How to Clean Hardwood Floors Scuff-Free?

Hardwood floors play a great role in your home as they can improve the overall look of your beautiful abode. Hardwood floors are durable and stain-resistant and help your house look elegant. However, as you know floors take a lot of wear, the reasons of it can be daily traffic and inevitable spills, or scuffs, even your cleaning habits can make your wood floors become dull.

So, your hardwood floors require regular cleaning for a scuff-free shine. Start cleaning floors with careful methods that help protect floors and don’t take a lot of time you spend cleaning.

We recommend you not to use harsh/abrasive products, clean your hardwood floors with green cleaning agents to remove tough stains and grime.

Try to place mats outside and inside your exterior doors, it will help to reduce tracked-in dirt. If you want to avoid damaging floors in snowy or rainy weather, set up area for boots. Also keep a cleaning cloth next to the door; you can easily clean up errant puddles on wood floors.

To avoid tracking dirt all over the house, it is better to remove shoes before coming indoors, especially if you prefer to wear scratch-causing heels and cleats.

To protect your floors from marks, add area rugs especially in play areas if you don’t want your children scratch the floor. Also, you can place floor protectors under furniture. In addition to these daily cleaning methods, read the following cleaning tips if you want clean hardwood floors scuff-free.

Regular Cleaning: How to Clean Hardwood Floors Properly?

Try to clean your hardwood floors with a broom or dust mop regularly. The traffic, your hardwood floors receive, influences on the frequency of your cleaning. If you want to clean your floors quickly, use dusting agent to treat a mop, and then dust floors with this mop. It will help avoid scratching the floor surface and pick up dust and pet hair.

In addition, you can use a mop with a microfiber head for hardwood floors. This mop is good for trapping dust and grime. Read the mop manufacturer’s recommendations to polish wood floor properly; some mops don’t need an extra cleaning agent.

Deep Cleaning: How to Clean Hardwood Floors Properly?

When dirt, oil, and grime are accumulated over time, it is difficult to clean floors completely during a weekly dusting. The best way to have your floors shining again is a deep cleaning. Take preventive measures for deep cleaning of your hardwood floors. It is better to provide a deep cleaning of your hardwood floors, do it in the spring or just before the winter holidays.

For hardwood floor cleaning with a mop, use special wood floor cleaning product and dilute it due to the label instructions. Soak a rag mop in the water and wring it almost dry. Mop the floor, but try to avoid standing water on the floor. You can also wash the surface of the floor with a mop dampened in clean water. Remember that excess liquid can damage wood surfaces. During the humid weather, use the air-conditioner to speed up drying. To improve cleaning and achieve the best possible results, polish the wood floors to look them new.

The Best Methods to Remove Stains on Hardwood Floors

How to remove a stain from wood floors depends on your flooring’s finish. If your floor has a hard finish, urethane, the stain will be on the surface. If your floor has a soft oiled finish, especially where floors are not refinished and resealed, the stain will penetrate through to the wood.

To remove the dirt, use a soft and clean cloth to wipe stains on floors with a hard finish. If you don’t want to damage the finish, don’t use sandpaper, steel wool, or harsh chemicals.

Use special products for hardwood floors with soft oiled finishes. After each treatment, don’t forget about the waxing and buffing the spot to match the rest of the floor.

• How to get rid of dark spots and pet stains – For this purpose, you can use steel wool and floor wax to rub the stain. If the area is still dark, clean the hardwood floor with bleach or vinegar. Let it soak into the wood for about 40-60 minutes. Clean with a damp cloth.
• How to get rid of heel marks – Take fine steel wool and rub in floor wax.
• How to get rid of oil-based stains – Take a soft cloth and dish detergent, and then rub the area. It will help break down the grease. If the method doesn’t work, do it again. Don’t allow your kids and pets be in the room until you are done. The spot must be dry; also, you can smooth the surface with fine sandpaper.
• How to get rid of watermarks or white stains – Use steel wool and floor wax to rub the area. To remove the stain easily, polish the hardwood floor, and then take fine steel wool and odorless mineral spirits to clean it completely.

Use Vinegar to Clean Hardwood Floors

If you want to clean wood floors in the natural way, we recommend you to use a common kitchen product: vinegar. Using vinegar for cleaning hardwood floors will help save you money and provide a green cleaning method for your floors. Prepare cleaning solution for wood floors: add 1/2 cup white vinegar to a gallon of lukewarm water. Use this solution to get rid of stubborn stains, such as oil splatters, paint stains, pet urine, etc. After using the cleaning solution, buff the surface and polish your wood floors look shiny. In addition, you can use vinegar to clean the whole home naturally. Before cleaning your floors with vinegar, always test your solution in an inconspicuous spot because vinegar can dull hardwood finishes.