We are conditioned to secure and protect all sorts of things – from our cell phones to our vehicles, protecting these things is paramount. However, what happens when the screen protector on your phone gets scratched, or if the layer of wax on your car is fading? It would be absurd to just put more wax on top of the old wax, or put a new screen protector on top of your phone’s old scratched one. We replace those layers of protection once they have expired. So why would you want to treat your hardwood floors any different? After all, no one wants to see dull hardwood floors!
It’s no different when it comes to preserving, protecting, and enjoying the hardwood floors in your home or business. More than likely the hardwood floors in your home have a protective coating that was applied to the wood at some point, and, over time, will wear and fade just like anything else that gets a lot of use.
The amazing thing about hardwood flooring is that it can last 25 years or more if maintained properly. This can be a difficult task in Michigan though, where general wear can become apparent very quickly with our harsh winters. Over time, many abrasive particles combined with foot traffic will grind down the finish of your hardwood, leaving it listless and dull.
What to Do
So what should you do? Regular maintenance is key to prevent dull hardwood floors for years to come, but you don’t want to do the wrong thing! The safest and most effective natural way to clean your hardwood floor yourself is so Simple & Quick you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of it sooner: Vinegar and water (yes, that is all it takes!). Mix this simple household product with water – 1 part vinegar to 4 parts water – and you’ve got yourself an all-natural cleaning alternative to many of the consumer products on the market. Here are a few other hardwood floor safe DIY options:
Safe Hardwood Cleaning Products:
- Any alcohol based cleaners
- Mild soap and water mix
- Vinegar and water mix *1/4 ratio as noted above
What Not to Do
The one thing you will want to do to save you from headaches in the future is to avoid using acrylic based cleaners! This can be difficult because so many hardwood floor cleaning products on the market have acrylic in them. Acrylic-based cleaning products are typically anything with the words refinish, polish, shine, or sheen in the name. These products will look great immediately after application, but their buildup will actually dull your floors over time. Each extra layer of wax or polish over the surface of the wood reduces the original shine of your beautiful hardwood floors.
Regular use of these products creates layers and layers of acrylic over the surface of your floors, making them appear duller and duller with each application. Here are a few of the most common cleaners listed below that you should try to avoid.
Acrylic Products That Leave Wax Buildup:
- Bona Refinisher
- Orange Glo
- Mop n Glo
- Murphy’s Oil Soap
- Rejuvenate
- Bruce products
A Modernistic Pro Cleaning is the Best Cleaning
Many of the surface scratches homeowners hate to look at are NOT ACTUALLY SCRATCHES IN THE WOOD ITSELF! A large amount of these blemishes to your hardwood floor are often just layers of acrylic that are retaining dirt and scratches over time. You would be amazed at what a state-of-the-art professional hardwood floor cleaning can do to dull hardwood flooring!
The best thing you can do for your floors is to call a specialist like Modernistic. We can test your wood surfaces for built-up acrylic and remove it altogether to reach the hardwood below. Our certified technicians then perform an intense cleaning process that will deep clean down to the wood grain, reaching past the seal applied to the hardwood. Finally, we reseal your newly cleaned and revitalized floors. If you’d like to be proud of your hardwood floors again, then give Modernistic a call!