It goes without saying that hardwood floors make your house look like it has just stepped out from the insides of an interior magazine. As much as they look aesthetically pleasing hardwood floors can be difficult to clean. If you do not have a proper cleaning routine that you follow consistently, hardwood floors can be hard to maintain.
Follow the simple steps to come up with your very own, super easy to follow hardwood floor cleaning routine:
Take Instant Action:
It goes without saying that the sooner you tend to a mess made, the higher the chances of completely sorting out that mess. Furthermore, the sooner you clean it up, the less time the damage has to expand. Quick action becomes even more necessary when you are dealing with hardwood floors because since they are primarily made of wood, especially if the floor has something liquid spilled on it.
Everyone knows that liquid has warp tendencies so if you let the spill sit on the hardwood floor for an extended period of time it will surely damage the floor. Now the question arises what to use to clean the spill up with. The answer is to use a soft cloth (any kitchen towel) to quickly clean up the spill.
So the first step of your hardwood floor cleaning routine is to keep an eye out on any spills that may happen and tend to them as soon as possible.
Sweep/Vacuum Regularly:
In order to keep your hardwood floors clean, use a soft bristled broom to sweep away any debris that may have found its way on the floor. Alternatively you can just vacuum the hardwood floor as well. However, if you are vacuuming, make sure that you have the soft brush attachment on so that your vacuum does not end up leaving scratches and marks on the floor.
Sweeping or vacuuming should be done on every alternate day basis in order to make your house look clean. Most people tend to jazz their hardwood floors up by putting rugs and carpet pieces on it. If you have such pieces lying about on your hardwood floor as well, do not forget to vacuum them as well.
The Cleaning Products:
It is important that you pay attention to the kind of chemicals and cleaners that you will be using to clean your hardwood floors with. There are too many floor cleaning products that promise you great results, but since they carry so many chemicals in them, they end up doing a lot more damage to your floors than good. For example, did you know that too many people use soap based cleaners to mop and scrub their floors with which leave behind a leftover film over the surface. The film makes your floor look cloudy rather than shiny.
You need to pick up those cleaners and sprays that are hardwood friendly. Additionally be wary of the cleaning tips that you may come across online. They do work, but again since you have hardwood floors it is important to figure out if that particular tip is going to work for hardwood floors or not. For example, many cleaning blogs tell people to use vinegar to clean their floors with not stating the fact that vinegar can actually corrode the hardwood floor finishing.
Buff and Wax:
Buffing and waxing the hardwood floors should also be a part of your hardwood floor cleaning routine. However, this process not only requires a lot of time and effort, but you also need some knowledge how to go about it. It may be that the particular type of hardwood floor that you have in your house needs to be buffed and waxed in some particular way. In that case, get in touch with the company who did your hardwood flooring and ask them for details about how to best clean it.
Or alternatively you can ask a professional cleaning service to do the job for you! Several good companies offering professional cleaning services can do a much better job at cleaning your hardwood floors for you…especially if they have too many marks, scratches, faded spots and patches on them. NYC Steam Cleaning is one such professional cleaning service providers that offer hardwood floor cleaning services in extremely affordable rates.
While you may buff and wax your floors at home, as a part of your hardwood floor cleaning routine, it is a good idea to have your hardwood floors cleaned professionally every once in awhile. This way you can ensure that all the products and techniques used to clean your hardwood floors are going to be hardwood friendly and will do zero damage while bringing you 100% results.
