How to Clean Hardwood Floors (Shared Article)

Love good-looking floors and want to refresh yourself on the best way to clean hardwood floors? Trust the Bona floor care experts to help you care for wood floors.

Learning the best way to clean hardwood floors is essential for protecting and maintaining your beautiful investment. Since dirt and grime can’t hide on hardwood floors like they can on carpet, cleaning your floors may seem “high maintenance.” However, once you establish your own routine, the best way to clean wood floors won’t seem so difficult.

Photo by Neven Krcmarek on Unsplash

Daily Schedule – Dust/Sweep

Giving your floors a good dusting with a microfiber mop or cloth will be your best daily defense against scratches and surface damage. Microfiber cleaning pads often use static electricity to trap dirt, particles, and other household allergens. Using a broom is okay, but it only pushes the dirt around. When you want to best clean hardwood floors without damaging them, avoid lifting your microfiber mop up off the floor when you clean—this way you keep the dirt trapped on the pad.

Weekly Schedule – Vacuum/Mop

Weekly maintenance will deal with hard to reach areas. Vacuums and wet mops are ideal for getting dirt out of trouble areas like corners and the spaces between hardwood. However, using vacuums and mops come with extra caution. If your vacuum has a beater bar, make sure it doesn’t hit the floor. Also, the wheels on a vacuum might damage the floor. If you’re using a mop, remember that water and wood don’t mix! Avoid excess liquid on your floor. Lightly misting your floor with a natural hardwood floor cleaner is the best way to clean hardwood floors.

Monthly Schedule - Polish

Adding a polish routine is another best practice for cleaning wood floors. Polishing floors renews and refreshes the finish that protects hardwood. Polishing your hardwood floor fills in microscopic scratches and evens out a floor’s protective surface. Polishing hardwood floors is an easy way to add life, beauty and extra protection to your floors. Depending on the amount of traffic in your home, we recommend polishing the floors every 2-3 months with our Bona Hardwood Floor Polish.

Yearly Schedule - Sand and Finish

Consider refinishing your floors every 3-5 years. Refinishing your floors removes the old protective finish and replaces it. If your floor has some deep scratches or gouges, sanding and refinishing can repair this damage, leaving you with immaculately clean hardwood flooring.

This article is a repost. Link to the original article.