How to clean your Hardwood Floors?
Hardwood floors are one of the most popular flooring choices now. Homes with hardwood floors look great, enable visual home warmness, and put a higher home price on the market.
Even realtors and real estate agents claim that flooring is always a low-cost expense because you can get a higher return on this investment. So, if you want to make your home more valuable - install hardwood floors.
Even more, if you plan to move to another home in a couple of years or simply want the best for your home, you should invest in hardwood floors.
Hardwood floors:
- Offer exceptional durability over time
- Hardwood is easy to maintain and clean regularly
- Any type of dents or scratches over the hardwood floors are easy to fix
- Hardwood floors have a significant and enduring structure
- Hardwood floors are eye-appealing, and due to a range of colors and finishes, it can suit any contemporary style
Did you know that hardwood timber offers a higher fire resistance than softwood? Hardwood floors are durable, but just like with any other object - if you don't maintain them the right way, they won't last.
Therefore, it's essential to know how to clean wood floors so that hardwood floors can last for decades. With these straightforward tips, you will keep your hardwood floors clean and fresh.
Hardwood Floors Regular Cleaning Routine
Regular maintenance can do wonders for your hardwood floors. Moreover, a proper once-over with a dust mop or broom will do wonders for cleaning hardwood floors.
How often you should clean your floors depends on how much traffic your floors see. If you have a large and active family and have pets, you may expect frequent cleaning.
A quick everyday mop cleaning can remove every fragment of debris and pet hair that might scratch the floor surface.
Find the best mop for hardwood floors on the market, and include those with a microfiber head. Why microfibre head? Because this material will save you both energy and time because it is designed to trap grime and dust.
Always follow the mop manufacturer's recommendations. Important: Don't overlook vacuuming.
What To Use To Clean Hardwood Floors
You should always go for a neutral solution. You want a pH level of about seven or matched to cured poly.
If you go for the higher one, you risk choosing the one with high alkaline percent. Cleaning solution lower in alkaline is okay for an all-purpose cleaner, but not when it comes to cleaning hardwood floors.
You should always have a mop paired with a machine washable since, as mentioned earlier, microfiber pads for dusting and cleaning are the best tools to clean hardwood floors.
A good dusting pad has excellent benefits, like attracting dirt, household allergens, and microparticles.
Pro tip: Avoid using soap-based cleaners, wax cleaners, steam cleaners, and a water and vinegar mix, on hardwood floors.
Cleaning Tools
If you are really serious about maintaining your hardwood floors properly, you know that proper tools are a must when you want to achieve great results.
Pro tip: Invest in the right cleaning tools
You will need a good microfiber mop, a vacuum cleaner, and/or a robot vacuum. Use technology to live better and easier.
A robot vacuum saves time and works while you are spending time with your family. Plus, having a robot vacuum around can be fun for your pet.
When shopping for microfiber mop, make sure to have plenty of clean microfiber mop refills on hand. This is also better for the environment than using disposable pads.
Again, if you are searching for the best and the fastest way to clean your hardwood floors, use a robot vacuum.
If possible, choose a robot vacuum that can vacuum and mop. Some robot vacuums can be programmed through an app to clean when you are away from home.
Wood Floor Cleaners and Tools
Best Broom and Dustpan for Hardwood Floors
- Casabella's Wayclean Wide Angle Broom
- Neon Broom and Dustpan set
- Waxed-beechwood Room Broom
Best Vacuum Cleaner for Hardwood Floors
- Hoover React Powered Reach Plus Upright Vacuum Cleaner
- Miele Compact C1 Turbo Team Canister Vacuum
- Dyson's V8 Absolute
Pro tip: Always choose a vacuum cleaner that's easy to pick up and has a soft roller head
Best Microfiber Mop for Hardwood Floors
- O-Cedar's Dual-Action Microfiber Flip Mop
- Libman Freedom Spray Mop
- Casabella's Spin Cycle Mop
Can You Clean Hardwood Floors Naturally
People love DIY projects. DIY projects are fun, great family activity, and a great way to have your eco-products opposite to those available on the market. However, when it comes to the hardwood floors cleaning process, you should stay to official and recommended cleaning products.
People love making DIY vinegar cleaning solutions because they see them as safe. Vinegar is acidic, and it can erode wood and even stone.
Vinegar can destroy wax, and even kill plants, and cause various other damage. Therefore, hardwood floors - due to its acidic nature, vinegar can damage. Moreover, vinegar can damage the hardwood floor finishes, causing them to look run-down.
Vinegar will eventually break down the finish on the surface of your floor, and over time it will reduce the shine and leave a blunt appearance.
Also, don't use baking soda solutions. Old-fashioned remedies and home-based solutions involving vinegar or dish detergent can't do the same job as multi-functioning solutions that are available on the market.
How to Clean Hardwood Floors Without Ruining the Finish
Having hardwood floors means a lot of work and a massive responsibility. People love hardwood floors because they are easy to clean, they look amazing, and their durability is impeccable.
Still, maintaining them takes a lot of work. Here are the steps to consider if you want to clean hardwood floors from the experts' perspective.
- Remove the dirt and debris quickly and often
- Vacuum or sweep regularly
- When vacuum, always use the hard surface setting on your machine
- Wipe spills immediately
- A damp (but not sopping) mop can also help keep a hardwood floor clean
- Do not clean wood floors with a steam mop, because it opens the pores in woods and severely damages the finish
- Stick with cleaners recommended by a hardwood floor specialist
And if it still doesn't look clean…
If you spend every day cleaning your hardwood floors and it still doesn't look clean, you should know that your floor is in trouble.
When hardwood floors withstand enough damage, they should be refinished. This means that the top layer of wood should be sanded down to remove marks and covered with a sealant.
In general, hardwood floors should be released once every ten years, or every two to five years if they get substantial traffic from kids or pets. Once that's done, you can follow the above steps to keep floors shining.
Tips for Keeping Hardwood Floors Clean
Hardwood floors can go from sparkling to filthy in a matter of seconds - because things happen.
An accident spill, muddy shoes during the rainy day, or even a Fido with dirty paws running around the house can lead to messy floors.
On top of these unplanned things is the everyday dirt that's simply a result of people entering and walking within the home. Luckily, you can prevent these messes.
Make your home a shoe-free zone. This simple move will improve the overall family's health and keep dirt away.
Purchase a doormat, and if possible, purchase a disinfection shoe doormat. Of course, always wipe your feet before you enter the home.
Encourage your guests to do the same. And don't forget to wipe your dog's paws before he comes back inside from a walk. If you have a multi-dog household, think about the best floors for dogs.