Hardwood floors receive a ton of wear and tear throughout the course of a normal day. From walking, running, and dancing on them to heavy furniture being dragged across them, hardwood flooring gets a workout that no other type of floor can withstand.
With so much wear and tear, it’s inevitable that your floors will start to show signs of age sooner rather than later. Fortunately, there are a variety of ways you can take care of your hardwood floors in order to ward off premature signs of aging as soon as possible.
Keep reading to find out more about how you can prevent scratches on your hardwood floors, from the home maintenance tips you need to know to the accessories you can purchase to protect against wear and tear.
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Keep your Floors Spotless
If you have hardwood floors, you should be keeping them spotless. This will help prevent scratches from occurring on your floors as soon as they start to show wear and tear.
It’s also important to remember that your hardwood floors are a permanent part of your home’s décor, so you don’t want them to look dull from dust and dirt.
Keeping your floors clean and free of dirt and dust will help prevent your floors from showing any superficial scuffs or scratches.
It will also make your floors look brighter and more vibrant. Additionally, cleaning your floors will also make them much easier to maintain as they’ll be less likely to become damaged as quickly.
Use a Soft Microfiber Cloth
You can use a regular microfiber cloth to clean your hardwood floors, but you might want to also consider getting a microfiber mop pad or a cleaning cloth specifically designed for cleaning floors.
Hardwood floors are smooth and polished, so they don’t require a lot of extra scrubbing to get them clean. However, if you use a regular cotton cloth, you might end up scratching your floors.
If you want to protect your floors, you’ll want to make sure to buy a microfiber cleaning cloth to protect your floors. You can find these specially designed cleaning cloths in a variety of shapes, sizes, and styles. Some of these clothes have a rubber backing, which helps to protect your floors from wear and tear.
Proper installation is key
If you’re buying a new floor, you’ll want to make sure that it’s been properly installed. If you buy a cheap floor that was improperly installed, you could damage your floors on a relatively minor scale.
However, if you buy a quality floor, it should be relatively easy to protect your floors from damage. You’ll first want to make sure that the wall where your hardwood flooring is installed is solid and secure.
If the wall where your floor is installed is not secure, it will be pulled out from beneath your feet over time. Once that happens, your floors will be susceptible to damage.
Keep your floors clean and dry
Another way to prevent scratches on your hardwood floors is to keep them relatively clean and dry. If you have hardwood floors in a high-traffic area, you’ll want to make sure to vacuum them regularly to remove any dust or dirt.
If you don’t have the time or inclination to regularly vacuum your floors, you’ll want to make sure they are dry.
Water is a major cause of stains and scratches on your floors. If you’re in a climate where it rains a lot, you’ll want to make sure to give your floors a rest.
If you live in a climate where it’s not usually raining, you should also make an effort to keep your floors as dry as possible.
Invest in rugs to protect against scratches
While a clean, dry floor is great for protecting your floors from scratches, you can also protect your floors from wear and tear by investing in rugs.
Rugs come in all different shapes and sizes, so you can find the perfect one for your floor. Rugs are inexpensive and easy to install, making them an excellent way to protect your floors from scuff marks.
Rugs are also useful for protecting your floors when you have guests over or when you have heavy furniture being dragged across the floor.
If your rugs have a pile height of 3/8th of an inch or less, you’ll want to make sure to replace them every few years. This is because as the age of your rug, it’ll lose its pile.
Protect your hardwood with skid-resistant pads
One way to keep your floors looking shiny and brand new is to protect them with skid-resistant pads. These pads are designed to absorb the impact of heavy furniture, which can help prevent scratches from occurring on your floors.
If you have heavy items being dragged across your floors, such as tables or chairs, you’ll want to make sure to place a skid-resistant pad underneath them.
This will help to prevent damage from occurring to your floors. Additionally, if you have any doorways, entryways, or other areas where people frequently come through your house, you’ll want to make sure to place skid-resistant pads there as well.
This will help to protect your floors from scuff marks when people are coming and going through the house.
Always Sweep Your Floors After Mopping
One more thing you should never forget is to sweep your floors after mopping. Many people think that they need to sweep their floors before they’ve been mopped, but you actually want to sweep your floors after they’ve been mopped.
This is because you want the dust and dirt that’s been gathered in the mop to be swept up from your floors.
If you sweep your floors after you’ve mopped them, you’ll be sweeping the mop dust along with the dust itself and you’ll end up with a cleaner floor than you would have if you swept your floors before they are moped.
Waxing Is Key for Hardwood Floor Care
There are a ton of options out there when it comes to protecting your floors from wear and tear, but one of the most effective is to wax your floors.
Whether it’s a floor-length wax or a furniture polish, wax is one of the best ways to protect your floors from scratches.
Waxing your floors isn’t just a great way to protect your floors from scratches and scuff marks, it’s also the best way to protect your floors from stains and damage.
This is because a layer of wax will protect your floors from things like dirt, spills, and foot traffic. Wax can also help to repel dirt and dust, keeping your floors looking brand new even after heavy traffic has occurred on them.
Protect when you have to move furniture
Another thing you can do to prevent scratches on your hardwood floors is to make sure nothing heavy is dragged across them.
This includes furniture like tables, chairs, and beds. This is because anything that’s heavy enough to drag across your floors will leave scratches on them.
While it might be tempting to drag a piece of furniture across your floors just once, you’ll want to make sure to leave the room while it’s being dragged across the ground so that nothing heavy is dragged across your floors.
This will help to avoid damaging your floors, which is a good thing because you’ll be glad to know that you can get them repaired at a minimal cost once they’re damaged.
The Bottom Line
Hope this article gave you some tips and tricks on how to prevent scratches on hardwood floors.
With proper home maintenance, you can protect your hardwood floors from scratches. Make sure to keep them clean and free of dirt and dust.
Install skid-resistant pads underneath heavy furniture, and make sure to sweep your floors before they dry. If you do these things, you should be able to protect your floors from the wear and tear that occurs without too much effort.
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