How to clean your wooden floors
There are so many myths and legends surrounding the cleaning of a wooden floor. It is NOWHERE NEAR as complex or difficult as some would have you believe, but there are a few massive DO NOT’s that we absolutely stick by.
- DO NOT use a steam mop on your polyurethane finished wooden floor, no matter if it is a solvent based poly or waterbased poly. High pressure, moist air being pushed down into the minute hair scratches and between the planks in your floor is just a recipe for disaster. Over time, your polyurethane is going to change colour and start to look milky, the sheen level is going to lower, and the polyurethane film that is over your wooden floor is going to be compromised and will fail. Delamination will occur over time. Using a steam mop will also void all coating warranties we provide with a Just Hardwood Floors floor.
- DO NOT use any abrasive or caustic cleaning product on your floor (eg, Handy Andy, Chemico, Turps based products). Again, this will compromise the integrity of the polyurethane, and the coating system will fail.
- DO NOT use a wet mop and bucket of water. Again, too much moisture on the top of the coating is going to compromise the polyurethane.
Instead, try the following method, and enjoy your floor for a much longer period of time before any resanding and coating will be required:
- Dust or vacuum your floor and remove any debris that is on your floor. Remember if you are using your vacuum to make sure the brushes are down on the vacuum foot, and to always go with the direction of your timber floor. When you go across the planks, you run the risk of scratching and damaging your floor.
- Using a microfibre mop (we recommend and sell the Sabco SuperSwish mop as well as the Bona Wooden Floor Spray mop), and an appropriate wooden floor cleaning product (Duracoat for a solvent based polyurethane or Bona Wooden Floor Cleaner for a waterbased poly, or Tover Pulito Parquet Natural Soap for a Tover Polyurethaned floor). All of these products are available in either a concentrate or ready-to-use form. Dilute the cleaning product, following the instructions on the bottle, into a spray bottle, and spray directly onto the floor surface, then mop using your microfibre mop.
- Allow your floor to dry before walking on it. This should only take a few minutes as there should not be that much moisture on the surface.
If you would like finish specific cleaning instructions for your polyurethaned floor, and provided it is a product we use, please contact us directly on sales@jhf.co.nz and we will email you a copy of the instructions through.
All of the products mentioned are available for purchase off our website online store.
If, over time, your floor starts to look a little dull, it may be that it just needs a scrub clean and/or a light disc and coat. Always contact a professional for advice on this, as a full resand and coat can be incredibly disruptive to your home life.
For any further advice, please feel free to contact us. We are more than happy to help!
