Cleaning hardwood floor is way more complicated than cleaning floors with marble or tiles. I really find it easy to clean the usual tiles and marble floors, but recently a friend who is moving in to a new flat was wondering if there are easier ways to clean hardwood floors and if he can mop the wooden floor like he used to mop the tiles? I asked him not to do so else he would end up damaging his hardwood floor sooner.
There are varieties of flooring options and different types of floor require different kind of treatments. So, if you are planning to clean hardwood floors, just like cleaning the tiles or marble floors, then please just think again or else you may ruin your hardwood flooring. Hardwood flooring is not just expensive when compared to the other forms of flooring, but it’s also expensive when it comes to cleaning and maintaining.
Hence it would be better if you hire a professional cleaner to clean the hardwood floors at your home and see how they do it so that you can clean it in future on your own. Professional cleaners are better because they have the skill and experience to clean hardwood floors much efficiently without damaging it, and in fact, they can clean the entire home professionally.
But that’s not the only option. You can clean hardwood floors at your home easily if you learn how to clean and clean it right. I have seen many cleaners clean hardwood floor and have learned a few tips that I think can help you in cleaning hardwood floors at your home.
Here’s to clean hardwood floors easily
If you really unsure and looking for a few simple but effective tips and ideas to clean hardwood floors of your home, then this post is for you. Just read through and try using some of these techniques in cleaning hardwood floor at your home.
Vacuum
When you have ravishing hardwood floors in your home, you must also purchase a good vacuum cleaner for it, just like how the homes with carpet flooring have vacuum cleaners to clean the carpet floor regularly. Regularly vacuuming the hardwood floor would be great, as it will be free from any sort of dust or dirt.
Dust mopping
The alternative of using vacuum cleaner is doing dust mop. Have no idea about it? Well, dust mopping is just similar to what we call as dusting. In dust mopping you won’t be using any disinfectant or phenol to keep the floor free from germs, but instead use a disposable electrostatic cloth to dust or clean hardwood floor.
Never use water
Unlike the other flooring, don’t use water to clean hardwood floors at all. And if you have to clean it with water since you have no other cleaning agent, then wet a cloth and let it dry until and unless it is just slightly damp. Don’t directly mop your wood floors with a wet cloth. Avoiding wet mopping would be better because if a slight drop of water penetrates deep into the hardwood floor, then it would create dampness, which in return would trigger pest infestation, especially termite infestation.
Use tea
If you want to make your hardwood floor look shining and young forever, then you can use tea to clean hardwood floors. Wondering how? It’s simple; just take two tea bags and a cup of boiling water. Dip the bags in the boiling water until the water becomes complete red, and then use the solution to mop the floor. Don’t wet the cloth with tea, just damp it slightly and mop the floor. The tannic acid in tea would give your hardwood floor a beautiful shine, and will clean it too.
Use wax
If you want to remove stains from your hardwood floors, then you need to understand which finish exactly your hardwood floor has. If your hardwood floor has urethane finish, then the stains won’t be able to penetrate much deep. But, if your floor has soft oil finishing, then the stain will penetrate deep down the floor’s layer. However, if the stain is tough to remove from your hardwood floor having either of these finishing, then the common thing you can do is use wax. Apply wax to the stained part and then use a steel wool to rub it off. Remember it is not the ordinary wax, it is the floor wax.
Avoid using vinegar
There are many who might suggest you to use vinegar to get rid of dark spots and pet stains, but please do not do so. Vinegar is also a liquid agent, so if it seeps down it will also create dampness within the hardwood floor. And it may also ruin the texture of your wood.
Here’s how to Protect Wooden floors
After knowing about the ways to clean your wooden floor, it is now time to discuss about protecting it from any sort of external issues. You may think that keeping your wooden floors clean is itself protecting it. But honestly, cleaning is just a process to keep the wood look amazing, stay stain free, and also stay disinfectant. Whereas, protecting wooden floor is completely a different issue. Let us have a look at things that will let us, or help us protect the precious wooden floors in our home:
Protect from scratches
You may think, are wooden floors prone to scratches? The answer is, yes it is, especially when heavy elements are pulled from one corner of a room having wooden floor, to another. For instance, if you drag or pull an electronic appliance such as a fridge or steel furniture, then the legs they have may create scratches while dragging them. Therefore, if you have wooden floors, use pads on the legs of your appliances and furniture to avoid scratches. If your wooden floor sustains scratches, those scratches will be able to seep in water or moisture very easily; so prevent scratches.
Avoid using harsh cleaners
After cleaning your wooden floors with cleaner, you wouldn’t immediately find any buildups. But after it is dried, you’ll see a greasy residue on the floor; and that is basically a ‘buildup’. Therefore, avoid using any chemical cleaner containing vinegar, oil soaps, or ammonia, which can make the top coat of your wooden floor dull.
Finish your floor every year
If you want to make your floor look new and bright, then all you can do is give it a touch with a coat of Polyurethane. Do this just once every year, and you’ll always be able to retain the wooden floor’s look and charm.
Protect from pests
We already know that wood attract termites (especially moist wood), so wooden floor may also lead to a termite infestation. If you ever see any signs of termite infestation in your home, then immediately treat it before these pests ruin the floors. You can use pesticides yourself, but it will be better if you leave it to an expert pest control agency.
Over to you
You can’t treat hardwood floors like the usual tiles and marble floors. Usually they say that the floor is waterproof, but even in that case, try to avoid water and moisture as much as you can. Dusting is something that you have to do regularly and mopping can be skipped for a day or two. Here’s a detailed post with room wise cleaning tips that you may like to check.
What else do you think one should do to clean and protect wooden floor?
