Cleaning hardwood floors should be a priority if you have bought a house that has hardwood floors or spent a small fortune having them installed. Hopefully you’re pretty impressed with just how great they look and want to keep them that way.
The greatest thing about hardwood floors is how little effort is needed in cleaning wood floors to have a big impact on keeping them looking great!
Let’s look at how to keep clean hardwood floors and what you might need to do the job.
Use Rugs and Doormats
Dirt on your hardwood floors not only dulls the sheen and means you have to clean them more often, but it can also scratch the finish. Area rugs and doormats are a good for prevention of wear and tear. Just don’t cover too much of the floor with area rugs… it’s so painful to see a beauty of a floor covered in a huge rug with the floor itself barely visible.
It is a very good idea though to place rugs or mats at all entrances, as well as strategically throughout your home. Spots where dirty shoes are coming in from outside or from the garage or basement, or perhaps even in your child’s play area or around your pet bed – these are ideal places. Anywhere where high traffic or excessive dirt may ware your finish.
Fortunately, rugs and mats can be taken outside to be shaken or even washed clean – we can’t say the same for carpet though. Wood floors are much cleaner than carpeting. Remember to shake out the mats regularly and vacuum under them as dirt obviously builds up there.
Thanks to your mats and rugs you’ll keep dirt from being tracked all over the floor. Not only will cleaning hardwood floors be easier and done less often, but you will be preventing potential damage! Do not use rubber backed or non-ventilated rugs though – they can do more damage than good to your floors.
Sweep and Vacuum Regularly
As we have already established, dust, grit and dirt are your hardwood floor’s worst enemies! When cleaning hardwood floors, use a soft dust mop and a vacuum cleaner with a soft brush attachment to remove dust and the rest from floors regularly, more details here. How often you will need to mop and vacuum will depend on how much and for what the area is used.
If you remove the light dirt and dust regularly, you probably will not have to do deep cleaning all that often and you will prolong the life of the finish. You might be able to get away with vacuuming once every week, perhaps spot cleaning or damp mopping every couple weeks and then deep cleaning hardwood floors every month or so with a special floor product.