For many people, a hardwood floor is the ultimate home flooring option. It is generally more expensive than the alternatives but worth the extra investment.
However, if you have a hardwood floor it is essential to know how to look after it; you’ll want it to look as good 5 years after it has been laid as it did at the time of being laid.
Fortunately, it is surprisingly easy to look after French oak floors, and other hardwood floors, you just need to follow these 3 steps:
Remove Shoes
If you wear shoes in the house you need to stop. It only takes a tiny piece of gravel to be stuck in your shoe and you’ll end up with a big scratch across the floor. While it isn’t impossible to get rid of such a scratch, it can be difficult.
It is better and easier to simply get into the habit of removing your shoes when you enter the house. You’ll also need to make sure your guests do the same.
Dust Before Moping
This doesn’t mean actually getting on your hands and knees with a duster and wiping the floor. But, you should never try to mop before you given the floor a good clean. A microfiber duster on the end of your mop pole is a great way to attract all the dust and small pieces of debris.
You should aim to get everything into one area and then vacuum the area with a suitable soft brush on the vacuum. This will remove all the tiny pieces of debris that could get scraped along the floor by the mop.
You’ll then be free to mop the floor. However, your mop should only be damp, never wet, and you should minimize the amount of water coming into contact with your floor. Too much water can soak through the protective layer and cause stain marks or even warp the boards.
Deep Clean Twice A Year
It is worth deep cleaning your hardwood floor at least twice a year. The best way to do this is to sweep with the microfiber cloth and then wash it with one cup of white vinegar dropped into a gallon of water. This will remove the grease that builds up on the floor.
You can, if you wish, allow the floor to dry fully and then apply a coat of wax. However, this should only be done once a year.
The wax will restore the pristine shine off when the floor was first laid.
It is important to note that defects in the wood can be sanded out. However, this will remove the protective top coat and you’ll need t to reapply it. Of course, reapplying one area only will probably leave a different color coating in one area, although subtle you’ll notice it. For that reason you need to consider sanding very carefully; you may end up needing to sand and re-treat the entire floor.
