Home decor doesn’t have to be in your wheelhouse for you to realize the charm and decadence that wood floors bring to any living space.
However, to retain its look, homeowners may need to clean it from time to time.
This article dives into some remarkable wood floor cleaning hacks to keep an area spick and span.
Sweep Your Hardwood Floors With a Soft Broom
This isn’t really a hack but rather a thing you’re supposed to occasionally do. This helps ensure that your hardwood floors remain dust-free and clean at all times.
Look for a broom that’s specifically designed for wooden floors. If you can’t find an ideal one, don’t worry. Choose one with softer bristles that are going to be considerate towards your floors.
Remember, the key is to refrain from scratching the wood floors, as this imperfection could drive your guests’ eyes away from the rest of the room.
Mop Your Wooden Floors With Appropriate Mops
The next thing you’re supposed to take notice of is the shine of your floors. To maintain its glint and clean up any spills, it’s important to use good quality mops that won’t harm your floor.
Go ahead and pick mops made of wool as these can gently glide across your floors without scratching it. You could even buy a few soft and absorbent microfiber mops instead.
To start mopping, spray your floor with a fine mist of water or a hardwood floor cleaner that doesn’t have any harsh chemicals that could erode or eat away at the wood.
You can also make your own cleaning solution if you wish. Just mix some warm water with a drop of dish soap and white vinegar inside a spray bottle.
Deep Cleaning Your Floors With a Vacuum Cleaner
Sometimes, sweeping doesn’t suffice to get every single speck of dust in the hard-to-reach corners of your floors. They could use a bit of deep cleaning. In this instance, vacuuming the floor is the best way to clean it up once and for all.
Make sure to reach every nook and cranny in your home, including the corners where your floors meet the walls. Don’t forget to look under the rugs and behind the furniture to get as much of the dirt as possible.
Use Microfiber Cloths to Clean Up Spills Immediately
Unless you’ve covered every inch of your hardwood floors with rugs and carpets, it’s absolutely inevitable for them to get wet. If you happen to drop any liquid on your floors, make sure to clean it up as soon as possible with a microfiber cloth.
Do NOT use popular cleaning agents like vinegar and baking soda, as they could dull and damage the polyurethane in the wood. Counterintuitively, they could form a much larger stain that’s even more difficult to get rid of.
It’s imperative to note that using a regular vacuum cleaner over a wet surface could be a risky thing to do too. It could enter the motor, causing it to short-circuit and conk out.
Instead, you should invest in a wet-dry vacuum, a.k.a. shop vacs, to absorb the moisture and store it in a tank.
Place Sponges Under Table Legs to Prevent Scuffs and Scratches
Placing pieces of furniture on a wooden floor could open the door to a plethora of issues like scratching and scuff marks. To protect your floors from getting damaged, allowing your table to stand on soft items like sponges would be a great idea.
This can also help you prevent the accumulation of grime between your wooden floor tiles and panels which can be a nightmare to clean. Make sure to cut a piece of the sponge that’s perfectly-sized for the bases of your furniture legs.
Clean Your Hardwood Floors With Black Tea
Another useful hack than many people are oblivious about is also the simplest. And it pertains to a simple household ingredient that’s probably kept in your pantry.
Black tea contains tanic acid that works exceptionally well when cleaning hardwood floors and adding a subtle shine to it.
Simply boil a potful of water and, once it’s done, add in 5-6 tea bags. Allow it to steep for around 10 minutes, and let it cool down by patiently waiting or using ice cubs to accelerate the process. Pour it into your mop bucket and start scrupulously mopping your floor.
Fix Dents With This Iron and Wet Cloth Hack
Sometimes, moving furniture can be quite an ordeal, especially if it causes dents on your wood floor.
To fix this, wet a dent and place a wet cloth or paper towel on top of it. Then, fold it up until it becomes padded. Finally, place a hot iron on top and leave it for three to five minutes, occasionally moving the iron in circular motions.
This causes your dent to rise and fix itself, which saves you the headache of having to replace the panel with a new one.
Use Shaving Cream to Clean Your Floors
Yes, you heard that correctly. Shaving cream, a cosmetic product, can be used to remove those sticky stains that form when excess oil is left unmopped on wooden floors.
Using it is pretty self-explanatory as well. Simply spray some over the mucky area and spread it out evenly. Then, proceed to grab a soft, absorbent cloth like an old cotton shirt and start rubbing the foam into the wood. Soon, your floor will be as good as new!
These Floor Cleaning Tips and Tricks Will Elevate Your Living Experience
It’s finally time to wrap up this guide to maintaining and cleaning hardwood floors the right way. I hope you’ve learned everything there is to know about wooden floor cleaning, the things you must avoid doing, and those you should certainly do to ensure its integrity and longevity.
Make sure to take heed of these helpful tips and you’ll be well on your way to creating a much cleaner and tidier home space.
