The beauty and durability of hardwood make it one of the best options a homeowner can make when it comes to selecting flooring. Despite its durability, hardwood is not impervious to damage. Proper hardwood floor care is needed to protect your flooring from daily wear and tear and environmental damage.

The results of proper hardwood floor care are well worth it, as a floor that is properly maintained will keep looking great for many years.

Keep Your Flooring Dry
Water is a particular threat to hardwood because it can cause the wood to warp, so any spills should be immediately cleaned up before the water has time to soak in and damage the floor. When mopping hardwood floors, use only a slightly damp mop. It is also a good idea to minimize mopping to prevent excess moisture from accumulating.

Hardwood Floor Care and Furniture
Furniture presents one of the biggest threats to hardwood floors. Furniture legs can easily mark and scratch wood flooring, marring its beauty. Fortunately, it is easy to protect against scratches by suing felt furniture tips or furniture leg guards that are available at most home improvement stores. Felt tips can be attached to furniture legs using their included, easy-to-remove adhesive. They work by cushioning the parts of the furniture that contacts the floor.

Even when using felt tips, it is best to lift furniture when moving it instead of dragging it across the floor. This is because even though the tips will protect the floor, they may become detached from the furniture if they are dragged across the floor. If you accidently remove the felt tips from the legs when moving a piece of furniture, you could be surprised to find a big scratch left behind.

Area rugs are commonly used on wood floors, and can be a great way to protect the wood from the wear and tear of daily traffic. However, the rugs themselves can scratch hardwood floors if they slide around too much. Because of this, you should always use a no-skid pad underneath the rug to protect the floor. These rubber backings prevent the rugs from sliding around and protect the floor from scratches.

Pets and Shoes
Pets present a special challenge to hardwood floor care. Dogs can easily scratch hardwood floors with their long nails. Keeping these nails trimmed is the best way to avoid scratches. We can also damage hardwood floors with our footwear. High heels are especially likely to scratch the flooring, so avoiding wearing these heels in the house.

Keep your Hardwood Flooring Clean
Besides looking bad, leaving your floors dirty can actually damage them. Dirt left on the surface of wood floors can scratch and dull the surface of the floor. The solution for proper hardwood floor care is regular sweeping with a broom or vacuuming with a vacuum cleaner. It is best to use a lightweight vacuum cleaner, as a heavy one can damage the floor if it is dropped.

Avoid Excessive Sunlight
Like most things, hardwood flooring is susceptible to the harsh rays of the sun: excessive sunlight can cause discoloration and fading, so care should be taken to ensure that no part of the floor receives too much direct sun. Blinds or curtains are an easy way to reduce exposure to sunlight, but special UV coating is available for windows as well, and it can protect your floors from sun damage.

Stains on Hardwood
Spills can stain wood, especially if the spill is something like wine or ink that is very strongly colored. A fresh spill can be dealt with by quickly mopping up the spill with a paper towel or rag. Avoid using too much water to clean up the spill, since water can damage the floor by causing it so swell up. Dried spills may need to be sanded off and refinished, so it’s important to quickly take care of any spills.