Hardwood flooring in a great investment to help beautify your home and improve it’s resale potential; and you should take proper precautions to help protect your hardwood flooring and keep them looking like new for years to come. None of these preventative measures are difficult and will go a long way to help maintain the beauty and durability of your hardwood floors.
One of the greatest threats to hardwood flooring is the wear and tear caused by repeated scratching from dust, dirt and debris. This repetition will dull the look of your flooring over time. Furniture and appliances can scratch the floors, making them more susceptible to damage from liquids.
You can prevent this from occurring by being proactive and use floor mats in you entryways to catch dirt and debris as it enters your home. By using area rugs or felt tips on the bottom of your furniture legs you can also help prevent them from damaging your flooring too.
Another good preventative measure is to clean up any spilled liquids as soon as it happens. By cleaning up these liquid spills you can prevent the moisture from seeping between your flooring where it may cause them to warp and buckle, becoming a time consuming and expensive repair issue.
Secondly, you will want to use daily preventative measures to help keep your floors clean. As mentioned, using entry mats will help keep dirt from your floors, but you may also consider having your family or guests remove their shoes entirely when entering your home.
Exposure to long hours of direct sun can also damage your hardwood floors. To help prevent this, it is recommended to use floor rugs in areas that receive the most direct sun light and to rearrange them as the seasons pass. By rearranging these rugs periodically you will help your floors to age naturally without one area fading or darkening than another. It is also recommended to keep curtains or draperies closed in fully sunlit areas, such as sliding glass or deck doors.
Mop, sweep or vacuum your floors daily. This will remove any dust that may have accumulated on your floors and will go a long way to keeping them shiny and in great condition. Use a dust mop or damp floor mop to pick up any dust, then allow to air dry. It is suggested to mop your floors weekly with a wet mop. Do not soak your floors in water, rather use a spray bottle to squirt your cleaning solution on the area you wish to clean then mop up with a semi dry mop or towel. If you do not have a spray bottle then use a damp mop that you rinse out and wring often to avoid the accumulation of liquid that can seep between the floor and cause damage.
There are many products on the market which you can use to clean your hardwood flooring, from wood soaps to waxes, many will do this job. Take care though and do not let this waxy build up accumulate over time. It has been recommended to alternate between these wax applications with a mixture of vinegar and water to clean your floors. It has also been suggested that to make your floors naturally shiny, you should use natural products like olive oil to return the shine to your hardwood floors.
Regular maintenance is a wise investment in your hardwood flooring, and you can count on the professionals at Justwood for this purpose. With a bit of prevention, you can keep these floors and your investment for a much longer time than cheaper flooring alternatives. Remember to keep dust out and liquids cleaned up.