Hardwood floors are often the best choice for a home. They are incredibly durable, good-looking, and suitable for most rooms in your home. But, if you have a hardwood floor you need to make sure that you take good care of it. Although it can be sanded to restore its original look, this is a time-consuming and relatively expensive task that shouldn’t need to be done if you take care of your hardwood floor in the first place.
If you haven’t already got hardwood floors then it’s time you spoke to a specialist in all types of hardwood floors, including French oak floors, you’ll be surprised at how affordable they are and how much they’ll transform your home.
Once you’ve got them you’ll want to know these three ways of looking after your hardwood floor:
- Dust Daily & Vacuum Once a Week
You’ll need to get yourself a good quality microfiber cloth and use it daily, this is your most effective tool for looking after your hardwood floor!
The microfiber cloth attracts hair and other debris through the power of static electricity. These small pieces of debris are what will get stood on hundreds of times each day and cause tiny scratches in your floor.
To get the dusting right put your cloth on the floor and keep it there as you move it around. This will help to ensure the debris stays attached to the cloth, you can shake the cloth off outside.
Alongside this it’s a good idea to vacuum once a week, this will pick up any debris you’ve missed.
However, you should never use a brushed bar as the rotation of the brushes will cause scratches in the floor. You’ll also need to pay attention to the wheels of your vacuum, they could scratch your floor.
- Damp Mop Regularly
At least once a month but ideally a little more often, you need to mop your hardwood floor. Again, the mop should use a microfiber head as this will help to attract hair and other debris. It’s a good idea to use a hardwood floor cleaner but, you need to use as little as possible and your mop should only ever be damp. Introducing a wet mop to your hardwood floor will cause the wood to absorb the water and expand, potentially causing warping or cracking.
- Polish 3-4 times a year
To finish and ensure your hardwood floor stays in the best possible condition you’re going to need to polish it every 3-4 months. The polish needs to be specifically for hardwood floors.
The right polish will give your floor a healthy shine, making it look great. But, it will also seal the wood, protecting it from accidental spills and foot traffic grinding debris into the floor.
Of course, these things aren’t done on purpose but they will happen, polishing every 3-4 months will help to ensure your floor stays looking good for years to come.
Again, choose a product that is designed for your hardwood floor and use it according to the manufacturer’s instructions, using too much can cause damage.
