How to Clean Hardwood Floors: A Complete Guide

Wood flooring is a solid investment in both your comfort and your home. It’s stylish and functional and complements any décor. When well taken care of, wood flooring can last many years. While wood flooring requires regular cleaning and maintenance to keep it looking its best, these are simple tasks that are worthwhile.

The first step in how to get your hardwood floors to shine is to familiarize yourself with your flooring. This means learning what type of flooring you have, what the finish is, and getting to know the best practices outlined in your Warranty, Installation, and Care guide.

 

Why Keep Your Wood Floors Clean?

It might seem obvious that floors need cleaning, but the why behind it differs based on the type of flooring. With hardwood floors, accumulated dust and dirt can damage the top layer or work their way into the grain.

Dust can also cause issues for those with allergies, asthma, and other respiratory conditions. Keeping your hardwood floor clean is important for both you and the floor’s longevity, which is true for many types of flooring.

 

The Details Matter

Not all wood flooring is the same. Some differ in their construction, while others have different seals or finishes. At LL Flooring, we offer solid, engineered, unfinished hardwood. Solid hardwood is made from a solid piece of wood, while engineered hardwood has a veneer of hardwood placed over a core made of plywood, SPC, MDF, or lumber core. Unfinished hardwood allows you to stain your floor onsite but has different cleaning requirements than finished floors.

The finish of a floor is of particular importance. Some flooring, such as our AquaSeal Collection and our Era Collection, have added defenses against moisture. This makes them water resistant when the regular wood flooring isn’t. Features like these affect how you care for your flooring, so it’s important to learn what makes your flooring unique.

 

Check Your User Manual

Make sure you check the Warranty, Installation, and Care (WIC) guide that came with your flooring. The WIC guide will list notable product features, product-specific details for maintenance and cleaning, and details about your warranty that often specify what cleaning products to use or avoid. Importantly, note that using the wrong products for your type of flooring can void the warranty.

 

How to Clean Hardwood Floors

Keeping your wood flooring clean is easy, but it’s possible to damage your flooring if you don’t do it right. Choosing the right tools and cleaning products is the most important part of cleaning your wood floors. Using the wrong ones can scratch your floor or damage the finish, leaving it susceptible to further wear.

The first step for cleaning is to remove dust and dirt by sweeping or vacuuming with a floor-safe vacuum. When sand, pet hair, leaves, and other dirt you track into your home accumulate on a wood floor, it can cause problems. Built-up dirt may scratch the finish and work its way into the floor’s grain.

 

What’s Safe to Use?

In general, the following tools are safe to use on wood flooring:

• Medium-bristled brooms.
• Soft-bristled brooms.
• Microfiber sweepers.
• Wood-safe vacuums.
• Dust mops.
• Combination sweeper-mops.
• Spray mops.

Many people wonder if you can vacuum hardwood floors, and the answer is that you can! But only if the vacuum meets certain requirements. One is that the vacuum has a soft rotating brush on the floorhead, a brush that can be lifted, or no rotating brush. You often see this brush on upright vacuum cleaners as it helps collect dirt off carpets, but it may have stiff nylon bristles that can scratch your flooring.

The next step is to use a floor cleaner and method best suited to your floor’s finish.

• Sealed hardwood: Sweep or dust regularly and use a dry mop. Dry the floor afterward with a microfiber cloth or sweeper.
• Unfinished hardwood: Sweep, dust, or vacuum regularly. Avoid liquids, as the unfinished surface will absorb moisture.
• Engineered hardwood: Sweep, vacuum, or dust regularly. You can also use a dry mop.

LL Flooring recommends Bellawood floor cleaner and the Bellawood floor care maintenance kit for a bright, crisp clean. Check the WIC guidelines that came with your flooring for more detailed information.

 

 

Another requirement is that if you have an upright vacuum, make sure the wheels won’t scratch your flooring. Some vacuums have rubber wheels that are safer on wood floors than plastic wheels. If your vacuum is safe for wood floors, it can be more effective at removing dirt and dust than sweeping alone.

 

What About Pets?

We love our pets but occasionally accidents happen. Cleaning the affected area should begin immediately upon discovery:

• Use absorbent paper tissue to collect as much of the deposited material as possible and properly dispose of it. Remove any existing residue with a suitable disinfecting cleaner.

• Repeat until all residue is removed. Buff dry. Clean, using Bellawood Floor Cleaner.

• The more time that elapses before removal, the more difficult a stain will be to remove.

• Keep pets’ nails trimmed.

 

What You Should Avoid

Because of all the options for cleaning products and tools on the market, it isn’t easy to stay on top of what’s safe to use and what’s not. The good news is that we can share that there are some cleaners and products that are best to avoid.

• String mops: These mops use a lot of water and aren’t particularly good at collecting dirt. What you end up with is pushing a wet mess around your floor.
• Steam cleaners: It’s best to avoid steam cleaners for most types of wood flooring. The heat and excess moisture from these tools can lead to long-term damage.
• Bleach: Depending on your type of flooring and its finish, bleach can cause mild to considerable damage. Bleach can break down the finish and lighten the stain on wood floors. Sometimes this happens slowly, other times quickly, but at some point, you’ll notice parts of your floor lightening and losing shine.
• Vinegar: Many DIY floor cleaners recommend using vinegar, but vinegar can damage the finish of your floor.
• Cleaning agents containing wax, oil, or polish: Leftover residue will form a dull film.
• Steel wool or scouring pads: They will scratch the floor.

 

When to Clean Your Floor

Don’t let all this talk of cleaning products and tools overwhelm you. Once you’ve picked what works best for your floor, setting a regular cleaning schedule will make it feel like a breeze.

Follow these steps for a regular cleaning schedule.

 

When It Happens

All spills and solids should be cleaned up as they are spilled. With knocked-over drinks, pet accidents, and the like, remove the dirt, wipe up the liquids, and spot clean with a damp cloth or mop. This includes substances that might scratch your floor, like large amounts of sand.

If you live in an area where it snows, melting snow and ice can be especially harmful to your floor’s finish. Clean winter residue that’s tracked into your house quickly to prevent it from affecting your finish.

The quicker you can clean a mess, the less chance there is of it damaging your floor.

 

Every Day

A quick sweep or regular dust mop removes daily dust and dirt.

For busy areas like kitchens and mudrooms, regular sweeping or dry mopping will keep your floor fresh and protected.

 

Every Week

A good vacuum once a week will help remove dirt and dust from the minute gaps between your boards and in the wood’s grain. The handheld attachment works well for getting into the corners and crevices of a room.

Weekly sweeping or dry mopping of the quieter areas of your home will help your floors shine.

 

Every Month

Use a recommended floor cleaner to thoroughly clean your floors at least once a month.

 

Professional Cleaning

Professional wood floor cleaning services are available to help you with your floors. Some people find this a useful service, while others feel it’s unnecessary. Deciding if professional wood floor cleaning is worth it depends on your needs.

 

The benefit of professional wood floor cleaning services is that they inspect your floor’s features to plan how they’ll clean your floor and the products they’ll use. This helps you get the most out of the cleaning, where they’ll remove debris, thoroughly clean difficult-to-reach places, and end with a protective finish.

 

Maintenance Tips

There’s more to caring for your floor than cleaning, and that’s a good thing! Follow the simple tips below to help boost your floor’s longevity and keep it shining for years.

• Keep track of which parts of your floor get a lot of sunlight. Sunlight can change the patina of your wood, which means it might look an unusual color to the rest of your floor.
• Close your blinds or use sheer curtains to help cut down on sun exposure.
• Go with the grain when mopping for the best results.
• Use felt floor protectors and chair leg floor protectors for furniture to help cut down on dents, scrapes, and scuffs.
• Avoid wearing cleats or high heels indoors, which can leave dings and scratches.
• Keep your pets’ nails trimmed to avoid scratches and scuffs.
• Maintain a comfortable temperature in your home and avoid high humidity.

You now have the nitty-gritty on when, why, and how to clean hardwood floors. Follow this complete cleaning and maintenance guide for both solid and engineered hardwood, and you’ll be on your way to enjoying many years of beautiful flooring.