How To Protect Your Hardwood Flooring

Hardwood flooring is a stylish investment that homeowners in Ontario and even the rest of the world adore. They add warmth to your home, and they make your home that much more inviting to guests. Hardwood flooring can be used in almost any room of your home and can adhere to different types of designs, like modern, contemporary and traditional.

Like most things, hardwood flooring requires some level of maintenance if you want your floors to always look incredible. To get the most of your new hardwood flooring, it’s important that you take the necessary steps to keep your floors in top condition.

Check dirt at the door

In many cultures, it is common for people to remove their shoes as soon as they enter their home or someone else’s home. When it comes to maintaining hardwood flooring, it’s a great idea to remove your shoes because it prevents dirt and grit from scratching your flooring. You can also keep a mat at every entrance so that you can avoid water from wet shoes causing any damage.

Say no to heels

Avoid wearing high heels and cleats in your home. These types of footwear can cause serious and sometimes irreparable damage to the wood. It doesn’t take long for dents and scratches to make your floors look unattractive.

Use felt pads

You are bound to move your furniture around from time to time. Even if you don’t plan on moving a particular sofa or cabinet anytime soon, you may want to perform a thorough cleaning of your home, and this requires your furniture to be moved. Dragging heavy furniture across wood floors will result in scratches if you don’t attach felt pads on the underside of the furniture. You should add felt pads to all of your furniture. These pads can last for several years, but make sure that you inspect them regularly and replace them once they get too thin.

Trim pet nails

Dogs with long nails can scratch hardwood flooring, especially when they run through your home at full speed. You can help prevent this type of damage by clipping their nails regularly.

Regular cleaning

If your floors are coated, even lightly, with dirt, it can easily result in scratches. While sweeping might sound acceptable, it’s far more effective to vacuum these floors. Your vacuum cleaner will remove even the finer pieces of dirt and dust. Once you have vacuumed the floor, you can follow up by mopping. For this type of floor, it’s important to use minimal water. A moist microfibre pad is soft and does not drench your floors like a conventional mop.

Quickly clean up spills

Spills happen from time to time, and there’s not much you can do to prevent them. If you want to prevent the spilled substance from causing the wood to warp, you need to wipe it up right away. Once the spill is wiped up, you will need to lightly wash the surface so that it is not sticky.

Use the appropriate cleaning solutions

As important as it is to use soft cleaning pads, you also need to use the right cleaning solutions. Harsh chemicals will damage the wood. Cleaning solutions should also be used according to the instructions. If they are not mixed properly, you can do more harm than good.

Renew the finish

From time to time, you may need to renew the finish of your hardwood flooring. This can be quite a process but the results are certainly worth it. You may want to have a professional perform the job since it can be quite labour intensive.

At Flooring Liquidators, we are proud to provide residents throughout Southern Ontario with a wide selection of high-quality hardwood flooring. We have locations in Toronto, London, Hamilton, Ottawa, and beyond, so you don’t have to travel far to take advantage of our exceptional products and services. Use our store locator to find a showroom near you or contact us directly at 1 (866) 473-7222.