Wood Floor Care Tips

Wood floors, properly finished, are the easiest of all floor surfaces to keep clean and new looking, unlike carpeted or resilient floors that show wear regardless of care. Wood floors can be kept looking like new, year after year, with minimum care.

Since the overwhelming majority of wood floors are composed of solid hardwood, the care guide applies specifically to this type of flooring.

What is minimum care? A good rule of thumb is to vacuum and/or dust mop weekly. A damp mop can be used for spills, and when necessary general cleanup on floors which have non-waxed polyurethane or a similar surface finish. When traffic areas of surface finishes begin to show significant wear, screening and re-coating an entire floor is the least involved choice of maintenance. If a floor is waxed, occasional buffing helps renew the shine and remove scuff marks that may appear in the wax coating. If the shine cannot be renewed in heavily used lanes, occasionaly re-waxing these areas may be necessary. Intervals for completely re-waxing a floor may extend to a year or longer when attention has been paid to proper care.