Cleaning Wood Floors: Best Practices

Wood floors are highly in vogue these days, and this is due in the large part to their shine and their attractive, classy look. The looks, however, don't just happen to be there. You owe it to the material as much as to cleaning wood floors with the right stuff using the right methods.

A wood floor is no mean investment. Proper maintenance is needed to save the surface finish from the ravages of moisture and scratches. While cleaning wood floors, the first thing to remember is the most obvious – it's the fact that the material is, after all, wood, and neither granite nor marble. Using the appropriate material and gear in cleaning wood floors is the key to their preservation and persistent looks.

The caring touch of a loving owner is absolutely indispensable in cleaning wood floors. Careful owners shall soon find that cleaning wood floors must be supported by preventive protection. They'll often find ways of preventing or slowing the tarnish, through the intelligent placing of doormats and rugs to protect the floor from sand and other corrosive dirt in the high traffic areas of the house. They will keep their shoe heels in good shape and their pets’ nails trimmed.

Cleaning wood floors is a definite skill. One needs correct advice from professionals in cleaning wood floors. First and foremost is obeying the maintenance advice of the manufacturer. Since wood is NOT resistant to the everyday dirts, spillages of food and water etc., you need to pay separate attention to each kind of tarnishing when cleaning wood floors. This is particularly true after major events involving high volumes of traffic. All spills and dirt tracks must be cleaned immediately to prevent permanent harm. Cleaning wood floors of stubborn stains is best done using the proper solution recommended by the manufacturer, using a soft dampened cloth.

Most manufacturers recommend low-speed rubbing with proper cleaning products and soft pads while cleaning wood floors of most types (mostly acrylic impregnated, non-urethane varieties). It is important to stick closely to the manufacturer's instructions for cleaning wood floors, and to use the specific products they suggest. Beware that using contra-indicated products can void your warranty. In case there are no instructions, use standard hardwood cleaners from reputed companies for cleaning wood floors. Using oils, soaps or waxes for cleaning wood floors is risky because most companies prohibit these.

For more information about wood floors or related products, choose from one of the following links:

Hardwood Flooring | Bamboo Flooring | Wood Flooring