Wood flooring can help create a clean, open environment in your home. Easy to maintain and easy to clean, the beautiful, smooth finish of wood flooring can help maintain a consistency throughout your home. Many people who are prone to allergies are recommended to replace all rugs in their home with wood floors because it is easy to remove aggravating dirt and dust. Wood floors are also versatile – with the ability to choose the type of wood and type of finish. And with the proper care & maintenance, wood floors are adaptable and long lasting.
Keeping your wood floors clean is extremely important as errant dust and dirt can create imperfections in the finish. Wood floors are easily scratched and dented so taking care of them continuously is important. It is recommended to use area rugs to capture dust and dirt, especially in high traffic areas. And in addition to the use of area rugs, basic cleaning and maintenance of wood floors is quite simple. With a few precautions, you can keep your floors looking beautiful for many years:
- Wood floors should be swept, dust-mopped or vacuumed daily to remove dust and dirt that can create scratches. Shake out all rugs first to ensure no particles can be transferred from the rug to the floors
- Furniture bottoms should be protected with pads to ensure their movement across the floor doesn’t cause scratches
- High heels should not be worn on wood floors unless the heels are in good condition. An unprotected heel tip can easily dent a wood floor
- Never wax a urethane floor
- Vinyl or tile floor care products should never be used on a wood floor
- Do not use a wet mop on a wood floor unless it will be dried immediately.
- Clean up food and other spills immediately and dry any wet spots to keep damage at bay.
- A wax floor needs to be waxed regularly, but over-waxing can create buildup and dulling. Buff wax floors if this occurs.
In addition to keeping the floors clean, reducing moisture in and around the floors is imperative. Any spills should be cleaned up immediately. Also, the use of a humidifier or dehumidifier along with a furnace or air conditioning system will help maintain the moisture in the wood and minimize natural cracks between the boards. Wood floors should also be cleaned with special cleansers often and the type of cleanser used depends on the type of finish; refer to the finish manufacturer’s recommendations for proper cleansers to use.