Prefinished hardwood floors bring timeless charm, warmth, and character to your home. While they are typically more affordable than unfinished hardwood, prefinished floors boast a more durable factory finish. This resilient finish, achieved through heavy-duty elements like aluminum oxide, ensures longevity. With UV curing during manufacturing, prefinished hardwood floors also eliminate off-gassing concerns. In this article, we’ll dive into the best practices for cleaning and maintaining your prefinished hardwood floors in order to preserve their heavy duty finish and enduring character in your home.
Protective Measures:
- Use felt/ carpet floor protectors beneath furniture. Your floors will thank you. Keep in mind that these protectors do wear out over time, at some point you will need to replace them.
- Consider placing area rugs over high traffic areas like hallways and stairs.
- Use area rug underlayments. The rough backing of area rugs can scratch the finish of your prefinished hardwood over time.
- Make sure area rug underlayments are made with natural rubber. Though slightly more expensive than other underlayments, the investment pays dividends in protecting your hardwood and ensures that no strange chemicals come into contact with your hardwood finish.
- Use door mats/ walk off mats before entering your home. You may wear high heels, but make sure they are in good shape. Broken high heels will damage the floor.
- Use window coverings or UV blocking film over windows. Excessive sunlight can discolor your floors throughout the years. Window coverings or UV film will mitigate this.
Cleaning Tips:
- Stick with a cleaner specifically made for wood floors. This is the single most important piece of cleaning advice we can give.
- Vacuum with a floor brush attachment, use a soft bristle broom, or dust mop regularly.
- Keep door mats and walk off mats clean to prevent dirt from reaching the hardwood surface.
- It is okay to spill water on hardwood floors, but clean it as quickly as possible. Promptly blot any spills with a clean absorbent cloth or a paper towel.
- Apply your hardwood floor cleaner with a microfiber or damp cloth.
- For stubborn stains or harsh chemical spills, please Contact Us and we will guide you through the manufacturers cleaning guidelines to best find a solution.
- We recommend having your prefinished hardwood floors professionally cleaned at least once per year – it really makes a difference!
Cleaning NO’s:
- A common myth is to use vinegar and water to clean hardwood floors. Consider the myth busted; do not use vinegar on your prefinished hardwood floors.
- Do NOT use the beater bar attachment on your vacuum cleaner.
- Do NOT wet mop.
- Do NOT let water sit on your floor for hours or days at a time.
- Do NOT use oil soaps on your prefinished hardwood floors.
- Do NOT use harsh cleaning chemicals (like bleach) on your prefinished hardwood floors.
- Do NOT use furniture polish or acrylic polishes.
- Do NOT use window cleaner on your prefinished hardwood floors.
- Do NOT steam clean your prefinished hardwood floors.
- Do NOT excessively rub or scrub hardwood floors while cleaning. This could unintentionally spread any potential damage.
At Warehouse Direct Flooring, we are committed to flooring excellence and believe in the importance of empowering our customers with the knowledge needed to care for their investment. We have an extensive product line of industry leading prefinished hardwood styles that we stand behind. We are committed to finding the best product possible to fit our customers’ lifestyle. Not only are we your dedicated partner in supplying and installing prefinished hardwood floors, we are also here to guide you in preserving their beauty and durability.
