How to Care and Maintain Your Wood Flooring?
Wood Flooring ups the room, bringing about a luxurious and elegant look. Though they are durable and affordable in comparison to the alternatives like marble, wood flooring needs to be taken care of. They are low maintenance and can last for decades if you maintain them well. In fluctuating climate conditions like such in the UK, wood flooring requires you to tend to their health. The National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) is a Missouri based voluntary organisation that has proposed a few ideas that we have rounded up for you. Let us look at some of the basic tips you could include in your daily and weekly cleaning schedule to prolong the life of your wood flooring
1. Regular cleaning and dusting to remove dirt and debris
In order to keep the dust particles from accumulating into the grain or between the wooden boards, you have to dust or sweep the wood flooring regularly. As exhausting as it may sound, you have to follow a strict routine of dusting daily or at least once in two days. Walking barefoot is one of the better methods to considerably decrease the volume of dust that settles in the wood flooring. However, you need to vacuum (with the appropriate fitting) it weekly or get yourself a roomba to do the job for you.
2. Performing regular inspections for signs of wear and tear
In order to tackle serious damage to your wood flooring, you must ensure to keep a keen eye for damage. Early detection can avoid long term damage and minimise the cost of repair too. Issues like gapping, cupping, crowning and splitting in addition to signs of poor finishing can be reasons that could damage your wood flooring in the long term.
3. Keeping the flooring dry, immediately wiping up any water spills
It is important to wipe up water spills with a dry cloth as quickly as possible. Say a big NO-NO to damp mops or wet shoes and you will thank us later. Moisture in the air or on the surface of the floor will cause the wood to shrink. Humidity being the worst enemy of wood leads to gapping, cupping and splitting of the wood. The NWFA suggests to maintain a room humidity of 30 to 50 percent and set the room temperature in the range of 15 to 26 degrees Celsuis. Thus, taking care of wood flooring in the UK is a challenge owing to the increasing unpredictability of the weather.
4. Pet Proofing your wood flooring
To maintain a pet and your wooden flooring in the UK can sound like a pretty painful task, but a doable one. Engineering wood flooring with several coatings of aluminium dioxide-urethane finish is an excellent choice since it will hold up better to pet claws than most others. Pick out your wood flooring with a high Janka rating as it indicates the strength of the hardwood. Investing in light-coloured, densely grained wood flooring will make dents and scratches less obvious. To seal your wood floors from your furry companions claws and shield them from dangerous chemicals, apply numerous coats of oil-based finishing. Avoid softwoods like cedar, fir, or pine if you can since they aren’t sturdy enough to handle these playful roommates. Today many pet owners are buying doggie boots or cat slippers for their pets which could also be another option for you to try. Grooming your pets regularly and trimming their nails are also essential in pet proofing the wood flooring
5. Choosing the right cleaning products for your wood flooring
To prevent unpleasant stains, you must also employ wet cleaning in addition to dry dusting and vacuuming your wood flooring. Wood floor cleaning is now much simpler than it formerly was because of the popularity of surface- finished flooring. However, selecting the proper cleaning agents to dissolve the dirt together without harming the coating or compromising the shine of wood floors is challenging. For hardwood floors, a monthly wash down is necessary; if you have fuzzy dogs, do it more frequently. There are several products available from companies like Rubio, Bono, and Osmo that enable homeowners with wood flooring in the UK to remove tough stains without affecting the finish. Yes, these may sound a little daunting at first, but they are in fact fairly simple to include into your cleaning routine. When you take into account its beauty and price, wood flooring is unquestionably a good deal. Nevertheless, even if you placed the best wood flooring in the UK, this value would not endure. Compared to hardwood flooring, engineered wood flooring is significantly less expensive and easier to maintain. Basic dusting and a monthly wet wash, together with frequent checks for wear and tear, can keep your wood flooring in good condition.
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