Hardwood floors have so many benefits for your home. They increase the value of your home, they look elegant and clean, and they don’t lock in allergens, dust, and dirt the way carpeting inevitably does regardless of how often you clean your carpets. What you probably may not know is how difficult it can be to keep hardwood floors clean and looking beautiful year after year. And if you want to read a great, detailed article on Houzz on caring for your hardwood floors click here.
Know Your Finish
Before deciding what you need to do to clean or refinish your hardwood floors, it’s important to know what kind of finish they have on top of the bare wood. This is actually the determining factor in how to clean it or determine if refinishing is in order, and not what kind of wood is installed.
How Do You Tell the Finish?
There are a couple of quick things you can do to get an idea what kind of finish your hardwood floors have if your don’t know. This is especially true if you just bought the house.
- If you run your hand over it and it feels grainy, you probably have a penetrating finish with wax
- If you drop a small drop of paint remover on a corner or place that is out of sight and the floor bubbles up, the finish is polyurethane
- If you do the same thing with water and it is absorbed, either the wood is unfinished or the layer of finish has been worn away
- If instead of absorbing the water white spots appear in 10 or 15 minutes, the floor is most likely waxed – be sure to lightly damp some fine steel wool and gently rub away the white spots
- If you take a coin and scrape that same unseen area of the floor and the finish flakes off, the floor has an older finish
Easy Preventative Solutions to Keep Your Floors Looking New
- Not wearing shoes is the best way to keep any hardwood floor cleaner
- Always avoid wearing things like heels and cleats on hardwood floors
- Don’t use cleaning products that were made for tile or vinyl floors
- Use a slightly damp mop with something like window cleaner on occasion for the quick touch up
- If deep cleaning is required, clean the floors with a cleaner meant for wood and the finish that is on top of the wood
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