Maintaining Hardwood Flooring and Keeping it classy in San Diego

Investing in new hardwood flooring can contribute greatly to the atmosphere and aesthetic of your house. Great looking hardwood floors give an "at-home" presence that welcomes you when you return and impresses and delights your guests. Protecting your hardwood is simple to do through routine cleaning, and you can remove dust and dirt before it wears away the floor or scratches and dulls the finish. Kids, pets, and the environment can all contribute to wear on the floor. Having trouble keeping your hardwood floors clean in a high-traffic area? Today we're going to share some helpful things to keep in mind for anyone committed to keeping their hardwood floors clean and looking great.

Regular cleaning is key!

The first step to keeping your hardwood floors looking new is regular cleaning and dusting. This can be done using a proper tool such as a mop with a machine washable microfiber pad. Also, protective mats or rugs in particularly high-traffic areas can greatly extend the life of your floor.

Avoid damaging cleaning solutions.

Next, it's important to note that you'll want to avoid using certain types of cleaning solutions that will wear down your floor over time. You absolutely want to avoid using water or vinegar on your hardwood. Vinegar has an acidic base that can corrode the polyurethane finish applied to the hardwood floor. Water, on the other hand, can create puddles that get in between the cracks in your floor boards and cause the wood floor to swell and discolor. Further, soap-based cleaners will leave a film on the floor and cause it to become cloudy and unattractive. Wax cleaners are abrasive and leave residue, and steam cleaners require moisture and humidity, which forces the wood to expand, which can lead to cupping and long-term damage.

Prevent scratches to the furniture.

Finally, you'll want to protect all furniture items on the floor with felt pad protectors. This is because items such as chair and table legs can leave permanent scratches on your floor's finish. Floor protector pads will prevent damage to the floor caused by sliding furniture. Without them you may start to notice small, hairline scratches in the finish.

A clean floor is a longer lasting floor. We recommend cleaning as often as possible, with cleaners that are non-toxic, GREENGUARD certified, with no dulling residue, such as Bona Cleaner. These types of products are safe for your family and the environment, and can keep your floors looking beautiful for a lifetime. We also suggest that you polish your hardwood every 2-3 months (depending on floor traffic) with a professional hardwood floor polish to keep the finish looking great. Sanding and refinishing should be done about every 3-5 years, again, depending on floor traffic.

Hardwood flooring with a polyurethane finish can be beautiful and extremely durable, but is not indestructible and still requires proper care to keep its beauty. So keep the information in this article handy, and we hope that it will help you be a little smarter about maintaining the health and beauty of your hardwood floors!