Hardwood floors are beautiful, a truly classic look that brings warmth to a home. Few floorings look as appealing and go with as much as hardwood floors do, making them ideal in almost any home.
However, when cleaning a hardwood floor, you have to be more careful than with other types of flooring such as vinyl plank flooring and tile. Doing the wrong thing can ruin the natural flooring, potentially making it tricky to care for. This is particularly true if you want to give it a truly thorough cleaning. Fortunately, with the proper steps, you can ensure beautiful, clean hardwood floors.
1. Vacuum.
Most homeowners have a wet-dry vacuum at home. These vacuums are great for everyday cleaning of small messes and can easily pick up dirt, dust, grit, and even larger pieces on hardwood floors without scratching them. It is usually best to use the hose attachment for this job, if possible. However, it is important to make sure your vacuum can handle water and not damage your floor.
2. Avoid Saturation.
There’s easier to mop hardwood than meets the eye! When you learn more about the nature of the material, you realize that keeping too much water on the mop while mopping risks saturating the wood, seeping into it, and/or removing the finish.
The result? An opaque and full of water floor. Therefore, the advice is when you mop hardwood floors wring it out properly inside the bucket beforehand. Trust us, you don’t need too much fluid to get good results.
3.Not all cleaners are okay.
Hardwood floors have their own mops, though you can use any if you’re careful. However, cleaning products require more care. There are specific cleaning products for hardwood floors, or you can dilute certain floor cleaners to make them suitable for hardwood floors.
This is important because using the wrong floor cleaner can damage hardwood floors. Additionally, common cleaning solutions such as vinegar and baking soda can cause damage. You should always pay attention to what you are using to clean your hardwood floors. The advice is make a quick research and evaluate which one gives you the result that you are finding.
4. Keep out the rain.
Water can not only ruin the finish on a hardwood floor but can penetrate deep into the wood and stain it. For this reason, the recommendation is to close windows when you’re expecting rain. Put trays under potted plants and, of course, immediately wipe up any water you see.
5. Think efficiently and save money.
Spray detergents dramatically reduce the amount of cleaner used compared to the free flow alternative. An all-in-one cleaning system is also much more efficient compared to juggling multiple products around your home. They can save your money in terms of replacement mop heads too as the machine-washable microfiber cloths can be reused time and time again.
A few tips on protecting your hardwood:
- Place rugs near the entrances of your home; this will provide guests and furry friends a place to remove dirt and small rocks from their shoes and paws that could scratch the floors.
- Remove shoes and leave them near the entrance to prevent tracking in particles that could cause abrasions.
- If you have pets in the home, cut their nails frequently to keep them from scratching the surface.
- You can use furniture pads on the bottom of the legs and feet of furniture to protect the wood.