Breathe new life into your wooden floors

Solid wooden flooring can make a timeless and beautiful addition to your home, but without the right maintenance programme the complexion of your wooden floor can become dull and lifeless. Aftercare is vital especially when preserving high quality flooring for years to come, so why not breathe new life into your floors with our guide to maintaining solid wood flooring. Seal and protect your solid wood floor with varnish or oil wax. Varnish creates a lacquered coating which forms a protective layer on the wood, whilst oil products are a little different. Oil and oil wax protect your wood floor from the inside out. Despite its deep protection, oil treated floors do have their drawbacks; oiled floors need a lot more maintenance as oil is removed during routine cleaning and must therefore be replenished to maintain ultimate protection. You can see with the naked eye whether your wooden floors have become dehydrated. Oil flooring is however perfect for pet owners as lacquered/varnished floors scratch easily. Another important part of your maintenance programme should be protecting your floors from your furniture. The weight and movement of furniture can cause considerable damage, especially to varnished floors. Use felt pads or casters and apply these to the bottom of your furniture. When moving your furniture around the room make sure you lift the furniture, don’t drag! Regular cleaning is advised in order to preserve the quality of your solid wood floor, vacuum with a soft attachment or sweep to remove any surface dirt from your floor. Mop your floors with a mild soap solution occasionally or when needed. Avoid oil soaps, these cause build ups on your floor; utilise a pH neutral cleaner to gently clean your floor. Make sure you wring out the mop as much as possible as excess moisture can damage the seals and adhesives that hold your floor together. Dirt and grit that gather on your floor is essentially your worst enemy, they act like sandpaper, damaging your floor with scratches and creating a dull effect. Use a good quality entrance mat to prevent dirt from being brought into your home and leave your floor radiating with warmth, richness and natural beauty. Not everyone is perfect and you are bound to get a few scuffs and scratches on your floor over time, especially if you have kids or pets, that’s where buffering comes in. Buffering can transform damaged flooring into a floor to be proud of! Periodic slow speed buffering makes mince meat of stubborn marks that can’t be removed by routine cleaning. For particularly tough stains, use a nylon scouring pad, a neutral detergent and some hard graft to improve the appearance of stained or damaged flooring. It is recommended that domestic flooring is refinished every 10-15 years to extend its life and improve quality. This article was written by Localtraders.com, an easy to use enquiry service connecting customers with reputable tradesmen that are local to them. Complete your home improvements in confidence when you source a reliable trade professional via Localtraders.