Here’s how you can clean your precious hardwood flooring
Hardwood flooring has a variety of different features which make it a really good investment. It is beautiful, robust, durable and reliable. Replacing the flooring in your house is always a big investment and if it is hardwood, the investment is even bigger. In order to protect your investment and keep the stunning looks and feel of your quality hardwood flooring, you need to properly clean and maintain it on a regular basis. Maintaining the stylish hardwood is certainly not difficult and troublesome. You can easily maintain it by following a few practical tips. It is, however, necessary that you maintain and clean it on a regular basis.
Learning how to clean your hardwood flooring may seem difficult and really high maintenance at first; particularly because dirt and grime cannot hide on hardwood flooring like it does on carpet floors. It is always visible on the flooring due to the nature of hardwood flooring. Dust and grime not only looks really bad on the flooring, it can also damage the flooring and destroy the good looks and feel of the flooring. The good part about hardwood flooring is that once you establish a daily cleaning routine, it really feels easy to clean your precious hardwood flooring.
Along with regular cleaning of your hardwood flooring, you should also buy a doormat to keep all the dust and grime away. It seems a really simple and unimportant tip at first but it really works very well and will protect your hardwood flooring from different kinds of wear and tear.
This article provides some easy and practical cleaning tips for your hardwood flooring. Read the full article to learn more about them!
Daily Schedule – Dust/Sweep
Giving your floors a good dusting with a microfiber mop or cloth will be your best daily defense against scratches and surface damage. Microfiber cleaning pads often use static electricity to trap dirt, particles, and other household allergens. Using a broom to can be effective as well, but using a broom only pushes the dirt around. When you want to clean your floors without damaging them, avoid lifting your microfiber mop up off the floor when you clean—this way you keep the dirt trapped on the pad.
Weekly Schedule – Vacuum/Mop
Weekly maintenance will deal with the harder to reach areas that a daily dusting can’t reach. Vacuums and wet mops are ideal for getting dirt out of trouble areas like corners and the spaces between each piece of hardwood. However, using vacuums and mops come with extra caution when you want to clean floors without damaging them. If your vacuum has a beater bar, make sure it doesn’t hit the bar floor. Also, the wheels on a vacuum might damage the floor. When you’re using a mop, remember that water and wood don’t mix! Avoid putting excess liquid on your floor. Lightly misting your floor with a hardwood floor cleaner will be enough to give it a great clean. A gentle touch is one of the best ways to clean hardwood flooring.
Advanced Tips
Use proper tools to clean your floor – a mop paired with a machine washable, microfiber pad for dusting and cleaning. Electrostatic action attracts dirt, microparticles and common household allergens.
Avoid using water and vinegar, soap-based cleaners, wax or steam cleaners on your hardwood floors. Vinegar and water actually dull the floor’s finish over time, while soap and wax leave residue. Steam cleaners put heat and excessive water on your floor, which can lead to cupping and long-term damage.
Regular dusting and cleaning keeps hardwood floors looking new. But protective mats can further your floor’s life. Use natural rubber rug underlayments with a waffle pattern in entry ways or high traffic areas, and use felt floor protectors on furniture.
Depending on the amount of traffic in your home, we recommend polishing the floors every 2-3 months with our Bona Hardwood Floor Polish and sanding and refinishing approximately every 3-5 years.
The original article can be accessed by visiting the following link:
https://us.bona.com/articles/how-to-clean-hardwood-floors.html