How To Maintain Your Wooden Floor
Together with the warmth and natural beauty of wooden flooring, one of the top reasons people install our floors is the promise of durability and long-lasting quality of wood.
Always though, when you are choosing and purchasing your wooden floor, you will read and hear the big ‘if’.
If your floor is well maintained it can last generations.
So, it makes sense to know all the best tips on how to clean wooden floors, if there is anything special required for cleaning engineered wooden flooring and to get a general understanding of wooden floor maintenance.
This article will give you all that and more because we are as passionate about your wooden flooring as you are and want to ensure that your beautiful flooring stays that way for decades.
Best Tips for Fantastic Wooden Floors
The first tips that will help to ensure the longevity of your floor are all about prevention.
Preventing your wooden flooring from accidental damage is key to it looking as fantastic as the day it was laid for many years to come.
Some of the best tips we can give you for preventing damage are:
Use Furniture Pads
Furniture pads are available from most hardware stores or online for a few pounds. This small investment is priceless when it comes to wood flooring maintenance however because once attached to the feet of your furniture they will prevent the scratching and scuffing damage that furniture can easily cause.
Sweep or Vacuum Regularly
Daily cleaning floorboards of the dust and grit that finds its way onto your hardwood or engineered wood flooring with a soft brush or microfibre cloth will help prevent scratches. If you prefer to use a vacuum cleaner then be sure that it has, and that you always use, the attachment specifically for wooden floors. This will prevent the bristles from scuffing or scratching the wood.
Be Footwear Aware
Ensure that dirty shoes are removed before walking on your wooden floor, substances that could stain or scratch your floor can easily be walked in on dirty shoes.
Also, make sure that high-heeled shoes or sports studs are removed as both can damage even the hardest wooden floors.
Avoid Spills & Clean Them Up Fast
To help avoid spills use protective mats for high-risk areas such as underneath a child's high chair or a dog's bowl.
When the inevitable spills do occur, because of course they will occur, then wipe up the spills as quickly as possible, clean any residue and buff dry.
Wooden floor maintenance is not solely about protection though. The following tips are for cleaning wooden floors.
Weekly Mop
A weekly mop with warm water and drying with a microfibre cloth will help keep your wooden floor dirt free and well-maintained.
Cleaning Products That are Good for your Type of Floor
To keep your floors at their best we recommend that you always follow the manufacturer's guidelines when it comes to choosing the best products for cleaning floorboards.
We stock a variety of the highest quality cleaning materials such as microfibre cleaning cloths and polishing cloths as well as mops and easy-clean spray mops. Our maintenance accessories also include our own brand and manufacturers' brands of soaps, ready-to-use wooden floor cleaners, and intense cleaning products for stain removal. Whatever the finish of your floor we will have products to suit.
Although a monthly clean is commonly recommended, follow the manufacturers' guidelines about how often you should use products to clean your floor.
Spot the Warning Signs
Your wooden floor may react to environmental changes the two main warning signs you want to look out for are:
- Cupping; this is when the edges of the board raise making the middle of the board appear to dip.
- Gaps appear between the flooring planks.
Cupping is caused by water. Spills that aren’t cleaned up, a regular bombardment of condensation, an underfloor leak that has gone unnoticed, mopping with a wet mop. All these things could cause cupping in your wooden flooring so it requires investigation and resolution.
Gaps between your flooring planks are caused by excessive dry heat. Creating a slightly humid atmosphere should help settle the floor and close up the gaps. If they do not close following this then a gap sealing treatment can help seal spaces and repair splits in wooden floors
Know Your Finish: Does it Need Recoating?
Depending on the finish of your floor it will need different levels of maintenance. This is the same whether you have solid hardwood flooring or engineered wooden flooring.
Lacquered floors need minimal maintenance but scratches can show up obviously. They also can appear dirty in high-traffic areas. Around every 3 to 5 years lacquered floors benefit from buffing and recoating but this depends upon use.
Natural Oiled Floors should be maintained with oil at least annually. Any scratches can be remedied as and when with simple scratch repair kits.
UV Oiled wooden flooring is extremely durable. This type of finish does not require additional oil, in fact, additional oils will not be able to permeate them. Instead, a maintenance treatment that is suitable for UV Oiled Floors is Woca Maintenance Gel.
The Do’s and Don’ts When Maintaining Wooden Floors
Do…
- Do mop-up spills straight away.
- Do sweep daily with a soft brush.
- Do use warm water and a microfibre cloth for weekly cleaning.
- Do follow your wooden flooring manufacturer's advice on recommended deep cleaning products.
Don’ts…
- Don't use abrasive products on the wooden flooring.
- Don’t allow the floor to become very wet; only use a slightly damp cloth for weekly cleaning.
- Don’t use a steam cleaner.
Additional Advice on Maintaining Your Wooden Floor
We hope that you are now feeling more confident that you understand the ‘if’s’ about maintaining your wooden floor to ensure its longevity. If you are still unsure then please do get in touch with us at Wooden Floors UK. Our expert team want you to get the best out of your hardwood or engineered wood floors and is always happy to provide recommendations and advice.
