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Top Tips for Maintaining Hardwood Flooring

Whether your hardwood floors were just installed in your new home, or they have been around for awhile, they all need some TLC to keep them well-maintained and looking like new. The stress of daily-wear takes a toll on flooring, so that’s why we have a few hardwood floor cleaning and hardwood floor refinishing tips to take the question out of cleaning your Breckenridge hardwood floors.

Get rid of that dirt!

While it may seem like an intuitive first step, before you address any cleaning or polishing of your wood flooring, make sure to sweep, swiffer, or vacuum to remove all of the debris, dust, and dirt that is on the surface of your floor, or hiding in the corners. If you use a vacuum, make sure to use a felt or brush style head, so not to damage your floors. Additionally, check the wheels and bottom of the vacuum for dirt or food particles that could potentially scratch the wood.

Dealing with spills and spots

While there is some controversy on how to clean your hardwood flooring and whether or not to use water, we recommend skipping the worry and opting for a no-water technique. Depending on your floor type and finish, water can cause buckling, staining, and ultimately damage your expensive wood floors.

Also, it may be tempting to opt for a DIY home floor cleaner, but there are several home products that can severely damage your floors such as vinegar, oil based soaps, wax products that are either liquid or paste, and basic household cleaners that have ingredients such as citrus oils, tung oil, silicon or ammonia.

We instead suggest picking up a bottle of non-oil, hardwood-floor specific cleaner at your local grocery store for cleaning. Spray the cleaner on a sponge mop, or soft, clean cloth, and you’ll be set conquer those spill and spots on your flooring.

The final step – Polishing

Finally, after the first two steps are finished, it’s time to make your Breckenridge hardwood floors sparkle. Your local home improvement store should carry hardwood-floor specific polishing and buffing products, so grab a bottle and get ready to make your floors shine.

Using a soft cloth –preferably microfibre– apply the polish directly to the cloth. Work in small areas at time, going with the grain of the wood, and using a feathering motion to avoid streaks of polish. Make sure not to polish yourself in, so find the exit and work towards that as you polish! Furthermore, once these steps are finished, allow the floor to dry for at least 1 hour before allowing light traffic, and 24 hours for heavy traffic.

Preventative Measures

While cleaning and polishing are great steps to maintaining your floors, there are a few additional tips and trick that will help you reduce wear-and-tear on your home’s hardwood flooring.

• Rugs and Mats are great options to reduce scratches and stains to heavy traffic areas in your home such as bathroom and kitchen sinks, dishwashers, and at the front and back doors. Insure that the rugs you choose allow air to circulate underneath as much as possible, so avoid heavy mats made of rubber or other dense materials.

• Placing felt furniture pads on the bottom of chairs and tables prevent scratches and wear of your flooring when furniture when moved.
• Since wood is a natural material affected by air temperature and moisture, check that the humidity in your home is approximately 35%-55% for an optimal environment for your hardwood flooring. Invest in a dehumidifier if you live in a particularly humid environment.

While these tips are great for everyday care of your hardwood flooring, we realize things get busy, and you may not have the time to dedicate to maintaining your flooring. Exclusive Cleaning and Restoration understands this, and with their 3 steps care process, they will take care of your hardwood floor cleaning and hardwood floor refinishing, giving you the time to deal with all the other things on your to-do list.