Wood Floor Care: Tips and Tricks

There are many different options to choose from when you are choosing your flooring material; however, hardwood is one of the most popular choices, and for good reason. Hardwood provides a beautiful elegant look that fits any type of home design, from a more traditional style to a modern or contemporary look. If you decide to go with hardwood floors, then you’ll need to consider hiring a Jacksonville wood floor cleaning service every once in a while to keep your hardwood floors looking as good as new. If you don’t take care of your wood floors, they’ll end up wearing down over the years – thereby losing their luster and possibly even becoming damaged.

The following are a few tips and tricks for cleaning your hardwood floors that any wood floor cleaning Jacksonville service would recommend:

• Any time you spill liquids or foods, make sure you wipe them up immediately to prevent staining. Nothing more than a soft cloth should be used for such spills.
• Keep dirt and dust from gathering on your floor by routinely sweeping, dusting and vacuuming. If you use a vacuum, make sure that you use the hard floor attachment instead of the beater bar. Use the hose attachment in order to vacuum the perimeter of a room so that you can get at any dirt that might be trapped near the baseboards. Letting dust and other debris sit on your wood floors for too long can result in the floor’s finish becoming dull or scratched.
• When dusting with a soft micro fiber dusting pad, be sure to run it along the floor’s baseboards without lifting it before running it up and down the rest of the room. You don’t want to lift it due to the fact that larger debris can get caught under the mop pad, which can lead to scratches in the floor’s surface.
• When it comes to using liquids to clean your hardwood floors, consider using nothing but water. There are a number of liquids that could cause damage to the floor’s finish. Avoid cleaners that are abrasive, ammoniated, oil-based, wax or polish. Vinegar should also be avoided even though it is often used as a cure-all for cleaning purposes. Vinegar is acidic, which means that it can slowly damage the sealing of the hardwood, whether it’s a wax coating or a poly coating.
• You should really avoid any kind of wet mopping. The combination of water and soap or other liquid cleaning materials can lead to warping, swelling, joint-line separation or de-lamination. If you need to use a liquid to clean up a sticky spot, then use water and use it with a spray bottle. Be sure to use a micro fiber pad that is specifically labeled for the use of liquids and follow the grain of the wood when mopping the area.
• Never use a buffing machine in order to try to give your floors a brand new look. Buffing hardwood can end up damaging it.
• If you have spilt candle wax or sticky chewing gum on your hardwood floor and they aren’t coming off using traditional cleaning methods, use ice to harden these spots. Once you’ve done that, you should be able to easily scrape them off your floors using a plastic scraper.
• Think about placing protective mats near the exits and entrances of your home. These will collect a large amount of the dirt, grit, sand and other substances that are potentially damaging to your floors before they are tracked in. Avoid mats that are backed with foam or rubber since these can lead to your wood becoming discolored over time. Look for mats using a vinyl underlayment instead.
• Your furniture can cause scratches to your hardwood as well. Minimize the damage your furniture might cause by using floor protectors. You should also move your furniture around once in a while so that the floor will age evenly. The more your hardwood is exposed to sunlight, the more the tone of the wood will soften – causing the colors to change. If you don’t rearrange your furniture once in a while, you’ll end up with different colored spots all over your floor.

These are a number of tips that any wood floor cleaning Jacksonville service would recommend. In addition to doing regular upkeep yourself, be sure to routinely schedule a wood floor cleaning Jacksonville service such as First Coast Home Pros.