|
Hardwood Floors
By Allen Shaw, Fri Dec 9th
Hardwood Floors are beautiful to look at and expensive toinstall. But keeping them clean is not necessarily the easiestthing to do. Growing up in a house with hardwood floors, I knowhow hard it was for my Mom to keep the floors shiny, especiallywith four kids. With two boys and two girls constantly runningin and out of the house with various forms of the “outsideworld” caked to our shoes, I believe my Mom finally just gaveup. If she had followed even the basic rules for keeping ahardwood floor clean with the four of us tracking Mother Naturein on a daily basis, she wouldn’t have had time for anythingelse. Dirt and dust is your hardwood floor’s worst enemy. Thoughmicroscopic in size, the minute granules scratch your hardwoodfloor’s finish and over time transforms your mirror-finishedfloor into a floor more reminiscent of the floors of the logcabins inhabited long ago by our ancestors. Following are sometips to keep your investment shiny and new for years to come. Though there are many manufacturers of hardwood floors to choosefrom, and they all have their own rules for keeping your floorclean and grit-free, there are some basic rules you can followto keep your floors looking good. For surface finishes: Always use the manufacturer’s recommended cleaning products. Ifthe manufacturer is not known, use a generic cleaning hardwoodfloor cleaner. When little Junior spills his soda on a daily basis, wipe it upimmediately with a damp cloth. For stubborn stains, lightly dampen a cloth with themanufacturer’s
recommended cleaner and apply directly to thestain. Do not use petroleum-based cleaners on water-basedfinishes. And when the floor loses its luster and shine, it’s time torecoat. Unless you yourself are a professional floor cleaner,hire someone. For wax finishes: Dry mop regularly with an untreated dust mop. Vacuum, sweep ordust mop regularly to remove grit from the floor. Junior can spill his soda on waxed floor as easily as he can ona surface finish. Follow the same instructions. To remove water spots, use a fine steel wool and a small amountof mineral spirits. Floors should be cleaned, stripped and rewaxed once or twice ayear depending on traffic. Preventative maintenance for all finishes: Floor protective pads on the bottoms of furniture. Scatter rugsat entrances will help trap the grit from shoes that is yourhardwood floor’s worst enemy. Sweep, vacuum or dust mop both thefloor and rugs on a regular basis. To put it simply, cleaning hardwood floors is not rocketscience. It just requires a little effort on the consumer’spart. Dirt, grime and dust, though small and almost naked to thehuman eye in most cases, are your hardwood floor’s worst enemy.Keep these enemies of your floor cleaned on a regular basis andyou will enjoy a lustrous, shiny floor for years to come. About the author:You may use this article on your site as long as you hyperlinkthe 2 URLs. Allen Shaw is a successful author who provides tips andinformation on hardwood flooring and wood flooring ingeneral.
| 