If you enjoy the luxury of having a hardwood floor, then lucky for you, it's not hard to keep clean. When it comes to cleaning, there are two main categories of hardwood floors:
1. Waxed - This refers to Oil-Treated, Penetrating-Seal-Treated, Shellacked, Lacquered, Varnished or Untreated floors.
2. Surfaced Sealed - Many consider these floors easy to maintain. Due to their seal, they stand up well to stains and water though it's best to protect your floor from both.
There is a specific method of cleaning each type of wood flooring. Nevertheless, with a few easy guidelines, your hardwood floor will always shine and look gorgeous.
How to Tell The Difference
With some floors, you will know right off what type of finish the wood has because you had it installed yourself and have the manufacturer's instructions for care and maintenance. However, when you don't know, there is an easy way to tell. Run your finger across a clean, dry, dust and dirt-free area of the floor, and see if it leaves a smudge. If it does, then you have a waxed wood floor. If it doesn't, you have a floor that's just surface sealed.
Protecting Your Wood Floor
All hardwood floors need to be protected to ensure their longevity, quality and beauty. Don't walk in high heels or spiky shoes on your floor. Protect the floor from moisture and water. If it gets wet, then dry it immediately. Water stains can stay on a wood floor forever.
Sweeping Hardwood Floors
Sweep your hardwood floor often. You can also use a dust mop on your floor.
Try to keep rocks, sand and other abrasive debris off of your floor because they can scratch it. If they do come into contact with your floor, then sweep it up in small batches rather than trying to gather it all into one pile. This way, you avoid scratching your floor.
Mopping and Waxing
With waxed hardwood floors, you never want to mop them. Water and waxed floors don't really go well together. Strip and rewax your floors yearly or every six months depending on how much traffic they get.
After you wax your floor, you will need to buff it. You can do this manually or rent a floor buffing machine. If scuff marks from shoes get on the floor in between waxings, and you can't rub them off with a clean dry cloth, then you can get them off by rubbing the mark in a circular motion with a really fine steel wool pad that you've applied a bit of floor wax to.
For food stains, wipe the area with a damp cloth, dry it with a soft cloth, then wax and buff the area.
With a surface sealed floor, in addition to sweeping as described above, you can clean it according to manufacturer's directions with a commercial cleaner or the following.
In a bucket of mop water, place 1/4 cup of mild liquid detergent, such as regular dish soap, Murphy's Oil Soap or a similar product, and use this as your mop water. Wring the mop out completely once you immerse it in the bucket of water, and mop your floor moving the mop with the direction of the wood grain. Change the soapy water as many times as necessary if it starts to look dirty.
Rinse the mop out, and with a bucket of clean water go over the floor again also making sure that the mop is wrung out thoroughly. Finally, rinse the mop out, and go over the floor again also making sure the mop is completely wrung out. At this point, you can dry the floor if you want.
Long-term Maintenance of Non-waxed Floors
Even non-waxed floors usually have some kind of finish. One of their advantages over waxed floors is that they are not slippery, making them safer. You will need to sand non-waxed floors, and redo the finish with one or two coats every five to seven years. If your non-waxed floor gets scuff marks, then clean it with a sprinkle of baking soda and a damp sponge. For food, oil or water stains, use a commercial cleaner.
Never mop your hardwood floor with plain water or water and vinegar.
Water can damage wood flooring, so clean and dry up any spills immediately.
Use doormats and rugs on high traffic areas of your floor to protect it and to also minimize the amount of dirt that ends up on your floor by about 80%.
