Wood flooring can be very beautiful, attractive and warm, bringing an earthy and cozy feeling to your home. They’re very durable and can last very long when properly taken care of. However, cleaning it and getting rid of dirt can be very stressful. But, with a few tricks and tips, you’re good to go. As you go on, you’ll see the best way to get rid of stains on wood floors.
Essential tools for cleaning hardwood floors
The cleaning done in hardwood floors is not always like cleaning regular floors. Certain tools are required in removing stains from the floor effectively. Some of these tools include:
BROOM and DUSTPAN
Making use of a broom and dustpan for soft sweeping is perfect for the job. You can get a wide range of soft angled brooms.
VACUUM CLEANER
In making the choice of a vacuum cleaner for hardwood floors, get one that is lightweight and easy to lift and maneuver as well with soft roller heads.
MICROFIBER MOP
When making the choice of a mop to use, go for a microfiber mop with a reusable fluffy pad for dry mopping and a swivel head. Ensure to get a dense one as well, in case of damp mopping.
CLEANING SOLUTION
Ensure to use a cleaner with a pH of about 7 or something similar. One that is higher gives an alkaline solution while a lower pH is good for general purpose cleaners but this is not applicable here.
The Best Way to Clean Hardwood floor
In cleaning hardwood floors, the first step to doing this is to remove dust, debris, dirt and other unwanted things that can scratch the floor using a vacuum cleaner or dust mop. It’s not advisable to use vacuums with beater bar attachments as they can damage the floor surface. Instead, use floor brush attachment. This is also dependent on traffic in your house and the number of children and pets you have; you can do this once a week in the least.
Dust and grime accumulated over time won’t go off easily by just dust mopping. To achieve periodic deep cleaning, using a liquid cleaner is required. This may be a commercial wood cleaning product but ensure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions while using it. You can as well be creative and make your own homemade cleaner by getting a mixture of vinegar on one part to 10 parts of warm water. Add a few drops of liquid soap to give you your own cleaner.
Whatever your choice is, the process for cleaning engineered hardwood floors and wood floors remains the same. Get a rag or sponge mop and saturate it in your cleaning solution. Ensure to wring it completely so it is damp and not wet. Then mop the floor using the cleaner, being conscious of putting excess liquid on the floor.
Rinse off the mop with clean water, ensuring that excess water is wrung, then damp mop the floor to take off the cleaner. Make sure you wipe out excess water from the floor using a clean, dry towel to prevent damage of the floor as a result of standing water.
It might interest you to know that you can clean hardwood floors using teabags and boiling water. Tea contains tannic acid which gives off a beautiful shine. Put two tea bags in boiling water for a few minutes then pour the tea into a bucket.
Squeeze a soft cloth in the bucket of tea, making sure it’s damp and not soaked. This is to enable the floor dry easily. After that, wash the floor using this and get ready to be wowed by the sheen and shine.
Knowing how to cover the scratches left after cleaning also makes for good wood floor cleaning. Get a crayon color like that of the floor and rub it to cover the scratches. Turn on a blow dryer and heat the area where this was applied, waxing off using a soft cloth.
Ensure to prevent damage and dirt on your neatly cleaned floor. Place doormats to reduce dirt and moisture brought in. Use floor protectors to prevent under the furniture and place rugs where there’s much traffic. Knowledge of cleaning wood floors keels your home beautiful all year.
Do’s and Don’ts of Cleaning Hardwood Floors
Do’s of cleaning hardwood floors
There are lots of tips in cleaning hardwood floors and there are necessary things to do as well.
Ensure to Use a gentle cleanser
When you want to clean wood floors that are surface sealed, avoid cleaners with high abrasive formulas, alkaline levels or ammonia in them. These scratch the finishing. Rather, use gentle soaps with balanced pH mixed with warm water. Simply put the mop into the mixture and being it out damp. Then use the mop on the surface to give you the appropriate cleaning.
Always seek advice
You can always reach out to an expert floor finisher if you’re confused on the type of floor cleaner to use. They will give you expert recommendations on the best and safest floor cleaner to use.
Clean more often
We can say that floor cleaning is usually the last thing we want to do. Well, there’s a way to make your house look clean for longer. High traffic areas like the kitchen, dining or family room can be swept often in order to maintain a clean looking floor. In some households, cleaning is done at least four times a year.
Change the dirty water
The aim of cleaning is always defeated when cleaning is done with dirty water. While mopping wood floors, ensure to change the water as often as possible and make sure it’s clean soapy water. When you finish mopping with soapy water, get clean fresh water and go over the areas again to avoid any residue.
Eliminate scratches using baking soda
Don’t panic if you see few scratches while cleaning your floor. Just get a damp sponge and pour a small amount of baking soda on it. When you’re ready, rub the sponge across the floor gently to get rid of the tiny and unnoticeable scratches.
Don’ts of cleaning hardwood floors
Use the wrong product
Before using any product on your wood floors, ensure it is the right one for your floor type. Know the right product to use, be it paste wax, soap or acrylic Polish.
Flood the area
Avoid flooding the floor as overly wet mops give off moisture on the finish that in turn form scratches when there is shrinking of the wood and expansion as a result of weather. As time goes on, the wood is damaged by moisture.
Steam clean
Rather, do this on tiles and vinyl floors.
Use furniture sprays
You don’t need wax or oil to get a shiny surface sealed wood floor. Using furniture spray and greasy formulas just make the floor slippery and harmful. Not forgetting that applying wax is a complicated and time consuming act to embark on.
Clean with vinegar
We all know that vinegar is a regular home cleaning agent but this is not applicable to wood floor. Most people suggest that vinegar gives a shabby and grimy appeal to wood floors. You can’t use plain water either; it just spreads the dirt all over. The best option here is soapy water.
Use heavy equipment
Your perfect finishing may just fade off if you use the wrong equipment. For instance, using a garage broom for finishing or using a cleaning machine meant for tougher flooring.
All these being said, it’s very necessary to know your finishing. Before you venture into cleaning, try to know your floors better. You should know that in cleaning wood floors, it is important that you figure out the type of floor you have.
Most New wood floors are surface sealed with polycyclic, urethane or polyurethane and are often water and stain resistant. Nevertheless, many sealants like an oil finish or penetrating seal, varnished, lacquered or shellacked are available and in some cases, the floors are unfinished.
If you’re experiencing any difficulty deciding the finish, just rub your finger gently on your floor to check for smudges. If there’s a smudge, then the sealing is most likely varnish, lacquer or oil finish. If it doesn’t smudge, then the sealing is urethane, poly acrylic or polyurethane. This means you can clean your floors easily.
