If you read directions on how to care for a hardwood floor, you might
start to think that hardwood is an extremely high maintenance, high
strung kinda flooring. These directions will caution you to use only
the special cleaner especially designed for hardwood floors with your
type of finish (mostly polyurethane, nowadays). They will warn you to
eschew water coming in contact with your floor, and claim that your
hardwood floors must be cleaned with a dry mop (though some concede
that getting the mop slightly moist might be alright). Don't believe
everything you read, friends! Hardwood floors are really a hardworking,
blue collar kind of flooring. In real life, they can meld well with an
active family life. Read on for a real life look at cleaning and
maintaining your hardwood floors.
This guide is for the mama whose house is filled with the scent of
wd-40 from cleaning crayon marks off the wall, who has learned how to
arrange the throw pillows to hide the grape juice stain, and who has to
fit housecleaning in between 10 readings of One Fish, Two Fish. This
guide is for people who live in
their houses, and don't maintain them as museum quality artwork. If you
are hoping to maintain your floors in a pristine, like new condition,
you will have to stop walking on them and protect them with rugs. At
which point, you completely miss the benefit of having them.
Dirt is the enemy of hardwood flooring. It is an abrasive that rubs off
the finish. Controlling the dirt that gets onto your floor is a good
place to start. Mats by the door for folks to wipe their feet on are
good, a tape recorder playing an endless loop of "Did you wipe your
feet?" is great. Otherwise, you, the mama will have to play the part of
the tape recorder. Rugs in high traffic pathways protect the floor and
work well for many families. Just make sure that you regularly sweep
under them and shake them out. If dirt collects under them, they become
a detriment. A big brillo pad grinding away at the floor everytime
someone walks on it. Personally, I can't stand throw rugs constantly
shifting underfoot and getting kicked around, not to mention the
inevitable stain scrubbing. So I forego the throw rug option. Felt pads
on the bottom of furniture are also a boon to wood floors.
Water should be used with care on hardwood floors. If there are cracks
between the wood, and lots of water gets in, and the wood soaks it up,
it could be bad. However, for most floors, a good sloppy wet mop won't
hurt it, and is in fact the only way to get rid of the Enemy Dirt. If
your floor was finished with polyurethane after the floor was in place
(not installed prefinished, as some new hardwood floors are), it is
fine to wet mop it. The cracks between the wood are sealed with
polyurethane, and won't buckle on contact with water, as some
instructions intimate. You should not leave puddles of liquid on your
hardwood floor, and it doesn't hurt to dry the floor with a towel if it
isn't airdrying quickly.
Do you need to buy the special hardwood floor cleaning solution? No!
For polyurethaned floors, a cup of vinegar in the mop bucket works
great. You can make a spot cleaning formula with an empty spray bottle.
Just put 2 tablespoons of vinegar in the bottle, and fill to the top
with water. Several drops of essential oil, such as tea tree or
eucalyptus will add a lovely clean scent and disinfecting power. A
word about mopping: you will do a better job with a cloth, scrubbing on
your hands and knees. It's just true. You can see better, and your
fingertips will feel dirt you didn't realize was there. And think of
all the calories you will burn! But some days, a thorough mop is not an
option. It's better to use a sponge mop than to not mop at all.
Wood is a great flooring choice for a family. It is durable, warm, and
lovely. Yes, your floor will get scuffed and scratched. Those are
badges of honor, marks of a happy, active family. Remember, the floors
are there for your family to use, not a fussy housemate demanding
special treatment! Tags: hardwood floors cleaning clean flooring wood recipe cleaner
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