Monday, April 8, 2013

CARING FOR YOUR WOOD FLOOR

Today I am going to talk about caring for your wood floors.
There are precautions you must take from the time your wood floors are newly finished.
For floors that have been finished with a waterborne finish these are the guidelines.
48 hour move in time.
7 days until the floors are fully cured.
Keep pets and area rugs off floors for 7 days.
Do not use rubber backed rugs or pads. Use mesh style carpet pads made for hardwood floors.
Use furniture glides on all your furniture legs.
For floors finished with a polyurethane finish here are the guidelines.
72 hour move in time.
14 days until the floor are fully cured.
Keep pets and rugs off floors for 14 days.
Same rules as above apply for rugs and rug pads and the use of furniture glides.

Caring for your beautiful wood floor is easy.
We have hardwood floors throughout our entire home. I vacuum the floors and then using a damp mop I go over the floors. This really is all that is required if you do it regularly.  Be careful not to use to much water as that can dull the finish on your floor. You can use cleaning products in your water that are designated for wood floors. Avoid products with ammonia, abrasives and alkaline cleaners which can fade or damage your floors.My favorite product is Bona wood floor cleaner. It comes in a large spray bottle you will need to buy the applicator also which works very well. It has a long handle and a large pad that swivels with a fabric applicator that attaches with Velcro to the pad.
All you do after vacuuming is spray some Bona product on the pad and clean a small area. Spray again when needed and continue. If the applicator becomes dirty just remove and rinse under hot water until clean, wring and attach back onto the applicator pad. I love this product as it rejuvenates the sheen on your floor. So my suggestion is use the Bona product every other time you clean your floors and stick with the damp mop in between. That is what I do and it works well.
Bona products can be found at most home improvement stores and some hardware and grocery stores.

In closing I will add that wood floors are easy to care for, they look beautiful, they can be refinished time and time again and they are a lifetime investment.
I hope this post has been helpful.