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Hardwood floor cleaning tips

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Hardwood Floor

Hardwood floors in homes and offices are a finishing touch across the world. Their are many reasons for choosing a hardwood floor. A good quality hardwood floor will last for decades, is easy to clean, more hygienic than carpet, ideal for modern underfloor heating and have a timeless appeal. Keeping your hardwood floor looking pristine can prove tricky though. If you have a hardwood floor in your home or office, we have compiled some useful tips for you below.

Vacuum your floor every week

Let's start with the basics. You probably do this already, but it is always worth reminding you. Traffic on the floor is a real problem for hard floors. The fine grit in dust is just like sandpaper and will slowly but surely wear through your wood floor’s finish. A good vacuuming protects the finish as well as keeps up its appearance. Use an attachment with a brush or a felt surface that runs along the floor. Try and avoid using attachments with rotating brushes as these can scratch the finish. If you have a vacuum with rotating brushes, we recommend disengaging them. A good vacuum will most probably come with attachments for both carpet and hardwood cleaning though. If you don’t feel like hauling out the vacuum, a dust mop or a microfiber sweeper would work just as well.

Watch the hairspray and the furniture polish

Keeping your home clean and tidy is something we all like to do, even if we struggle to find the time to do it. Aerosol sprays that we use within the household have a tendency to disperse over a wider range than you think. Both hairspray and furniture polish can cloud your floor’s finish. You should wipe the overspray up immediately with a damp cloth. 

Keep out the rain

Water can not only ruin the finish on a hardwood floor but can penetrate deep into the wood and stain it. Close windows when you’re expecting rain. Put trays under potted plants and, of course, immediately wipe up any water you see. Any liquid that comes into contact with your hardwood floor that is left has the potential of penetrating under the finish and leaving marks and stains that require professional assistance to remove.

Remove residue with no-wax wood floor cleaner

Our floors in the home go through rigorous levels of punishment and spillages are an everyday occurrence in households across the country. We recommend that you wipe up spills and dirt up immediately from your hardwood floor. You should then use an appropriate cleaner to remove the residue. Dirt on your hardwood floor can damage the finish or get ground in. Liquids can damage the finish and can also stain the floor.

Know the rules about using waxes and restorers

You can rejuvenate a wax finish with more wax. But you need to be aware of mixing waxes and the implications this might have on your hardwood floor. Certain waxes can make the floor far too slippery and also interfere with subsequent finishes. If you are considering this process yourself, test the wax or restorer on an inconspicuous area to make sure it won’t peel off. Re-waxing or restoring is a specialist job and in the long run, we recommend employing a specialist restorer like Xtraclean to do this for you. You can contact us directly for a no-obligation quotation.

Use extra-long doormats

Doormats, both inside and outside of the home are hugely helpful when it comes to keeping out unwanted dirt and grime. Whilst vacuuming and spot-cleaning are great at keeping spoil off of your hardwood floor, keeping the dirt out in the first place is even better. We suggest using extra long doormats for the front door (or the door that you use most commonly). The longer the mat leading up to the door, the more people will rub dirt and moisture off their shoes as they walk in, even if they don’t stop to wipe them. Larger mats inside the house will hopefully encourage those who skipped the mats outside to wipe their feet inside.