Home Improvement

How to Clean Hardwood Floors: A Quick Guide

March 17, 2022

Last Updated on November 22, 2022 by

Did you know that some hardwood floors, when taken care of, can last as long as 30 years without needing to be replaced? On the other hand, if you ignore your hardwood floors, they might not last as long. How to clean hardwood floors doesn’t have to be a difficult task.

All you need to know is a few hardwood floor cleaning tips and you will find that your floors will look as sleek as the day you bought them for many years to come. Keep reading to explore some of these tips.

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Don’t Forget to Sweep

You might be surprised at how many people forget to sweep their hardwood floors. You might think that out of all the hardwood floor cleaning advice you can find that sweeping the floor might be the least important, but this is not true at all. In fact, sweeping your floors is the foundation of keeping your floors clean.

You will find that if you sweep your floors regularly, you might not even need to deal with more heavy-duty forms of cleaning. Think about it: if you don’t sweep the floor at least a few times a week, a lot of dust, hair, and pieces of food will start to clutter the floor. If you leave all of that debris there, you will start to step on it as you walk through your house.

When this happens, you will start to push pieces of food and dust deeper into your floorboards. At a certain point, you will no longer be able to sweep up the debris because it has been squashed into the floor by your feet. Once that happens, you’ll have to give up the broom in favor of more serious cleaning options such as getting on your hands and knees to scrub the floor.

By sweeping your floor in the first place, you can avoid all this extra effort. You don’t necessarily have to sweep every day, but you should try to sweep at least a few times every week. This way, you will never have any buildup of crumbs, dirt, or other materials on your floors.

However, if you have children or pets, you may want to sweep more often since your floors will be more likely to get dirty. Using doormats and rugs can also lessen any dirtiness on your hardwood floors.

Use a Mop for Your Hardwood Floors

When it comes to cleaning hardwood floors, you can’t deny the efficiency of the mop. If you have neglected the broom for a little too long and if you notice that your floor is starting to look a little dull and grimy, it might be time to bring out the mop. You might think that mopping hardwood floors would ruin them, but this is not the case as long as you do it correctly.

Mopping can also be a great idea if your kids or pets have tracked in a lot of mud or water onto your floors. By using a dry mop, you can pick up a surprising amount of dirt and grime. If a dry mop doesn’t seem to be cutting it, you can try applying some wood polish to it and give it another try.

Preferably, you should not be using an old-fashioned mop for this but rather a microfiber mop. Microfiber materials are designed to pick up and lock in dust and other debris so you won’t be spreading all that gunk across your floors rather than picking it up. By picking up all the dirt off the floor with your mop and then giving the floor a good polish, your floor will be on its way to looking as good as new.

But at this point, your floor still might look a little dull and dirty despite all your efforts. If this is the case, it might be time to bring out the big guns: cleaning products and maybe even professional floor cleaning services.

How to Give Your Hardwood Floors a Deep Clean

If you haven’t given your floor a good clean in a while, it might be difficult to make it shine by sweeping it or mopping it. Even polishing your floor won’t do much if it is full of stubborn dirt and grime. For that reason, the best option to really make your floor clean is to use a cleaning product.

Many people like to make their own homemade floor cleaners rather than buy chemical cleaners at the store. Often, homemade floor cleaners are safer for your hardwood floors since chemical cleaners might be too harsh and damage the door. More often than not, homemade cleaners are made with warm water and vinegar.

While this mixture might not sound very helpful, you will find that the vinegar will be able to take out any old stains and dirt from your floors. You will need to use a mop or a rag to use with this homemade cleaner and go over the floor a few times with it. Soon, your floors will be as good as new.

If your floors are particularly stubborn, you may need to call professional cleaners such as jorgensenflooring.com. Professional cleaners have plenty of cleaning experience as well as the right tools for the job. More than that, they can give you back your free time since you won’t have to do the cleaning.