Top Tips on Cleaning Hardwood Floors and Keeping Their Shine

Hardwood floors, whether they are brand-new or over a century old, are the pride and pleasure of your house. To prevent the dreaded stains, scratches, and water damage, hardwood floors demand a little more thought and care while cleaning.

Fortunately, the task isn’t as difficult as it seems. It’s simple to establish a routine that will maintain your floors as spotless as the rest of your house after you’ve identified the finest hardwood cleaners and equipment for your flooring.

How to Get a High Shine

Proper upkeep is important, but TLC is ideal for gorgeous marble flooring. Continue to read and we will share more details on how to clean hardwood flooring.

Getting Ready for Hardwood Floor Cleaning

The person who owned your home before you or you yourself spent a significant amount of money on hardwood floor installation. Spend some time getting to know the floors you are cleaning and determining whether there are any obvious stains, scratches, or damage indicators. It is advisable to use caution in these places and think about hiring a hardware floor professional.

After that, assemble your cleaning tools and choose a wood-safe cleaner for the task. What kind of cleaner is best for hardwood floors? There are several effective commercial cleansers available that may be purchased from stores. Generally speaking, steer clear of cleansers that don’t specifically mention hardwood floors or ones that claim to improve the colour or wax your floors. The finest things are simple.

“The safest way to remove stuck-on dirt and grime from your hardwood floors is to use a non-abrasive, pH-neutral cleaning solution with a lightly damp string mop,” advises Asya Biddle, manager of The Dust Busters janitorial company in Williamsport, Pennsylvania and member of the Expert Review Board. “While you can make a DIY floor cleaner, be wary of anything with an extreme pH, such as vinegar, to avoid damaging the finish.”

If you do, always test a small, discrete area first before washing the whole floor. Recall that maintaining hardwood floors differs from maintaining vinyl plank flooring, which mimic wood but need extra attention to prevent harm.

Remove dust and dirt

Getting rid of all the debris that might harm your hardwood floors when cleaning is the best approach to clean them. Use a microfiber mop or soft-bristled broom to sweep the area, being sure to collect and hold onto any dust. Take advantage of this chance to look over the floor again for any damage, such as scratches from chair legs or sun-induced colour changes.

Vacuuming is fine for a first pass, but before using a mop to clean hardwood floors, we advise giving it another go with the vacuum. To prevent scratching the flooring, avoid using the beater bar function and make sure your vacuum has wheels before beginning. If you are in the market for a hoover, look for a model that says whether it is perfect for hardwood floors.

Prepare a wet mop

Nowadays, you may choose from a variety of viral social media mops, but any mop with soft strings or a microfiber attachment will work. Wet your mop by mixing water and the recommended amounts of wood-safe cleaning in a bucket. The mop should now be wrung dry so that the strings or pad are no longer soaking wet. This is maybe the most crucial step. Hardwood floors may be cleaned with soap and water, but it’s crucial to keep standing water off your flooring.

Clean your floors

Now is the time to start mopping. To avoid literally mopping oneself into a corner, sweep up the space behind you as you go. If you see a puddle developing, keep an eye out for it and use your dry microfiber mop to remove any surplus water. When your mop runs out of water, be sure to rinse it in your bucket.

Shine the flooring if needed

Although using a wood polish product after cleaning your hardwood floors isn’t essential, try to do it one to three times a year. Once again, search for a polish designed especially for wood floors and observe how long it usually takes to dry and if a lot of ventilation is needed. Polish the floors using a fresh microfiber mop head, going against the grain of the wood, after diluting the solution according to the directions.

Allow the floor to dry

To hasten the drying process of your flooring, turn on the air conditioning and bring out the fans if you reside in a humid location. Furthermore, don’t replace the rugs until you are certain the floors are dry.

Some Advice for Maintaining Clean Hardwood Floors

Depending on how much traffic passes through your house each day, you shouldn’t need to do this thorough cleaning more than once or twice a week. In the meanwhile, maintain the cleanliness of your hardwood floors by performing the following:

• Make it a habit to sweep everyday
• Clean the floors only after cleaning higher areas of the room
• Vacuum the rugs regularly
• Keep a trackpad outside the litter box of your cat
• Vacuum the rugs on a regular basis
• Clean the paws of your dog after taking for a walk
• Decide whether you are cleaning on your own or hiring an expert

The process of learning how to clean your hardwood floors will always have a little learning curve. Even still, the cost of hardwood cleaning materials is less than $25, which is far less than the $170 average cost of hiring a professional cleaner for your house.

The guesswork of properly cleaning hardwood floors may be removed by hiring a local floor cleaner, particularly if you’re worried about having to refinish your floors sooner than you’d like.