If you are new to hardwood floors and don’t know how to clean them, your home could potentially suffer. Like all cleaning, certain tasks require specific tools or products. You wouldn’t wipe down your bathroom sink with a mop so you need to know what you’re doing and the appropriate tasks to take. The following are the things that you should be doing to care for your hardwood floors.
Understand what type of flooring you have
This point is very important and can be seen as the research phase of your operation. How you will clean your hardwood floors will ultimately depend on what type of timber they have been made from and the finish that has been used. If you are purchasing new hardwood floors make sure to ask for care instructions from the provider.
If you are moving into a place that already has them, when your purchase or rent the home make sure to ask the realtor what type of timber it is, or get a professional opinion.
Cover the areas with the most traffic
Rugs offer a lot more for your household than just bringing the interior together. Placing them over the areas with the most traffic can cut back on their erosion that they face. If you have pets or a lot of people frequent your house you should definitely consider this option.
When you are utilising a rug in your home make sure to have a protective rug pad underneath. This just makes sure that there is no further damage to your floors.
Take your shoes off
Shoes are one of the main culperates that leave scratches and marks on hard wood floors. A recommended strategy to make sure all family members comply is to have a certain place to store your shoes. Outside shoe racks or somewhere close to the inside door are both great ideas.
Leaving your shoes at the door will also cut down on the amount of dirt that gets brought into your home so you’ll have less cleaning to do.
Pets
Pets are also a common way to have scratches and marks show up on your floors. If you have a dog – especially a very energetic one – make sure that their nails stay trimmed to reduce the risk of a giant scratch mark every time you come through the door.
Wiping down their paws before you go back inside is a habit that is worth developing. If they’re wet or muddy, wiping them down gets rid of more mess to clean and again will reduce the risk of scratches on the floors.
Mop less
This may be the last tip you’d thought to read here. Hardwood floors are obviously made of timber and the less frequently you mop them the better. Water is the arch nemesis of wood so constant and over exposure to it can potentially damage your floors. When you are mopping use less water and chemicals than you would on tiles. For the best results, vacuum or sweep before mopping to make sure you don’t make your mess a wet mess.