Hardwood Flooring Care | How to Maintain Wood Floors
Hardwood flooring is a natural and beautiful option for your home. Not only that, but it is also timeless and durable and can fit into almost any type of house interior. It is as perfect for traditional homes as it is for modern homes. So, with these floors, you will get the ideal visual appearance of the interior of your home, just like you have dreamed of forever. Hardwood flooring is the symbol of luxury and is an integral part of the décor schemes of a conventional and unconventional home.
Even though hardwood flooring requires much more maintenance and upkeep than any other flooring, it is too difficult to skip because of its appearance in your home. With every season comes some threats to the hardwood flooring; for example, winter brings ice and snow, spring comes with dirt and rain, while in summer, there is salt water and chlorine, and in fall, there are leaves and dirt. Therefore, with every changing season, you have to change the wood flooring maintenance routine.
Here is a complete guide on maintaining wood floors so that you don’t have to worry about perfect and stunning hardwood flooring. Also, if your hardwood flooring requires repairs and maintenance, Richie’s Floor Service is here for you.
Call today for a hardwood floor repair specialist near Massapequa, Nassau, Queens, and Suffolk Counties.
How to Maintain Wood Floors?
f you need to learn how to take care of your hardwood flooring to remain in the best condition possible with the perfect visual appearance it promises, we are here to help you.
1. Clean the Spills or Dirt Immediately
You must clean the floor immediately if you or anyone at your home spill something on it. Make sure to use a dry or slightly damp cloth to clean the fall on the floor immediately. You must avoid using steam or wet mops to clean your hardwood floor because it has proven to cause more damage to the floor in the long run. This is because natural wood shrinks and swells depending on the moisture, and this moisture is not only limited to the thing you use to clean the floor but also the moisture in the air.
Therefore, it is important that you keep the moisture at your place at a safe level by controlling humidity levels to avoid damage to the wood floor, including gapping, cupping, and splitting. So, make sure that your home’s temperature is at 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (30 to 505 humidity), and clean up the spills as soon as they occur. Also, try to clean the wood flooring multiple times a day, even if there are no spills. Finally, use the right supplies that do not damage natural wood, and do not let anyone come to your home with wet shoes or feet.
2. Use a Microfiber Dust Mop for Regular Dusting
Dusting or sweeping is also necessary for your hardwood flooring, even if you have a no-shoes-at-home rule. Even though most people think a traditional bristle broom might be the best way to clean off the wood flooring, a microfiber broom or a dust mop is surely a better option. These tough yet delicate microfiber dust pads are perfect for any hard flooring, especially wood flooring.
You can use reusable and washable dust pads that will prove very convenient. You could clean with it and wash your mop pads for the next day. Use a microfiber dust mop as your home’s everyday wood floor cleaner. It works perfectly for dirt, debris, and dust and is the best wood cleaner that you have on the market.
3. Use Hard Surface Approved Vacuum
Even though in the past, people considered vacuum cleaners as cleaners for carpeted floors, it is not limited to carpeted floors anymore. Nowadays, vacuums are also regarded as vital cleaning tools for hardwood floorings. But make sure to choose the appropriate vacuum cleaner that would be the best for wood floors. If you have hardwood flooring all over your place, you must consider getting a vacuum cleaner designed and created for hardwood floors.
But if you want to use the vacuum cleaner for both carpet and hardwood flooring, choose the vacuum that would suit both hard and soft flooring. As vacuums can create scratches on the hardwood flooring, you must ensure to select a vacuum specifically made for hard floors to
avoid such risk. In addition, your hardwood floors require equal maintenance and care, just like the other flooring, especially if you have pets.
4. Consider Using Wood Floor Cleaning Solutions
Once you have your hardwood floor mop, you will need the appropriate wood floor cleaning supplies to get the best results. Water is the worst thing you could use to clean hardwood floors, and everything else might be a better option. Water can rot, wrap, and destroy the hardwood flooring. If you need water to clean your wood floor, use a damp mop rather than a wet mop.
The best option is to use cleaning solutions explicitly made for wood floors. You can find microfiber mops that come with a built-in storage solution along with spray dispensing options. These solutions can be used for weekly as well as daily cleaning. Ask your floor manufacturer for an efficient cleaning solution recommendation. Remember to use the cleaning solution in the best way possible to ensure it is not damaging your wood floors.
5. Refinish Your Hardwood Floors Every 3 to 5 Years
Hardwood flooring will also age like any other house component and require a little more upkeep. Wood floors start to look dull and lifeless over time, but they can easily be renewed through re-finishing with a new coat of wood flooring.
The number of times you need re-finishing on your hardwood floors depends on your family’s lifestyle, but 3 to 5 years is a good time, and you must get re-finishing done after this time.
Final Words
Hardwood flooring is the epitome of grace and luxury in any house, but it requires a little more maintenance than any other. But its beauty and aesthetic to your home make it all worth it. So if you have hardwood flooring in your home, make sure to focus on its maintenance so that it doesn’t get dull and lose its natural beauty.
Moreover, on-time hardwood floor repair by a specialist will make your floors last longer. So, contact the best hardwood floor specialists in town to come to take care of your wood flooring.
Call today for a hardwood floor repair specialist near Massapequa, Nassau, Queens, and Suffolk Counties.
