Beautiful hardwood floors add an elegant look to any space in your home. When you maintain your hardwood floors properly, they can last 25 years or more! Maintenance for hardwood floors is special because the material is rather delicate. Follow these do’s and don’ts to maintain your hardwood floors best and keep them in great condition for years to come.
Do Clean Your Floors Often
By cleaning your hardwood floors often, you prevent dirt from tracking around and creating scratches and undue damage to your delicate floors. Ideally, you should thoroughly clean your hardwood flooring once every two weeks and vacuum them regularly.
Don’t Let Spills Sit on The Floor
Wood is an organic material that naturally takes on moisture. For this reason, when you let spills sit on your hardwood floors, you are more likely to experience water damage. Avoid moisture seeping into your floors by using a reusable towel to quickly mop up the extra moisture from a spill. You will likely also want to clean them soon after to avoid a sticky mess (if the spill isn’t just water).
Don’t Use a Beater bar on Your Hardwood
Beater bars in vacuums are designed to bring up dirt from carpeting and other soft surfaces. Using a beater bar on your hardwood can create damages like scratching and denting, which ages your hardwood floors a lot faster. Because hardwood floors are flat surfaces, dust sits at the top rather than within the flooring.
Don’t Use Soaking Wet Cleaning Products
When you are thoroughly cleaning wood floors, you will naturally use a bit of moisture to clear away any stubborn dirt and bacteria. That being said, too much moisture can once again degrade the quality and reduce your floor lifetime. In order to avoid water and chemical damage from cleaning products, you will want to limit the moisture exposure even when cleaning them. Never use more moisture than necessary.
Do Use Special Wood Cleaner
Reduce your risk of damaging floors even more by using special wood cleaner instead of regular soap and water. Special wood floor cleaning products generally use oil to get rid of dirt and grime instead of traditional soaps. Oil is much better for your wood floors and will be less likely to cause damage.
Do Refinish Your Hardwood Floors
Hardwood floors are meant to be refinished every few years and are able to maintain a new look without replacing the wood entirely. Refinished your hardwood floors take away surface scrapes, dents, and even discoloration. Refinishing cannot take away water damage or split planks. Contact Metrotown Floors + Interiors or visit here to learn more about our hardwood refinishing services.
For more information on how to take care of your hardwood floors, to discuss expert hardwood installation, or to look at brand new hardwood options, make a call to the experts at Metrotown Floors and interiors.
