Elegant, formal, and detailed, hardwood flooring is a beautiful feature that adds value and interest to any home. However, installing hardwood comes with a significant financial investment, and that means that you should do your best to protect said investment. Do so and you'll be rewarded with a richly detailed and refined feature that will continue to warm up your home.
One of the best ways to protect this investment is to keep the surface clean, especially prefinished hardwood. However, you need to know what you're doing. It would be terrible to buy hardwood flooring and then accidentally damage it when you attempt to keep it clean. You might find yourself paying for extensive hardwood floor repair in no time.
Here's a simple guide to cleaning prefinished hardwood flooring, protecting it and maintaining it while also avoiding some seriously costly mistakes.
Learning about the specifics of your hardwood floor can help you care for it appropriately. If you have a prefinished floor, then your floor was "finished" with a hardy and protective chemical known as a finishing solution. These chemicals make your floor look more colorful and glossy, and protect them from dents, scratches, and stains. Prefinished flooring ensures maximum protection by allowing the finishing solution to "bake" onto every piece of hardwood before its installation and eventual use.
Don't fall for the myth that the more expensive a cleaning product is, the more effective it must be. Professional hardwood floor restoring companies often use very simple and affordable cleaners. Some cleaning products should actually be avoided if at all possible.
Use only water-based floor cleaners, but only if the floor has been finished with at least three treatment layers. If you're unsure how many times your floor has been finished, contact a hardwood flooring and installation company to get their advice. A simple inspection will be affordable and can help prolong your hardwood floor.
Don't use oil-based cleaners as they can leave permanent, unappealing residue on your floor. Wax oil cleaners are sometimes useful, but don't use them unless a professional specifically recommends one.
Dust and sweep your hardwood flooring at least once a week. You can use a light vacuum cleaner or just a soft, fabric broom. Clean up spills as soon as they occur, especially liquids. Water is hardwood's enemy as it can get underneath the flooring and cause it to buckle, so you need to keep them dry.
Stains may happen, but they don't have to be permanent. At the first sign of what looks like a stain, wipe the area with a dry cloth. You can use a damp cloth if that doesn't work, then buff it dry. Remember that damp doesn't mean wet. The cloth should be moistened but shouldn't be dripping water.
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Scratches can seem like a nightmare, but you can try to treat them. There are store-bought filling solutions, but your best solution lies in a professional hardwood cleaning and restorations company. Vintage Flooring Company offers repair for prefinished hardwood flooring in Chicago, as well as general cleaning and maintenance. Visit ChicagoWoodFlooringCompany.com today to learn more.