All floors need a little tender care – including rough and tough natural hardwood floors. Fortunately, today's hardwood floor finishes are about as tough as the hard wood in the floor. A strong protective barrier keeps your floor from experiencing too much harm, but over time even the littlest trail of tracked-in soil can leave scratches and scruffs.
To maintain your floor's good looks, keep track of what life naturally tracks in. Frequent dusting will keep the remnants of foot traffic from being embedded into your floor. Vacuuming or sweeping with a dry dust mop will do the trick. Vacuuming might take a little extra effort, but it will pick up dirt from the crevices and seams that a dust mop might just brush over. Just a once-a-week dusting will help your floor retain its striking good looks for years.
Dry is always better than wet when it comes to hardwood floor maintenance. Clean up spills with a dry cloth whenever you can. If that pitcher of cold lemonade sitting on your coffee table suddenly takes a tumble onto your hardwood floor and it'll take a barrel of cloths or paper towels to do the job, mop it up quickly. As long as you have a penetrating sealer, polyurethane or resin-based finish you can use a very damp mop. Do not use a drenched mop. A wet mop is as bad for your floor as the spill is. Try not to use any more water than necessary. If it's a small spill and soft cloth will work – all the better for your floor. If you have a wax finish – forget about the damp mop. Dry clean your spills as fast as you can.
“Avoid over-using cleaners, and avoid cleaners that have water as a primary ingredient” said the owner. The water could end up being the culprit that stains or discolors your floor. Make sure you only use cleaning products that are created specifically for wood floors. Anything else could warp, discolor or disfigure your natural wood floor.
By putting a doormat outside to greet visitors and inside to meet visitors, you'll leave streams of tracked in dirt behind. Don't use a doormat with a black rubber backing on your hardwood floors. The backing has a tendency to stick and shred and can cause even more problems than little specks of dirt and grime. The black-backed mats also have a tendency to keep water trapped underneath. If your hardwood floor is in the kitchen, keep a cotton mat under the sink, by the stove, and/or by the refrigerator if you can. These are legendary spill areas – and a good mat is worth pounds of preventative maintenance.
If your furniture didn't already come with furniture gliders on, take a few moments to slip some on. They're very inexpensive, and except for the trick of lifting up the furniture, they're a snap to put in place. They'll keep your furniture gliding without scratching – which means you can look at your hardwood floors without sliding into thoughts about refinishing.
If a room with a hardwood floor gets a lot of light through the windows, the hardwood floor will be absorbing that light. Eventually, the sun will affect the original color. If you like to redecorate, plan on rotating carpets and furniture to avoid any uneven discoloration. Shading the room with heavy curtains will also curtail the affects of the sun.
According to , refinishing and resanding your floors takes a bit of work, but if you are diligent about maintaining your floor using the proper procedures, you'll keep your refinishing and resanding needs to a minimum. Properly caring for your wood floor and doing some simple preventative maintenance will keep your floor showing off its natural goodness for years to come.
