Maintaining Hardwood Flooring

Many homeowners admit they have no clue about cleaning hardwood floors, according to surveys from the National Wood Flooring Association. But what you don’t know about hardwood floor cleaning and care could be hurting your flooring — and maybe even your home’s value.

“Hardwood floors are a big investment, and keeping them in great shape is all about preventing damage,” says Kevin Crawford, co-owner at TexFix, a handyman service in San Antonio and a real estate broker associate-owner at Crawford Luxury. “We see a lot of floors that have been scratched, warped, or dulled because of the wrong cleaning methods or just everyday wear and tear.”

Hardwood floors can add value to a home. Their timeless appeal is likely why wood flooring consistently ranks as one of the top 10 home features that home buyers say they want most when shopping for a home, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ “What Home Buyers Really Want” survey. Not to mention, homeowners rate hardwood flooring as one of their favorite remodeling projects, according to the National Association of REALTORS® “Remodeling Impact Report.”

Plus, wood flooring may be a wise investment in the long run: “Put in hardwoods, and if you take care of them, you’ll never have to install new flooring in your home again,” says Shawna Eikenberry, owner of Footprints Floors Raleigh. “You can just patch, repair, and even refinish them to change the look,” she adds. And they can last for decades.

Hardwood Floor Cleaning Maintenance Schedule

The National Wood Flooring Association recommends the following maintenance schedule to care for your hardwoods:

• Sweep or dust mop: Daily
• Vacuum (using the bare floor setting): Weekly
• Clean with wood flooring cleaner: Monthly
• Apply a new coat of finish or maintenance coat: Every three to five years
• Sand and refinish: Every few decades

Do’s and Don’ts for Cleaning Hardwood Floors

To prevent damage, follow these do’s and don’ts:

Do:

• Clean any spills immediately and ensure the floors are dry. Water can damage hardwoods.
• Consider a shoe-free policy: “Even a small amount of sand or grit can cause damage to the finish,” says Carly D. Harrington, owner of Floor Coverings International of South Atlanta.
• Use only cleaning solutions specifically made for hardwood floors.
• Maintain a consistent indoor temperature and humidity level in your home to avoid hardwood damage. The NWFA recommends keeping a home 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit and at 30% to 50% humidity year-around.
• Clean up any pet accidents promptly. They can lead to staining with dark or black spots on the floors, as well as lingering odors, Harrington says.
• Consider rearranging rugs and furniture occasionally or using light blocking curtains, especially in sun-drenched rooms. “Hardwoods will change color based on exposure to the sun,” Harrington says.
• Use throw rugs at all entryways and protective felt pads on the feet of chair and furniture legs to prevent scratching the floors.

Don’t:

• Allow dirt to accumulate on your floors; it can act like sandpaper and wear down the finish, Crawford says.
• Let standing water sit. Even a stray ice cube that falls from the freezer can cause floors to warp or become discolored, Harrington says.
• Steam clean your hardwoods. The excessive heat and moisture can damage the flooring.
• Use the beater bar — or brushroll — setting on your vacuum. The rotating brush on the bottom of your vacuum can scratch the floor’s surface.
• Use harsh chemicals — like ammonia, bleach, oil soaps, and vinegar – on your floors; they can damage the finish and the wood.
• Wax or polish your hardwoods. It can build up and create a cloudy film over your floors.
• Use plastic or nonporous mats, like for underneath dog bowls or those waffle-like pads for under rugs. “These surfaces hold the water against the floor, causing discoloration and staining,” Harrington says.

3 Ways to Ace Hardwood Floor Cleaning

Flooring experts recommend taking special care when doing these three activities to clean hardwood floors:

Sweeping and Vacuuming

Regular sweeping or vacuuming can keep hardwoods clean, but avoid using standard vacuums with beater bars, or brushrolls, on hardwood surfaces. “Turn off the beater bar or use a microfiber broom,” Harrington says. Some vacuums allow you to turn off the brushroll setting. Another option is to choose a vacuum specifically made for hardwood floors.

Mopping

There’s a right way — and a wrong way — to mop your wood flooring. Because water can damage hardwoods, using a wet mop and leaving water residue behind is not a good strategy, Eikenberry says. Also, avoid steam mops, which apply pressure that “forces moisture into the wood. [That] can lead to swelling and warping over time,” Crawford adds.

Instead, “dry mop,” using a microfiber mop — along with a spray cleaner that is specifically made for hardwood floors, Harrington says.

Using Cleaning Solutions

Be selective about the cleaning solutions you use on your hardwood flooring. For example, vinegar — a favorite in house cleaning — is acidic and can penetrate the wood and leave streaks, Eikenberry says.

Instead, opt for mild, pH-neutral cleaners that are designed specifically for hardwood flooring, Harrington says. Look for the words “hardwood cleaner” on the bottle or ask professional flooring companies for suggestions. Always test new products in small, hidden areas of the floor before spreading it elsewhere.

Avoid Common Problems in Hardwood Floor Cleaning

Hardwood flooring is known to be durable. “The key is using the right technique to clean [the floors] while also protecting them from damage,” Crawford says. Watch out for these indicators of trouble:

• Discoloration: If hardwood flooring is in direct sun for prolonged periods of time, it can develop orangish tones or an uneven appearance. This may be most evident in west-facing rooms that tend to get a lot of sunlight. How to prevent: Consider moving rugs and furniture regularly or using light blocking curtains, Harrington says.
• Swelling: The floor can appear uneven, bulge in areas, or have planks that lift away from the subfloor. A certain level of expansion is considered normal, and professional flooring installation companies will account for this when they install them. Larger gaps between the planks may indicate a bigger problem. How to prevent: Keep excessive moisture from making contact with the floors and avoid high humidity, which can cause abnormal levels of swelling in the wood.
• Shrinking: The flooring may appear to have gaps between the boards or planks that have separated from one another. How to prevent: Make sure your home is not excessively dry; it can cause the wood to lose moisture and shrink
• Cupping: This happens when the edges of the wood planks on the floor raise or buckle. You might notice what appear to be concave shapes on your flooring. How to prevent: Keep excessive moisture away from your hardwoods. Water leaks, high humidity, improper installation, or inadequate drying of wet floors can cause cupping.
• Scuff marks or dents: Everyday activity can cause visible blemishes on hardwood floors. The culprits can be pet claws, furniture, or even dirt and shoes. Consider that a 125-pound woman wearing high heels can exert enough force to leave marks on hardwood floors. How to prevent: Adopt a no-shoe policy and use natural fiber rugs that won’t trap water spills at entryways and in high-traffic areas.

Treating Damage on Hardwood Floors

Minor scratches may occur on just the top-layer finish rather than in the wood itself. In that case, the scratches can often be repaired with touch-up markers, stain pens, and furniture repair kits. You can also try these hacks: Rub the natural oils from a walnut or pecan over the scuff marks to help darken the wood and disguise the scratches, Eikenberry suggests. A tennis ball or a little baking soda on a damp cloth may help remove scuff marks, Crawford says.

For deeper scratches, you may need a wood filler that matches the color of your floor. As an alternative, you can have your floors restained or refinished.

When to Refinish Your Hardwood Floors

If your floors are looking dull, you may be tempted to reach for polish as a fix. Eikenberry says that’s a big mistake. In general, avoid using any products on your hardwoods with words like “polish,” “shine,” or “rejuvenate,” she says. “Your floors will look gorgeous when you first put it down, but it’s a short-lived reward. It can dull very quickly and then leave this cloudy film on your floors.” She says the only way to revive dull-looking floors is to have them lightly buffed and then apply a fresh coat of polyurethane wood finish on top.

For deeper scratches, dents, or damage to your hardwoods, you may need to have the floors completely sanded back to the raw wood and refinished. The cost to refinish hardwoods averages nearly $2,000, but the price can vary greatly. If you want a new look, refinishing also allows you to change the stain color of your hardwood.

Keep in mind, wood types vary in how often they can be refinished or how prone they are to scratching. For example, hardwood flooring’s durability and hardness are measured on a Janka scale, a rating of how susceptible the wood is to denting or showing wear. The higher the rating, the more resistant the wood will be to dents and wear and tear. In general, softwoods like pine tend to have lower Janka scales; hardwoods like hickory and Brazilian teak or walnut usually resist scratches and damage.

The number of times hardwoods can be refinished varies. For example, engineered wood flooring — a popular type of wood flooring — often can be refinished only one to three times, since the top layer is wood but underneath it is plywood. Hardwoods that have a wear layer that’s thinner than 2 millimeters, for example, may not be ideal for sanding, according to District Floor Depot. You may be able to refinish solid hardwood flooring 10 or more times, depending on the floor’s thickness.

Related: Should You Refinish Hardwood Floors Yourself?

Hardwood Floor Cleaning Affects Lifespan

The lifespan of hardwood flooring is one of the longest of any household material, possibly extending to 100 years or more. The lifespan greatly depends on you, however, and how well you care for the flooring.

“I’ve seen hardwood floors that are 20 years old that look brand new and then those that are only five years old that are in rough shape,” Eikenberry says. “I can’t overstate the importance of maintenance. Hardwood flooring is a valuable asset to your home with so many benefits. It’s important to take care of it.”

House Logic, Melissa Dittmann Tracey