The Best Hardwood Floor Maintenance

Natural and beautiful hardwood floors are a durable and everlasting choice for your home that provide lasting beauty for years. The top of the luxury flooring, and hardwood floors blend well with almost any decor scheme, from traditional and contemporary to ultra-modern. And while natural hardwood floors are close to the top of the floor price, their price is justified by the above durability, life and chameleon-like design flexibility.

All those great bonuses, however, often lead many homeowners to think that their hardwood floors are like Superman's: invincible and bulletproof. As their obvious lack of a blue suit and a red cape wasn't enough to give one, hardwood floors aren't steel men, and your home flooring has plenty of "kryptonite" flooring, from daily dirt and scratches, To threaten their welfare.

So, let's talk about how a person protects their hardwoods and maintains their durability to maximize their lives, protecting them from the Legion of Doom of dirt, water, dust and mud. Is Exactly. We'll leave the superhero metaphor behind for the rest of this episode, mercilessly.

Challenges to Wood Floor Maintenance Care

So, despite their perceived invincibility, hardwood floors are weak in many ways that can greatly shorten their lifespan. However, as the great politician and founding father Benjamin Franklin once said, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of treatment."

This is a good quote, but what did Ole Ben really mean? And what does this have to do with hardwood floors? What this means, in its own context and most fundamentally in terms of flooring, is that if you maintain something, it will last a long time. Sounds so simple. Good luck with your destinations, hope you enjoyed this piece, and good night!

Be consistent with your preventive maintenance on those good hardwood floors and you will help keep them for a long time. But should it really be under the heading "Challenges"? Absolutely. Pause for a second and think about how excited you are to "keep" anything. This is not generally considered fun because "care" actually means "clean". And as all children learn, cleaning is a task.

But in this case, a meaningful task. Dirt, water, dust and mud can be some of the most harmful things that come in contact with your floors. Through micro-scratches for a protective finish on your floors, these small antagonists damage the wood, promoting decay and even the entry of insects. In another way, they can turn the strongest of wooden floors into another home renovation project.

Clean up quickly, clean up often

The number one way to deal with these challenges is to handle and clean up the maintenance work. Clean up quickly, clean up often. The best way to keep your floors intact is to sweep and / or vacuum them daily. Doing a little cleaning every day can help prevent large amounts of dirt, dust, or liquid from sitting on your floor.

In addition, you should mop your floor once or twice a week as needed. If you live in an area of ​​the country with high humidity, snow in winter, or other environmental factors, you may need to mop up more often to deal with the traces of dirt and liquids that can be tracked at home.

We'll learn more about mopping later, but as you clean up quickly and often, it's important to clean up quickly and often properly. This means there is a right way and a wrong way to do it, and of course, there are "right" and "wrong" supplies to use when cleaning your hardwood floors.

One of the most commonly overlooked tools for doing this is information. You may need to know a little bit about your destinations. Can't remember what you set up? Finished paperwork? What were the floors of the house when you bought it? Don't worry, your flooring partner at The Good Guys can help with a myriad of flooring questions and issues, so don't hesitate to pick up the phone! When we look at the resources of the cleaning business, we will realize how important this information is.

Choose your tools wisely

When planning or preparing for any project, it is a good idea to keep all your supplies and resources in line and ready. But since it is a constant cleaning and maintenance, what are the tools and supplies?

Microfiber dust mop

The traditional hardwood floor cleaner tool that everyone thinks of is the traditional Bristol broom. Just clean things up and you're done. But today's technological advances have made the hailstorm a lesser priority than in the past. Your best weapon against dust and granules? A microfiber broom or "dust mop".

Like the big commercial dust mop that your school janitor used in your childhood, the new generation

Microfiber dust mop should be your daily hardwood floor cleaner. It works on dust, dirt and debris brought into or out of your home, accumulates on your floors, and is probably the best floor cleaner in your arsenal.

Hard surface approved vacuum

For a little more muscle, add some strength and some sucking. We are talking about vacuum, people. Whether a traditional manual push, automatic, or even a floor robot, the vacuum was once considered a tool only for carpeted floors. Not so today, hardwood floor vacuum is becoming more popular as a daily cleaning tool for hardwood and other hard surface floorings.

But you should do your homework and think seriously when choosing a vacuum. It is best to have a vacuum, especially for hardwood floors. Yes, that's right you can now become known as a Lord of the Rings. If you want to use the same vacuum on your hardwood that is on your carpeting, make sure you choose the vacuum best for both hard and soft surfaces.

Hardwood flooring, despite being durable, can scratch. And often the biggest culprit is the vacuum - when used incorrectly or in the wrong model. Hardwood floor vacuums are specially designed to eliminate the possibility of scratching the floor. Hardwood floor special or safe vacuum has a strong suction ability balanced against limited resistance. Their suction heads have soft bristles or brushes that do not scratch the floors and do not move independently on hardwood and other hard surface flooring - a key feature of these vacuums. Hardwood floor vacuums do not have the traditional "beater bars" or metal agitator bars, and they do not usually use rigid brush rolls to replace the beater bars on many straight vacuums designed for carpet.

In addition, hardwood floor vacuums have soft rubber or seamless plastic-coated wheels that do not scratch or scratch. Don't get bogged down in your mom's scary straight vacuum with old hard plastic wheels. They are designed to roll easily on hard surfaces or transitions, without any scratches. Many have the option of turning off the roller brushes completely.

Like your floors, a hardwood floor vacuum will need some regular maintenance. Especially if you have pets. Pet hair is constantly wrapped around roller brushes and in the process picks up debris and dirt that could potentially scratch floors.

Hard surface approved robot vacuum

Another option that is gaining popularity and a lot of people think that the best hardwood floor vacuum is a robot vacuum. There are many brands and great options on the market, some just for hardwoods, some just for carpets, some for better treatment of both. Vacuum and mop are also options. All these different types of robot vacuums work on the same principles. They are stored in a base that charges them when they are not vacuuming, then at a set time they leave the base on their own and move around your floors, covering the ground and Using sensors to avoid obstructions. Simply put, they vacuum for you.

Robot vacuums usually cost at least a few hundred, and even thousands of dollars, but are a great option for many homeowners. A common complaint about robot vacuums, however, comes from pet owners. If a family pet has an accident on the floor, most robot vacuums cannot detect it. They roll out the mess - whether liquid or solid - and spread it around the room, creating more mess and odor, and potentially damaging the machine. All Things to Consider Before Buying a Robot Vacuum

But when family pets mess up, you'll need more than a dust mop or vacuum. This is when things become a little soapy, and hopefully much clearer.

Microfiber wet mops

Whether it's once or twice a week, or in response to a Fido scandal, there is a time when a reliable hailstorm mop is the best choice for cleaning your wood floors. But while "mop" for many people combines mental images of thread on a pole with a bucket full of dish soap, like 21st-century broom technology, mop has come a long way. But you need to choose the right mop for your floor.

Like the Bristol broom or vacuum, mops should be compatible with hardwood floors. Like their dust mop counterpart, microfiber is the leading mop material for hardwood floors. Microfiber does not scratch, absorbs moisture, and attracts and collects dust.

Wood floor cleaning solution

But once you have a hardwood floor-friendly mop, you only have half the tools you need. You will need some kind of cleaning fluid, and in general, nothing is better than water. Water is the enemy of hardwood floors. It can burn, stretch, and simply destroy hardwood floors. Therefore, clean the splashes immediately, and if you have your hardwood floors

The built-in solution has microfiber mops with storage and spray dispensing options. They are great for daily or weekly cleaning as well as spot cleaning on a regular basis. Make sure you are using a hardwood floor-friendly solution, preferably recommended by your floor manufacturer.

Remember the important destination information we discussed earlier ?! This is where it gets easier. Any cleaning solutions and products have been used improperly, which could potentially void your destination warranty. So, make sure you know all the information you can on your flooring - manufacturer's warranty, date of manufacture, recommended cleaning products, chemicals that may void the warranty - anything that could possibly happen. May negatively affect your flooring or warranty. And if your flooring was completed independently of the construction process, you will need to know the same information about the finish as you do for the flooring yourself.

Also, if you are looking for a more natural floor cleaner, there are many great options, again, if they work with your flooring according to the manufacturer. Choose pH-neutral soap products or soap products that do not contain oils or other petroleum-based products. Avoid using wax or dust or furniture spray as they may contain chemicals and oils which will not only cause damage but can actually attract more dirt and debris to the floor. If you have to use an old standby dish soap, make sure it is gentle, non-abrasive, and does not contain any chemicals that could damage the floor or finish. And that's what goes into polishing your floors! Stay away from the old standby "floor wax" and use only wood floor polish that is acceptable for working with your floors.

Protection from scratches

Once you are all clean and polished, it's time to protect your floors. Don't forget to take some basic steps to protect your floor from further scratches. The main culprit in these types of scratch situations is what you probably use every day: your furniture.

Look under the footing, support, or rail of any furniture that touches your floor and make sure it has a padded or scratch-resistant surface at the point of contact. Although it is heavy and does not move normally, a push or thrust can scratch your floor.

If you have castors or wheels in your furniture, rubber castor cups can help reduce movement on your floors and prevent scratches.

Rubber or plastic feet on chairs or sofa bottoms should be checked to see if they are scratch resistant and will work with the floor according to the manufacturer. If not, felt or rubber pads can protect your flooring for years to come.

Should you encounter a scratch, check out the manufacturer's recommended scratch repair pencils or even a scratch crane that matches the color. And remember, hardwood floors can always be refreshed and brought back to life with refining!

If in doubt, however, remember that you always have a partner at The Good Guys to assist with all your flooring safety, cleaning, and refining questions. Don't hesitate to visit them for all your flooring and home remodeling needs!

 of dust mop comes in the shape of home use and is efficient for any hard surface floor.