Care for your floors
Proper care and maintenance of your hardwood floors will ensure that your floors keep their beautiful finish for years.
Dust mopping
Use a dust-mop with a 12-to-18-inch cotton head dust mop. Do not wet-mop the floor; water and other standing liquids can damage a floor's finish. Standing water also can warp a finished floor. Starting at the edge and working toward the center, wipe up spills, pet accidents, and other mishaps when they happen.
Sweeping
Sweeping with brooms that have bristles with fine, exploded ends traps dust and grit effectively.
Vacuuming
When vacuuming use a brush attachment. Do not vacuum with beater bars and be cautious with the wheels because both can cause dents in your floor's finish.
Cleaning
Do not use sheet vinyl, tile floor, or wax-based care products on wood floors. Self-polishing acrylic waxes cause wood to become slippery and appear dull quickly.
Wax will cause problems when you want to re-coat your floors. Polyurethane will not bond to a waxed finish. Do not use Murphy's Oil Soap; it was designed to restore the oil in antique furniture. It will not penetrate a polyurethane finish, leaving you with an oily residue that collects dust and dirt.
You may also use a hardwood floor cleaner such as Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner.
More care suggestions:
- Wipe up spills immediately with a slightly dampened towel.
- Put soft plastic or fabric-faced glides (such as felt) under the legs of furniture to prevent scuffing and scratching.
- When moving heavy furniture, do not slide it on wood flooring. It is best to pick up the furniture completely to protect the wood flooring.
- Use throw rugs both inside and outside doorways to help prevent grit and dirt from being tracked onto your wood floors. This will prevent scratching.
- For wood flooring in the kitchen, place an area rug in front of the kitchen sink.
- Strong sun may bleach your floors. Closing curtains on sunny days is a good preventative measure to keep the original look of your floors.
- When any remodeling or other work will done in rooms with hardwood floors, the floors must be covered with paper or plastic that is affixed with blue tape. Make sure workers to do not drop any tools on the floor, causing dents.
