The day you had your new hardwood flooring installed was probably one that you remember fondly. It instantly transformed the space and gave it this classy, elegant feeling. To this day, you love to show it off to friends and family whenever you get the chance to.
If you want to keep enjoying your hardwood floor for many years to come, however, it’s imperative that you follow best practices when cleaning it. Many people unintentionally shorten the lifespan of a hardwood floor through poor floor cleaning practices. To ensure this doesn’t happen to you, we’re going to discuss some of the more common mistakes that we see in homes throughout the Denver metro area.
Cleaning Mistakes that Will Ruin Your Hardwood Floors
Hardwood floors aren't cheap and for that reason, you want to do everything you can to make sure they last as long as possible. Avoiding the following mistakes will go a long way to achieving that goal.
Not Dry Cleaning Your Hardwood Floor First
When people think of cleaning hardwood floors, they tend to only think of wet cleaning (i.e. cleaning techniques that involve water and cleaning solutions). But it’s actually very important to regularly dry clean these surfaces – this should form the foundations of your cleaning program.
Taking a brush and thoroughly sweeping all parts of the floor will remove dirt, dust and grit that can be extremely damaging to a hardwood floor, causing scratches and accelerating wear and tear.
Applying Too Much Water to Hardwood Floors
This is one of the most common errors we personally see in the properties that we work at, and it can do some serious damage. When you apply too much water to a hardwood floor, it can work its way into the joints where the individual planks connect, and once the moisture has gotten in, there’s no getting it out.
This can lead to lots of problems, such as causing the wood to swell and warp, promoting the growth of mold (and that can really make the room smell over time), as well as causing the wood to potentially rot.
Just remember this when mopping and cleaning hardwood floors – a little bit of water goes a long way.
Using the Wrong Attachment on Your Vacuum Cleaner
If you prefer to vacuum your hardwood floors rather than brush them, you need to be careful with the exact attachment that you use. Most modern vacuum cleaners come with several, and you’d be wise to avoid using any that have a rotating brush or beater bar on them, as when in action, they can damage softer hardwood floors, causing scratching and scuffing of the surface.
Instead, use an attachment that has soft bristles and offers very little resistance against the surface. This will allow you to clean up dirt and dust without causing any damage.
Using Harsh Cleaning Solutions Not Designed for Wood Floors
If your approach to cleaning hardwood floors involves digging around in your cleaning cupboard, pulling out the first cleaning solution you come across and thinking “this’ll do” you could be in for a nasty surprise.
Hardwood floors are sensitive to chemical damage, and using a cleaning solution packed full of harsh chemicals can result in the floor’s protective coating being stripped away, leaving the floor far more exposed to further damage. Bleach is a good example of a solution that should not be used on hardwood floors.
And you can’t trust every solution sold at your local store that has a big “Safe for Hardwood Floors” label plastered across it either. I’ve known many of these solutions to end up causing damage too. Your best bet is to contact the manufacturer of the floor you had installed if at all possible, and ask for their advice on cleaning solutions that are safe to use.
We recommend staying away from oil-based cleaning products and vinegar too!
Not Using Furniture Pads
This is not related to the cleaning part of cleaning hardwood floors per-se, but rather the preparation. It’s worth mentioning that after decades as floor cleaning professionals, we’ve seen countless people do damage to their hardwood floors through this very mistake.
If you have heavy furniture that needs to be moved in order to clean your hardwood floors properly, you must, must, must make use of furniture pads. These soft pads are applied to the bottom of the furniture, which helps to ensure no scuffing or scratching is done to the floor when the furniture is being moved. It's a very simple product, which can save you some BIG headaches.
Using an Unsuitable or Dirty Mop
Most people think that all mops are made the same. But they’re not. Some are suitable for cleaning hardwood floors, but others will actually do damage to a hardwood floor when used on them, so be sure to check this recommendation when buying a mop.
One other very common mistake we see is people not properly cleaning a mop before using it on a hardwood floor. If the mop is dirty and contains even just a small amount of grit, after passing the mop over the floor, you’ll likely notice lots of small scratches right across the surface. Not a good look!
Call Steve’s for Professional Hardwood Floor Cleaning
Steve’s Carpet Care & Restoration has been in operation for over 45 years. If you’re located in Boulder or nearby communities and would like top-rated professionals to handle your hardwood floor cleaning for you, give us a call.
Visit our website's hard surface cleaning page to learn more about our cleaning services and state-of-the-art technology.