Essential Care & Maintenance Tips For Hardwood Flooring

Hardwood flooring is one of the best choices you can make for your home. It looks fantastic, adds warmth to your home, and is incredibly durable. Alongside this, if you choose carefully, you can purchase hardwood flooring that has been sustainably created. 

You’ll also note there is a huge array of styles. Not only can you choose the type of wood and its colouration, but you can also select the pattern. If you want a traditional style that will look good for years to come, then consider this herringbone parquetry flooring. It’s hard to beat. 

But, while hardwood flooring is durable, it still needs to be taken care of. Here’s what you need to know:

Clean regularly

Hardwood floors are generally not a fan of moisture. As with any wood, moisture causes wood to swell and ultimately it can warp. That means you can’t just mop the floor. But, you do need to clean it regularly. 

The best way to start is with a microfibre cloth on the end of your brush. This material attracts dust. All you have to do is move it across your hardwood floor and it will pick up much of the debris and dust which can harm your floor. 

Once you’ve done this you’ll want to sweep the floor to ensure as many particles are collected as possible. 

It’s best to do this daily and then run the vacuum cleaner over the floor, with a suitable brush attachment, just once or twice a week. 

Mop It

You can’t mop a hardwood floor in the traditional way. But, you can get a bucket of warm soapy water and tie a microfibre cloth to the end of your mop. It’s then possible to soak the cloth and rinse it out unit it is just dry. 

Run this over the floor to lift any stickiness or residual dirt. 

Because the cloth is just damp it won’t damage the floor and will dry very quickly. 

Polish

Your hardwood floor will have a top coat of polish or wax. This is what helps the floor to shine. It’s a good idea to add an extra coat of polish every 3-6 months. The exact timeframe depends on how much traffic the floor sees. 

You’ll want to use a polish recommended for your hardwood floor by your manufacturer. You should also test it on a small area first to ensure it doesn’t damage the floor. 

Use Furniture Pads

Moving furniture across the room can easily scratch a hardwood floor. Although it’s possible to repair the floor, it is easier to protect it in the first place. That means adding pads to the bottom of the legs on all your furniture and putting castors under any wheels. It prevents unwanted movement or damage if items are dragged instead of lifted. 

If you have managed to scratch the floor it is possible to sand the floor down and remove the scratch. But, you’ll have to clean and polish the floor again afterwards to ensure it remains properly protected.