The Right Way to do Wood Floor Care

Posted October 17th, 2018.

The Right Way to do Wood Floor Care

Hardwood floors add elegance to your home or office and are also known for their durability. When taken care of properly, wood flooring can last for decades.Fox Cities Janitorial can handle all of your wood floor care needs, but knowing some basics can help you enjoy your wood floor for years to come.

Offices, commercial buildings, or institutions endure huge public movement on their floors, which can lead to unsightly scuffing. Over a short time, the floor starts losing its luster and a damaged finish can reduce its lifespan to only a few years.

Protecting the image of your office or company by keeping your surroundings clean, maintained, and shiny while extending the life of your physical assets is important to your company’s health and bottom line.

Understand the Problem

The right way to do floor care
Wooden flooring is a significant investment that requires long-term care to keep it looking and functioning well. Wear and tear occurs from a variety of causes such as high movement on the floor, pets, high-heeled shoes, or furniture. These issues can make your wood floor look drab or dull. You know you need to maintain it, but it can be a tedious task to find the right approach to good wood floor care.

Caring for a Wood Floor

Caring for a Wood Floor
To properly care for your wood floor, you need to understand your type of flooring and what kind of finish was used on it. Your floor might be solid wood or engineered. Solid wood flooring can generally be stripped, sanded, and refinished, while engineered flooring is less forgiving as the wood grain is a thin layer on the top.

The finish determines the best way to care for a floor. Most floors have the classic, high-gloss look, but semi-gloss, satin, or matte finishes also exist. Maintaining that finish is part of the care.

Most modern wood flooring is pre-finished at the factory with a high-gloss, water-based polyurethane finish. Some older floors are waxed. Usually, you can care for a waxed wood floor as you would a polyurethane one, with a slight difference. A waxing compound goes best with a waxed floor. It lifts out dirt quickly and creates a fresh wax coat. For polyurethane, you can use vinegar with water or another wood floor cleaner.

First Solution – using a Liquid Cleaner (Commercial or Domestic)

First Solution – using a Liquid Cleaner (Commercial or Domestic)
Your wood floor care begins with a weekly vacuum (use the floor brush attachment) to lift the dust and other unwanted material from the floor is a good start. For deep cleaning, use a commercially available liquid cleaner such as Murphy’s oil soap, making sure you read the instructions for its use. By adding one part white distilled vinegar to ten parts water, you can create an at-home cleaner as well.

The Process to Clean Hardwood Floors

The method for cleaning your solid or engineered hardwood floor remains the same no matter what cleaner you choose.

Step 1: Start by saturating a sponge mop (if you don’t have one, you can use a rag) with your cleaning solution. Be sure to squeeze the mop completely to make it damp and not wet.

Step 2: Use the mop/rag to wipe the floor with the cleaner. Make sure you don’t use too much of the liquid on your floor.

Step 3: After a few strokes, clean the mop or rag with fresh water and squeeze out the excess. Repeat until the floor is complete.

Step 4: Use a clean and dry towel to wipe up any excess. Stagnant water could damage the hardwood floor.

Second Solution – Using Tea bags

Another way to clean a traditional hardwood floor is by using boiling water and 5-6 black tea bags. Black tea has a substance called tannic acid which helps add shine to the floor. Its astringent properties cut through grease and grime. However, this method should only be used on solid or engineered wood flooring. Do not clean laminate wood flooring with tea.

Step 1: Boil water and add 5-6 black tea bags. Turn off the heat and let the tea steep for ten minutes.

Step 2: Pour the liquid into a bucket. Add cool water to lower the temperature if desired.

Step 3: Use a soft cloth and dab it into the solution, or lightly dip your mop into the bucket and wring it well. Be careful to avoid soaking the cloth or mop with the tea solution or else it will take a lot of time for the floor to dry.

Use the tea water as you would any other cleaning solution. Once you are finished, the results might astonish you.

Taking Care of Floor Scratches

Taking Care of Floor Scratches
Scratches on your wood floor can be annoying and finding the right solution for them can be just as vexing. One way that might help you to get rid of floor scratches is a crayon color.

Step 1: Find the right match of the crayon color to go with your wooden flooring. Otherwise, the repair will stand out and perhaps look worse than the original scratch.

Step 2: Once you have the right color, rub the crayon on the scratches. You’ll need to use some force as you are filling the scratch with the wax of the crayon.

Step 3: Use a blow dryer to heat the area where you have applied the crayon.

Step 4: Finally, use a soft cloth to buff it smooth.

So What’s Next?

Wood floor care is more than vacuuming and mopping. It is also important that you take steps to avoid any damages or luster loss. To prevent dirt or dust from getting on your newly cleaned wooden floor, use doormats inside and outside your home or office. Using floor protectors on the legs of your furniture will help minimize damage and scratches. Adding rugs to the highest traffic areas will also protect your flooring.

Our Solution For You

If you want to make sure that your hardwood floor looks new and vibrant for years to come, try our hardwood floor cleaning service from Fox Cities Janitorial. We specialize in office and commercial building cleaning needs, including your wood floor care. Our experts provide the best cleaning and protection for your hardwood floors to reduce wear and tear and increase their longevity. We will examine your flooring and determine its type, finish, and condition, and use the proper products and processes for your specific floor. We use only premium cleaning materials to give you astonishing results. If your wood flooring has lost its luster, it will be Fox Cities Janitorial’s pleasure to restore its shine. We’ll be proud to provide hardwood floor cleaning service any time. Contact us today for a free consultation.