Sweeping vs. Vacuuming

Cleaning your hardwood floors will be different than you’ve cleaned other flooring surfaces in the past. Sweeping and or vacuuming on a regular basis will help keep debris that can scratch the floor at a minimum. Any broom you use should be soft bristled. Some customers prefer to use a swivel headed broom with a terry cloth end attached to it similar to those in the janitorial industry might use. Other prefer to use hand held vacuums that have long nozzles and specialized attachment heads. The wheels on a vacuum, no matter how great the advertisement, still run the risk of scratching your hardwood floor. Using a vacuum with wheels directly on the hardwood floor is a highly personal choice.

Using Hardwood Flooring Cleaners

Some hardwood flooring cleaners can be applied directly to your hardwood floor prior to cleaning. Others absolutely should not be. If you have any questions on which are which, your authorized Wood Monsters reseller will be able to assist you in determining which hardwood flooring cleaner will be best for your specific hardwood floor. When in doubt of whether or not you should apply the cleaner directly to the floor, slightly damp your cloth and apply the cleaner directly to the cloth first. Scrub the area with good old fashioned elbow grease and then fully dry the area immediately. Do not use any wax-based or ammonia based products. Only use the cleaners that specifically made for your hardwood floor.

Wet-Mopping No-No’s

Do not ever wet-mop your floor. Any kind of water can damage the wood floor over time. To give you an illustration, wet-mopping your hardwood floor (as may have done in the past or may currently do on other rooms of your home) is the same thing as just taking a bucket of water, spreading all that water across the entire floor and then walking away. Some of the water will evaporate but much of it will eventually absorb into the wood causing problems like cupping or crowning. For more information on cupping or crowning see our article: Problems: Cupping and Crowning. It can also leave ugly nasty water stains behind. Using a wet-mop may also void your manufacturer’s warranty.