Hardwood floors are affected by every season: summer brings saltwater and chlorine; winter adds ice, snow, and salt; fall brings leaves and dirt, and spring brings dirt and rain. The upkeep for hardwood floors seems difficult, but it accentuates your home like no other flooring.
Hardwood floor is not high-maintenance; it is your maintenance routine that needs some tweaking. NWFA (National Wood Flooring Association) advises hardwood floor maintenance to increase your return on that flooring investment.
5 Ways to Maintain Hardwood Floor
NWFA recommends cost-effective ways to maintain hardwood floor:
Furniture Pads
Moving upholstery and furniture does more damage to wood floors because of the scratches over the surface. You can prevent these scratches by using furniture pads for the legs of your tables, chairs, and sofas.
Avoid Spills
Cleaning the spills immediately with a dry cloth reduces the damage. NWFA advises against the use of steam or wet mops because this damages the floor. Wood shrinks and swells due to the moisture in the air. Therefore, you should maintain the humidity level to eliminate the risk of wood gapping, cupping, and splitting.
Clean the spills immediately and keep your home’s temperature at 60-80 F (i.e., 30-50% humidity). Don’t allow wet shoes inside the house. They are gross, and now you have a reason to ban them.
Sweep Daily
NWFA highly recommends regular sweeping and dusting regardless of a no-shoes-inside-home policy. The dust settles in from window creaks and practically every crevice in the house. Especially with pets around, the tiny particles settle into floorboards. Take this as a piece of hygiene advice too!
Weekly Vacuum
This may seem like a drag, but vacuuming daily does not only protect your hardwood floor; it deep cleans your home. Vacuuming sweeps any dirt and crumbs that are missed in sweeping. Besides, vacuuming is part of cleaning, and cleaning is supposed to calm you down, no?
Hardwood Floor Recoating
Finally, you can recoat your wood floor once it looks dull and weary. Recoating every 3 to 5 years is good for floor maintenance. You may have to refinish the wood floor depending on your family’s lifestyle.
Doing these basic cleaning chores is sufficient for the upkeep of your hardwood floor. Invest your money in a professional and licensed hardwood floor repair service. At Five Star Hardwood Floor, we offer floor refinishing, dustless floor refinishing, and hardwood floor installation services in Seattle. You can learn more about our services or contact us to get a free estimate.