How to Protect Your Hardwood Floors and Keep Them Clean
Everyone loves hardwood floors, especially if you’ve ever remodeled and changed from an old carpet to shiny new floors. For anyone with kids or pets, the choice is clear–hardwood floors make life easier, allowing for more simple cleanup of spills and just a better home cleaning experience. Plus, aesthetically, it’s not hard to make your home look great with hardwood floors.
But wiping up spills and sweeping with a broom from time to time is different from actually cleaning your hardwood floors, much less protecting them. Years of wear and tear can take a huge toll on your wooden floors and before you know it, those shimmering, beautiful floors have turned into a scraped-up mess. To keep your floors clean and protected, we’ve created a short list of ways you can help.
Take Off Your Shoes
There are already many households where people do this, and it’s an easy change that can work wonders on not just hardwood floors but the entire home. The whole reason people wear shoes is that it keeps your feet safe from harm as well as keeping dirt and allergens off your skin.
Removing your shoes when you walk in the door may not seem like it can make a huge difference, but remember, every single time you wear shoes inside the house, you’re tracking in that dust and dirt from outside, along with other pieces of allergens and debris. These can slowly damage your hardwood floors over time, so this is an easy change to make that can greatly reduce long-term wear and tear in your home.
Pay Attention to Furniture
Have you ever moved furniture that was sitting on a carpet to find deep grooves or indentations where the legs once sat? These are the result of heavy objects which typically just sit in one place for weeks, months, and even years, as carpet doesn’t lend itself to allowing for furniture to slide around.
Unlike carpet, hardwood floors do next to nothing to prevent sliding furniture, from TV trays to side tables and even couches. This can be hugely damaging in the long-term, as after years of your chairs and sofas moving all over the ground, they will likely scrape that beautiful wood floor underneath.
The best way to prevent this is by purchasing something to stick on the underside of the legs of any furniture that gets bumped or moved around often. There are two basic ways you can choose to prevent the damage. The first is a rubber sticker that will adhere to the bottom of your furniture’s legs, thereby keeping it in place. Another option is something softer like felt pads, which won’t harm the floors but doesn’t keep anything from sliding. This is a great option in a room that requires versatility.
Clean the Right Way
Obviously one easy way to protect your hardwood floors is to clean them consistently by sweeping and dusting around the areas. Wooden floors have a finish which keeps them shiny and rich, but if you get lazy about them, that finish can wear off easily due to high traffic and constant dust and debris in the areas.
But even more than simply keeping them clean, you’ve got to clean your hardwood floors the right way. Many homeowners don’t know that mopping hardwood floors can actually damage the wood when done too often. Saturating wood in moisture just isn’t a good idea. The moisture can seep into the wood–especially if the finish has worn off–and cause boards to warp. This can be costly, but it also just doesn’t look very good.
Develop a Strategy
While hardwood floors are often an upgrade after you’ve ripped up your carpet, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have any fabric on the ground. In high-traffic areas in your home, such as the living room or walkway, a strategically placed area rug can help protect your hardwood floors. While it might seem counterintuitive to cover up your gorgeous floors, rugs can add a nice accent or pop of color to an otherwise ordinary room.
Additionally, if you have any four-legged friends living in your home, their long nails can do a number on your wooden floors. You can keep dogs’ nails clipped, but for cats, you’ll need something like claw caps if you really want to protect the wood.
Be Careful
The last piece of advice we have is to simply be mindful. If you are moving things or rearranging your rooms, remember that your floor is just as delicate as other furniture, so don’t drag anything along the ground and make sure to gently lower objects (a good practice regardless of floors).
When cared for properly, your hardwood floors can last generations and are a highly desirable selling point if and when you ever decide to leave. Plus, they go with pretty much every style; contemporary, mid-century, and even old fashioned. Be cautious and mindful about your floors on a day-to-day basis, and your floors will be just fine.
If you’d like us to do the hard part for you, contact us today to get your home cleaned. Have other questions or need some other tips? Call Custom Maid today at 918-376-4114 or visit our website at custommaidok.com!