While some nice carpeting can help your home feel cozy, hardwood floors add a modern and sleek look to any room in your home. If you’ve recently made the transition to hardwood floors, you may be wondering how to properly care for them. If this is the case, here are some things you’ll need to know!

Cleaning Hardwood Floors

When you get new hardwood flooring in your home, you will likely fall in love with the shine. Clean hardwood floors can make any home look amazing and put together. Unfortunately, with kids, pets, and guests in your home, the shine of fresh hardwood flooring won’t last forever. This is why it’s important to find a regular cleaning routine for your hardwood floor, especially the high traffic areas.

Get Into A Regular Habit

Hardwood floors are going to get dirty. It’s a matter of when, not if. To manage the mess, routine cleaning is recommended. A regular cleaning schedule can help you keep your hardwood floors looking their best for as long as possible. Depending on the type and the location of the floors, your cleaning routine could involve some dusting and mopping or more deep cleaning measures.

Dust Daily & Vacuum Weekly

Dusting your hardwood floors is also a good practice to get into. A sweep daily can keep your floors from looking dull and covered in pet hair. After you dust daily with a dust mop head, you should also consider taking out the vacuum cleaner to help with dirt and other debris on the floor surface.

While vacuuming is often associated with carpeted floors, it’s actually very beneficial to vacuum hardwood flooring. To prevent scratches, it’s important to use a floor brush attachment when vacuuming hardwood floors.

Clean Dirt & Spills Immediately

With a busy house comes dust and dirt. In order to keep your floors clean, it’s recommended that you broom up dirt and dust every day with a dusting agent. When doing so, use a brush roll in order to prevent any damage to your wood floor.

A tough stain can stand out on your wood floors, so it’s best to deal with spills and stains immediately. There are plenty of cleaning hacks that can help remove tough stains and some key household ingredients to have on hand are dish detergent and baking soda. These two items can be the hero when it comes to fighting and removing stubborn stains on your beautiful hardwood floors.

Deep Clean Every Few Months

While dusting and vacuuming regularly can help your hardwood floors stay fresh, you’ll likely need to deep clean your floors every couple of months. Sticky spills if not caught in time can leave stains and residue on the floor that doesn’t come up in the vacuum. Deep cleaning wood floors can help maintain the quality of the hardwood and keep it looking great!

How To Deep Clean Hardwood Floors

Every type of flooring needs a deep clean every once in a while, including hardwood floors. Even with floor protectors, floor mats, and furniture covering the wood, a deeper clean is necessary to remove more permanent stains and keep them fresh.

To deep clean the floors, use a wood floor mop and a hardwood floor cleaner diluted with water according to the instructions on the label. Saturate a dry mop or rag and then wring it out before you damp mop the floor. It’s important here that you don’t let any moisture or standing water remain on the floor as this can affect wood later on. Open a window or use a ceiling fan to help the floors dry and the air to circulate.

If the floor’s finish isn’t looking shiny after using a deep cleaning product, you might consider refinishing the floors.

Dealing With Scratches On Your Hardwood Floor

Even the cleanest of wood floors are not immune to scratches and dents from furniture, doors, pets, and other mishaps. If you’re looking to remove a scratch or two, you’ll need to know what your wood’s finish is. There are a few different types of hardwood floor finishes and knowing which kind you have will be beneficial in repairing any deep scratches in your clean hardwood floors.

Fill Them In

One of the easiest ways to repair your floor is to fill in the scratches and dents. After cleaning the area with some wood floor cleaner, fill the scratch with some floor wax or putty. Then, buff the area with a soft material that won’t cause more light scratches.

Consider Refinishing The Floor

If the scratches are too deep or your floor is just covered in dents and scratches, you might consider refinishing one area, or the entire hardwood floor altogether. A fresh finish on the wood floor can bring new life back into your home and make the place shine again.

Supreme Flooring

If you’re ready to make the transition to hardwood flooring, Supreme Flooring is here to help. Our team of professionals is experienced in quality hardwood floor installations all around the Mississauga and Greater Toronto Area. With over 25 years in the industry, you can trust us to offer superior quality and customer service for all your installation needs.