When it comes to flooring, nothing beats the exceptional appearance of shiny, well-kept timber flooring. The all-natural look and feel provide a touch of elegance to any room. It’s at its peak immediately following polishing or restoration, but what’s the secret to maintaining a timber floor to preserve the beauty for longer?
To maintain your newly polished timber floors, you must establish a regular cleaning routine that involves sweeping and using the appropriate cleaners, effective but not harsh enough to strip the varnish and protective coatings. Consider adding rugs in high-traffic areas and keeping all pets’ claws trimmed. Additionally, any spills will need to be cleaned up as soon as possible to prevent any lasting deterioration from moisture penetrating into the timber itself.
In this article, we’ll cover all the best-restored timber flooring care tips to ensure you know how to properly maintain that gorgeous lustre. Read on for everything you need to know about keeping your polished timber floors shining. These tips will hopefully help you reduce the cost of restoring timber flooring, as you will need to do it much less often if your floorboards are well cared for.
Sweeping or Vacuuming?
One of the best things you can do for your newly polished timber floors is frequently swept with a soft bristle broom. Tracked in dirt and debris can cause superficial damage and deterioration to the top coating as you and your guests walk across the floor.
If you hear crunching when you walk across your floor, it’s time for a good sweep. This is the sound of the dirt and debris being ground under your feet. Unfortunately, this causes more problems than just making a mess–it can even damage your beautiful floors by light scratches and dents that wear away at the varnish faster.
To prevent this from happening, you’ll need to establish a regular sweeping routine to remove as much dirt and debris as possible. In addition, consider adding rugs in high-traffic areas to prevent scuffing and other types of damage to your polished timber floors.
Additionally, you can add mats at the entrance to your home to help reduce the amount of dirt tracked in. Another excellent idea is asking everyone to take their shoes off as soon as they enter your home.
Regardless of how you set up your mats or if you implement a no-shoe policy, you’ll need to perform regular sweeping. We do not recommend vacuuming unless you have a soft brush head on your machine, as the standard cleaning heads and bristles may scratch your floors.
An effective, gentle mop
We recommend you establish a weekly cleaning routine for all your timber floors unless they’re in a very high-traffic area. In those situations, you may need to clean more frequently to preserve the shine, for example if you have a commercial property with timber flooring, your maintenance requirements will be slightly different.
When cleaning, you must wring your mop out as much as possible or, ideally, use a dry mop. You should never douse your wood floors with water. Then, as you mop, follow the grain of the timber for the best results. Doing this will allow you to remove as much dirt as possible that sweeping alone could not eliminate.
The cleaning solution you choose is critical–you don’t want anything harsh on the floors. Never add anything like bleach or ammonia, which can strip the floor of its beautiful shine. You should choose a solution specifically manufactured for maintaining a timber floor or use a small amount of gentle soap in your mop water.
When cleaning your timber floors, you’ll want the best type of mop for hardwood flooring. Having the right tools available will make the process much easier and keep your floors looking mighty fine.
Tips to Avoid Fine Scratches
One of the most common causes of fine scratches to timber flooring is the claws of pets. Similarly, if you wear high-heeled shoes, the heels can cause scratches and dents. To prevent these preventable scratches, you’ll need to keep your pets’ claws trimmed and avoid wearing your heels in areas with no mats or rugs.
In addition, all furniture placed on your timber floors will need protective felt pads over the feet or legs. This will protect against scratches when you move or use it.
Over time, as the small dents and scratches multiply, you’ll need to have your timber floor refinished. By following these restored timber flooring care tips, you can avoid these blemishes, keeping your floor looking new longer. Not only are the scratches aesthetic issues, they are also damaging the protective coating of the varnish, meaning that over time, but your timber floorboards are also vulnerable to deeper damage.
Follow All Curing Guidelines
After your timber flooring has been polished and coated, you must ensure you follow all curing guidelines for the best results. This includes only walking on the floor with your socks on for the first three days after application. Additionally, during this period, you cannot replace your furniture.
You should not wash your timber flooring until it is entirely dried and cured. This process can take up to 28 days. After this period ends, you can clean and place coverings safely on your floor with no risk of damage to the coating.
Final Thoughts
When you have floor sanding and polishing completed on your timber floors, you need to follow up with a maintenance routine that will keep them looking great. With these restored timber flooring care tips, you’ll be well on your way to having long-lasting, gorgeous floors. Establishing a routine early will help you enjoy your newly polished timber flooring for much longer.
