Hardwood is obtained from a variety of angiosperms like walnut, oak, cypress, hickory and chestnut etc. Wood obtained from these trees is used for manufacturing furniture, wagons and floorboards. Being durable, resilient and resistant in nature, hardwood floor is not only expensive but calls for careful cleaning and regular maintenance.

Use of proper instruments and techniques for regular cleaning will prevent extra costs of repair in the future. Therefore, make sure that you follow precise instructions. Check out next couple of paragraphs to learn how to easily clean wood floors.

Quick Tips For Routine Cleaning

  1. Before starting with the main cleaning process, you need to classify hardwood floors on the basis of their furnishing. Determine whether your floor is natural, waxed, un-waxed, finished or chemically treated. Once you’re familiar with this piece of info, you can easily clean the floors, without causing any damages its surface. Test your floor quality by dropping a small quantity of water at an inconspicuous spot on your floor. Natural floorboards soak water, turn darker and reveal water spots on its surface while waxed or finished floors display beads of water running on the surface. In order to differentiate between the two, scrape the surface using paper clip, pin or your fingernail. Waxed floors release clear material upon scraping whereas finished floors don’t.
  2. Now that you’re familiar with the floor type, you should proceed with cleaning. Normal cleaning includes processes like sweeping, vacuuming, mopping and polishing.
  3. Sweeping: It is done to remove loose particles, solid items, dust and grit from the floors. You should use a simple, fine-bristle broom and dust pans for this purpose.
  4. Vacuuming: In order to remove minute germs, pet hair and tiny particles settled in between the floorboards, you need a powerful vacuum that can suck out fine particles from tricky corners, nicks and ridges. Search for the best vacuum machines in the market and use them as per manufacturer’s instructions.
  5. Mopping: Wood is susceptible to rotting under high moisture content therefore, you should be careful while mopping hardwood floors. Commercial cleaners contain chemicals that can abrade the wooden surface. Hence, you can prepare a homemade cleaning solution using organic items.
Dry Mopping

Use a mopping tool that comes with fine brush or soft scrubber to acquire a sparkling and tidy effect. You can use commercial mops like Swiffer that come with disposable cleaning pads.

Wet Mopping

Pour 1 tablespoon of white vinegar in 1 qt. hot water and stir well. Soak a soft wash towel in this liquid and wring extra water. Squeeze the cloth well until it turns a little dry. Now, start mopping from one corner of the run and wipe the floor in a single direction.

Additional Instructions

You can use special ingredients for cleaning specific floor types. Use cleaners like “Squirt + Mop” or “Murphy’s Oil” for wiping finished floors. Contrary to this, waxed floors shouldn’t be cleaned using chemicals. You should use fine steel wool for cleaning it. Thereafter, re-wax the floors using a good quality wax or polish to maintain its natural luster.

In case you’re still confused about cleaning your hardwood floors, you shouldn’t hesitate to hire professional cleaning agencies. Check out video tutorials or seek advice from the experts if you wish to take up floor cleaning as your weekend DIY project. You can also visit sites like http://www.homestadna.com/ for more great guides on how to clean and maintain your wood floor.