Wood flooring maintenance

ALWAYS:

• Clean your hardwood floor once every one or two weeks or as frequently as needed, depending on the amount of traffic on your floor.
• Dust mop with a hardwood floor cleaner only.
• Vacuum using a soft bristle wand or a soft nylon bristle broom. Straw bristle scratches the floor.
• Damp mop heavily soiled areas with a dust mop using one part white vinegar and two parts warm water. If water streaks are left, you are using too much water on the mop. Avoid using a dirty solution or pouring the water directly on the floor.
• Use protective walk-off mats at all exterior doors to prevent sand and grit from scratching your floor.
• Vacuum mats or shake them out frequently. You may want to place a mat or throw rug by the sink, stove, and dining room table to catch spills. Avoid rubber-backed or non-ventilated rugs that don't allow the floor to breath.
• Install proper floor protectors or glides on furniture placed on your wood flooring. Clean the protectors regularly to prevent scuffing by embedded grit.
• Use carpet remnants face down underneath lounge chairs.
• Keep high heels and all shoe caps in good repair to avoid damage to the flooring.
• Remove spills, shoe marks, and other stubborn stains that do not come up with regular damp mopping with a dry terry cloth towel dampened with a recommended hardwood floor cleaner.
• Use a commercial buffer once or twice a year to polish wax-finished hardwood floors. If your wax-finished hardwood flooring has heavily soiled areas or wax buildup, stripping and re-waxing is recommended.
• Since the sun's ultraviolet rays age all wood flooring products, we recommend that you rearrange your rugs and furniture after a period of time so the flooring ages evenly.
• When your wood flooring begins to show wear, re-coating with the recommended finish product should be done professionally. If you wait until the finish is worn off and spills and dirt have penetrated, your wood flooring will have to be sanded to bare wood and it will be costly to refinish and repair.

ALWAYS AVOID:

• Using any type of tape on wood floors. The tape will bond with the finish and could pull the finish off the floor.
• Dragging or pushing furniture, always pick it up.
• Sliding or rolling heavy objects across your floor without first putting down an untextured cardboard, a sheet of plywood, or masonite to protect the floor when using a dolly.
• Over watering plants that are placed on the hardwood floor. The water mixed with fertilizer will discolor or dissolve the finish, cup or buckle the floor underneath the plant. Use some inexpensive plastic or metal catch basins. Avoid using masonry or brick catch basins.
• Using high heels in disrepair or sport cleats.
• Using liquid wax, paste wax, Endust, Pledge, Murphy's Oil Soap, or any other silicon or wax-based product to maintain your floor. Once these products are used, your floor becomes high maintenance. These products make it difficult to re-coat the floor, as the new finish will not bond because of the wax buildup.
• Letting children roller skate, ride bicycles or skateboard.
• Leaving spills for a prolonged period of time.
• Turning the A/C or heater off when out on vacation. The temperature should always be set between 70° and 80° F. The humidity may rise within the structure, causing the floor to swell, cup or buckle.
• All oil and alcohol modified finishes require a curing period of thirty days. Water modified finishes require a curing period of seven to ten days.
• During this period DO NOT:
  • Place area rugs down because they may ruin the finish or leave an impression on the floor.
  • Mop the floor for it may dull the finish.
  • Roll furniture dollies without an untextured cardboard path.
  • Move the refrigerator unless you have laid down a path of untextured
     cardboard and 1/4-inch plywood to move it.