Tops Cleaning Tips: Care For Wooden Floors

"When it comes to choosing flooring for our homes, few choices beat natural materials, especially natural wood. The warm feel underfoot, the texture, the choices of colour as well as the durability makes natural wood a great choice. However, it does need a little care. Nothing silly, don’t worry, but rather regular maintenance and a few precautionary steps. So, here some tips of how to care for your floor to keep it in the best possible shape."

Precaution is always better than trying to remedy any damage and you can take steps to protect your floor right at the entrance by having a mat in place to wipe your shoes on. All the small bits of dirt, stones and grit we carry in from the outdoors will over time scratch and dull the floor, so it’s wise to eliminate as much as possible of it.

Whilst I’m on the subject of shoes/walking, here’s one that might not always make you the most popular with your guests, but will keep your floor intact: banishing all high heels. Hard heels, just like any other hard and pointy object will seriously damage your floor to an extent that might not be repairable. Wearing flats with “soft” soles is the best option (apart from maybe socks, but that can easily get slippery) to keep the surface of your floor unharmed.

Water stains can be a real problem and damage your floor to the extent that your only choice might be to sand it back. It’s a familiar problem for plant lovers everywhere. So, if you do have plants, make sure you place each and every one of them on a plate, saucer, dish or anything that will catch any water.

Spillages do happen and can quickly be wiped away with a soft cloth. Worse than some spillages though are the things that aren’t immediately obvious. Things like hairspray or furniture polish can leave a dulling film over time (not to mention how dangerously slippery furniture polish can make your floor!) and the chemicals will eventually damage the surface. So, a soft cloth to wipe any spillages straight away is the easiest way to take care of this problem.

Dust is something else that can over time dull your floor. Vacuuming your floor once a week will keep it dust free and therefore shiny.

I know many people will say that you shouldn’t wash a wood floor, but personally I disagree. In order to have a really clean floor, I believe it does occasionally need washing. However, this doesn’t mean using a soaked mop! Using a damp floor cloth along with a specialist wood floor cleaner (preferably one with a few chemicals as possible) will ensure that your floor isn’t only clean, but also cared for.

I hope these tips are useful and will help you keep your floor in top condition.

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