor-brush attachment, or you can opt for an electric broom. However, you should avoid using the beater bar on your vacuum because it could scratch the finish on your hardwood.
Deep Cleaning Hardwood Floors
When basic maintenance and cleaning isn’t enough, it’s time to give your hardwood floors a deeper clean. This, too, is easy to achieve, and it’s something that you should do regularly because oil, grime, and dirt will inevitably accumulate over time, and you can’t get rid of it all by simply dust-mopping, sweeping, and vacuuming.
For a deeper clean, you can try a wood-cleaning product that has been diluted (read the label instructions for proper dilution). Then use a rag mop or a sponge that has been saturated in the solution. Make sure you wring the rag out until it’s nearly dry first. In other words, the rag should feel slightly damp. Use this to mop the floor, but use caution so that you don’t cause any standing water to accumulate on the hardwood, as this could damage it.
Once finished, rinse the floor with a clean, damp mop if it’s required according to the instructions on the cleaning product. Be sure to wipe up any liquid that remains on the floor and then let the flooring dry thoroughly by turning on a ceiling fan if you have one in the room.
Don’t Do the Following
To keep your floors looking like new, don’t use any waxes, furniture sprays, oils, abrasive cleaners, alkaline products, or ammonia. You also shouldn’t use water or a water/vinegar solution. Finally, avoid mopping with water because this will cause your floors to look dingy.