Regardless of whether you purchase a new home with hardwood floors or you have just installed new hardwood floors in your home, you have a valuable and considerable investment in your home in hardwood. Most buyers are looking for hardwood flooring to be already installed when they buy a new home. They really do not consider hardwood floor upkeep requirements.
Keeping the hardwood floor clean and avoiding marks on the floor will go along way to maintaining your hardwood investment. Cleaning a hardwood floor is an important task with lots of benefits. It will help to maintain the natural beauty of your flooring and also extend the life of the floor, which saves you money in the long run. It will also help you avoid many headaches in the future. Here is a helpful guide to show you how to clean hardwood floor and make the most of your investment.
Why You Want to focus on Hardwood Floor Upkeep
Hardwood flooring is sensitive to heat and moisture but it is also sensitive to the harmful effects of dirt and grit. As dirt and particles work their way into hardwood surfaces they have a grinding effect as you walk on the floor, which is detrimental to the lifespan of the wood.The floor changes color, scratches and gradually the finish will be removed.
Who wants to have to sand a hardwood floor by hand?
Dirt and grime can scratch away at the surface of the wood, dulling it and taking away from the look of the surface. For these reasons it is important to know how to clean hardwood floor.
Cleaning the Hardwood Floor
But before you begin you will need a few tools. A soft fine-bristled broom, a vacuum with a hardwood safe attachment, along with a mop of your choice are essential.
Once you have everything you need we can get into how to clean your hardwood floor. You should have a routine in place for caring for your floors. This routine must include sweeping often with the fine-bristled broom in order to keep everyday dirt and dust from accumulating. Also, time should be taken to vacuum the floors at least once or twice a week. This will help to lift any sand or other abrasive particles that may want to settle in the floor cracks where they will do their damage.
When mopping your hardwood floors you should use a very dry-damp mop. This is because of the floor’s intolerance to excess water. Any extra water may seep down into the floor which is very harmful. This is practically everything you need to know on how to clean hardwood floor.
Avoid Women’s High Heels with Narrow Heel Points
We have had this situation and before we knew what happened there were little heel marks all over our floor. The women even asked us if it was ok to wear her shoes indoors. foolishly we said yes. What a mistake. We have not corrected the situation yet, but it will take some serious sanding and refinishing to fix this.
Do not allow people to wear their shoes inside your home on hardwood floors if you want to maintain the luster of your floors and avoid marking the hardwood on your floors.
As you can see, when finding out how to clean hardwood floor, there are only a few simple yet important steps. Cleaning hardwood is best done with regular care and attention. Once you have all of this in place, your floors will be long lasting and great looking.
August 1st, 2012 on 5:12 am
we have hardwood floors and have not a good job of keeping them looking great. what can you do when you have a lot of scratches on the floors from shoes and also a cat with claws? do i have to refinish the floor?