Caring For Your Hardwood Floor

Wooden floors are timeless and look elegant.  When cared for properly, they should last for decades.  Many types of wooden flooring are usually durable, hard wearing and look inviting. However, to keep them looking and feeling their best, they’ll need a bit of tender loving care from time to time!  Caring for your wooden floor isn’t difficult or stressful, but here are our tips below to help you.

Caring for your wooden floor

Protection of your wooden floor is a key tip for keeping it looking beautiful.  You need to protect it from any damage that may come its way, such as spills or knocks.  Although the top layers of polish, lacquer or oil will protect your floor from spills in the short term, any liquid that seeps into the wood itself will ultimately cause irreparable damage.  That’s why it’s really important to wipe up any spills as soon as they happen.

Caring for your wooden floor also includes protecting it from dents or scratches.  Although small marks and indentations are inevitable and give your wooden flooring character, you can help to prevent deeper, larger scratches. Footwear should be removed before walking on your wooden floor and any outdoor footwear that is dirty or has grit on the soles can easily scratch your floor. It’s a good idea to leave shoes and boots off your wooden floor, or to alternatively pop a door mat down over the floor to protect it.

Furniture or heavy objects can also scratch your wooden floor, so it’s always a good idea to pick up heavy items and move them rather than dragging them along for floor.  We would also recommend  anti scratch felt protector pads that could help protect your wooden floor from scratching.  They’re applied to the bottom of furniture and act as a barrier between your floor and your furniture.

 Cleaning your wooden floor

Cleaning your wooden floor is pretty straight forward.  Simply sweep the surface of the floor with a soft bristle brush daily, if possible.   This everyday activity will remove any small surface dirt or dust that could build up and affect your floor.  A  vacuum cleaner will work too but you need to make sure that you’ve got it on the right setting for the floor.

Once swept, you need to clean it to remove any surface stains or marks once a week, or when you notice any surface stains. We would suggest using a microfibre mop and PH neutral cleaning spray.  This gentle but effective cleaner won’t harm your floor.  We don’t recommend using any sort of furniture polish as this will leave a slippery residue, or a steam mop because the steam will penetrate the floor and damage it.

Sanding your wooden floor

Sanding and refinishing your wooden floor can help to revive and refresh it by removing any unwanted marks or stains.

Apply more oil if your floor has been oiled in the past, a light sanding, and more lacquer if it’s got a lacquered finish. Don’t forget to leave it for a while to dry before walking on it though!

Our tips for caring and cleaning your wooden floor

• Wipe away any water or fluid spills immediately.
• Remove any footwear before walking on your wooden floor.
• Use felt protector pads where you can and never drag heavy furniture across it.
• Sweep away any dust and dirt on a daily basis.
• Clean your floor using a microfibre mop and a gentle wooden floor cleaning spray.
• Don’t use a steam mop, wet mop, furniture polish or abrasive products.