Whether your home’s wood floors are solid or engineered hardwood or made of bamboo or maple, they add natural beauty and upscale appeal to your interiors. They can continue to look good for decades and even add value when you sell your property but only if you keep maintaining them properly.
Add Furniture Pads
Nothing can mar the smooth surface and attractive grain of wood flooring faster than scratches and gouges. These can be caused by careless use of furniture such as when the feet of dining room chairs scratch the surface as they’re pulled out for eating or when you slide a heavy sideboard from a wall so you can clean behind it. To prevent these potentially permanent blemishes, add pads made of felt or other material under the legs of your furniture. Dust or vacuum floors regularly to prevent stone, dirt, and other debris from leaving tiny marks on your floor.
Invest in a Humidifier
As an organic product, wood flooring requires moisture to retain its shape and look good. Keeping the temperature between 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit with a humidity level of 30 to 50 percent helps preserve the moisture in your floors. These levels are easy to reach in and around our area. But solar rays during a hot summer or home furnaces in the winter can easily evaporate moisture from a room, increasing the chances that your wooden planks will buckle, shrink, and gap. To prevent these problems, invest in a humidifier. You only need to use it to restore moisture in the air during heating season or when days become particularly hot and dry in the summer.
Watch Out for Pets
Wood floors are easier to keep clean when you have a pet because any dander and hair is easy to spot and sweep up, and pet accidents are not absorbed by carpet fibers. As long as you keep your furry friend comfortable and well-groomed, then your floors will look good. Trim its nails regularly so they don’t scratch the floor. Make sure to clean its feet before allowing it into your rooms from the outside. Wipe up any accidents as soon as they happen so they don’t have a chance to stain the floor.
Look Out for Shoes
Heels can gouge and scratch wooden floors, and any shoe can track in dirt, mud, and dust from the outside. Make sure that all entryways have a rug where visitors can wipe the soles of their footwear before they enter the home. Then ask everybody to remove their shoes before setting foot on your wood flooring. Providing a bench makes it more convenient for visitors to remove their footwear and adding a shoe shelf provides a place for storage.
A well-maintained wood floor can be the start of a clean, green and healthy lifestyle for your home. For more information on getting your home clean, please contact us at Chet’s Cleaning.