Cleaning and Maintenance Guide for Solid Wood and Engineered Floors
- Every floor must be dust mopped, vacuumed or swept with a soft bristle broom daily, or as often as necessary, to remove grit and dust from the surface. Walking on dusty or dirty floor is the fastest way to damage a finish.
- Place walk off mats at all exterior entrances. This will capture much of the harmful dirt before it even reaches the hardwood floor. Shake out, wash or vacuum mats and area rugs frequently.
- Floor protector pads of soft felt or similar material should be placed on the bottoms of the legs of the furniture. Floor protectors must be kept clean of grit and periodically replaced.
- Keep high heels in good repair. An unprotected tip will dent any hardwood floor.
- Direct sunlight may cause fading of your wooden floor, ensure that all doors and windows have UV filters, blinds or net curtains.
- Kitchen floors experience the most traffic in a home. To prevent premature wear of the floor, place an area rug in front of the sink and stove area, it is these two areas that take the most wear from all the scuffling while standing for long periods. Shake out or vacuum the rugs frequently.
- If using a heating or air-conditioning system, it is important to use a humidifier or dehumidifier in conjunction with the heating or air conditioning system to maintain relative humidity in the home at 40-50%. This will maintain the moisture in the wood and minimise cracks between the boards especially during dry winters.
- Do not wet a wood floor with water. When using any wood floor cleaner which requires mixing with water, follow mixing directions precisely. A cloth/mop wetted with water and squeezed dry may be used to wipe up foodstuffs and other spills, provided the area is buffed dry immediately. Heel or scuffmarks and stubborn stains may be removed by lightly rubbing with a cloth and a wood floor cleaner.
- Long-term maintenance: Urethane finishes will eventually show wear patterns from surface scratching. When high traffic areas begin to look dull, it is time to re-coat or restore the finish. Always follow the manufacturer’s recommendations. Re-coat or restore does not necessary mean a full sand down to the bare wood again. Regular cleaning with wooden floor cleaners will also help maintain the shine/sheen.
- If you have an oil finish then the philosophy with oil is that as long as the home/business owner sticks to a simple maintenance plan one would never have to sand and seal again and the floor will never show wear. This maintenance plan can be from daily in very high traffic areas like airports to annually. A domestic home would normally oil every 3 months for the first year and every 4 months for the second year and there after every 6 months. One can also do a small section that takes more wear like inside the entrance door as required. It is a simple system with very little effort. Once the floor has been cleaned and is dry, apply a very thin coat of flooring oil to the floor. This with an oil dipped and squeezed out mutton cloth, or mist spray and wiped with a mutton cloth, it is like cleaning but instead of a damp water cloth one uses a damp oiled cloth.
- Wood flooring is an tremendously long lasting flooring product. Practically, it can be installed in any room of your home that is above ground. There are numerous locations which are not suitable for wood flooring, for the reason that wood flooring is a natural flooring product which is not recommended to be installed in wet places such as bathrooms, washrooms, saunas, enclosed porches or verandas, or anywhere that may involve wet-mopping. Extended exposure to moisture of this kind might affect your wood flooring to warp, swell or crack. Please note that certain species of wood are softer than others. Therefore, you should consider using these harder species for higher traffic areas.
- Never wax a urethane floor. The majority of floors installed today have urethane finishes.
- Never use sheet vinyl or tile floor care products on wood floors. Self-polishing acrylic waxes cause wood to become slippery and appear dull quickly. The only remedy for this situation is to re-coat or sand and refinish the floor.
- Advanced finish technology and innovative products make wood one of the most beautiful and easy-care flooring materials today. SAWLFA offers these guidelines that will help preserve a beautiful finish and keep maintenance to a minimum.
- Consult with your installer if you are in any doubt about your floor finish.