Hardwood care and maintenance

 
We want your floors to look beautiful for many years to come. That’s where maintenance comes in. Learning how to care for your floors properly is an important step that you don’t want to forget. Our guide to caring for your floors gives you tips on regular cleaning, yearly maintenance, and stain removal to ensure that your floors keep up their beautiful appearance.

Hardwood flooring is a beautiful addition to any home because it’s charming, visually appealing, and fits a variety of home design styles. When properly maintained, hardwood floors have the potential to last many years. Whether you purchased new hardwood floors recently or moved into a home with existing hardwood floors, you’ll love how quick and easy it is to care for your hardwood floors with our recommendations. To help you get the enduring beauty and longevity you want from your hardwood floors, follow our hardwood floor care tips.
 
 
Recommended tools for hardwood care
When it comes to hardwood and hardwood maintenance, you don’t have to use tons of wood floor cleaners, cleaning solutions, or other homemade cleaning supplies. In fact, homemade hardwood floor cleaners and other non-recommended cleaners can damage the finish or void your floor warranty. It’s important that you check with your hardwood manufacturer and the maintenance guidelines to ensure that you are not using cleaners that could cause damages to your floors or void your warranty!

A broom and a vacuum are excellent tools to use on hardwood floors because they pick up loose dirt and debris. We recommend that you sweep or vacuum twice a week for the best results. Sweeping or vacuuming hardwood floors will ensure that your space is free and clear of loose debris that can be tracked around easily by foot traffic. Also, be careful when using your vacuum as vacuum wheels and beater bars can take a toll on wood floors or damage them. A microfiber mop is another tool that is beneficial for cleaning wood floors. These mops are gentle and effective, and they pick up dust and allergens from crevices and seams.

It’s best to start with these tools and remove loose dirt before moving on to the next steps. High traffic areas like entryways, hallways, and stairs will see more debris, so take extra care when sweeping, vacuuming, or dust mopping these areas of your home.

We don’t recommend that you use a wet mop with water or steam at any time. Hardwood is susceptible to warping when exposed to water, which means that damages happen quickly when using any water-based product to clean them.
 
 
How to deep hardwood floors
1. To deep clean your hardwood floors, start by vacuuming or sweeping. Removing all the loose dirt and debris will ensure that you can move onto the next steps without moving around the dirt and scratching the floors. Be sure to move furniture and rugs to clean the surface of all of your floors. Also, for wood floors with deep character knots, try using the wand attachment to get loose dirt out of the knots and crevices.

2. Once you’ve removed the loose dirt from your hardwood floors, you can move on to the next step. You should always check with your manufacturer for floor cleaning solutions or cleaning products that are recommended for your floors before using them. Using a solution that is not recommended can damage the finish on the floors, which can be irreversible.

3. Once you have found a cleaning solution, follow the manufacturer’s guidelines if it needs to be diluted. Also, check to see how much product is recommended for use on your floors. It’s always a good idea to test your cleaner on floors in a closet or somewhere that’s not noticeable, just in case it causes any discoloration, bubbling, or warping.

4. Once you’ve tested your floor cleaner, you can start at the back of the room with your mop. Work in the direction of the hardwood grain, and don’t add too much cleaning product, as you want the floors to dry quickly. When you’ve finished a room, move on to the next room. Keep working until you’ve finished cleaning the hardwoods, and allow them to dry. Then, enjoy how beautiful they look!
 
 
How to keep hardwood floors clean
One of the easiest things you can do to keep your hardwood floors clean is to remove your shoes when entering and exiting your home. Rocks, gravel, and sand, among other materials, can easily get stuck in your shoes and be tracked around your home. Removing your shoes will help you and your family ensure that there is less of a mess. With hard-surface flooring, one addition that adds not only warmth and comfort but also protection for your floors is an area rug. Area rugs will keep your hardwood floors from becoming faded, worn, and scratched, and they can be installed in many areas. Living rooms, bedrooms, and hallways are just a few areas where area rugs can change the look and feel of the space, but also protect your wood floors from the wear and tear of daily life.

If you have pets, another thing you can do is wipe their paws when they come inside. Whether it’s raining and their paws are full of water and dirt, or they seem to collect all kinds of mud, using a towel to wipe down your pet’s paws will help you create a home that stays clean.

Spills and accidents are common in any household. From pets to kids and even adults, there’s no telling when water will spill on your floors. To ensure that your hardwood floors stay in good condition, always wipe up spills as soon as they happen. Standing water can damage wood quickly and should not be left to dry.