Hardwood Floor Maintenance
A few tips on how to keep your floor looking its best for a longest time
Do's
Protect
Always use soft pads and sleeves where furniture touches the floor.
Always use sliders when moving furniture
Clean
Turn your chairs upside down and brush off any present debris on pads
Vacuum entire floor
Mop the floor using microfiber pads with neutral cleaner that doesn't leave any residue behind
Deep Clean
Over time even using neutral cleaners the floor will accumulate some residue, specially that affects hand scraped/wire brushed floors. Cleaning pads are flat and don't get into grooves and grains to properly clean it.
At least once a year we recommend using professional floor maintenance company like ours to deep clean the floor using power scrubbing machines with soft brushes and special neutralizing deep cleaning chemical solutions.
Recoat
Any floor finish will eventually start to wear off. Once you notice the finish starts to get dull and lose it's sheen (pay attention to high traffic areas like kitchen, den and where the chairs are), this would be a good time to get the floors recoated with fresh layers of durable floor finish. Typically good floor finish lasts 5-7 years but that highly depends on the traffic it gets.
Don'ts
Wax/Polish
Never use any of the products that leave acrylic residue, additional shine or so called protection. We get so many jobs removing those products to know how much aggravation they bring to customers, and usually wax removal jobs are more difficult and more costly then refinishing the floor. Rejuvenate, Orange Glow, Quick Shine, Bona Polish etc... are big NO NO. Your floor finish is times and times more durable, safe and better looking than any of those so called enhancers. Just keep it clean and refinish once in a while.
Steam
Never use steam mops on hardwood floors. It will quickly become dull and soft losing shine and durability
Chemicals
Never use something that is not made for hardwood floors. Some household chemicals are too strong and will remove the sheen making floors dull. If there is something you have hard time removing, call professionals
Leave Wet
Try to remove anything that is liquid from the floor asap. Water can penetrate the wood, separate layers, create cupping. urine, leaking flower pots could leave dark spots that are hard to remove even with deep sanding. Keep it dry.