Timber Flooring – Care & Maintenance

cleaning wooden floors
Timber flooring is beautiful to look at and fantastic for any in the household with allergies. As it is a natural material, when cleaning wooden floors you need to keep in mind a unique set of requirements, so a little extra care can go a long way in keeping your flooring looking great for longer. Here are a few of them.

Care & Maintenance of Timber Flooring

Your timber floors are a long term investment and with care and a small amount of maintenance, you can enjoy optimum performance.

The below care and maintenance tips will assist you in cleaning wooden floors and keeping your timber flooring looking its best:

  • Allow 48 hours from the completion of the final floor polishing coat before placing furniture on your timber floors.
  • Avoid placing rugs on the timber for a minimum of 2 weeks after the final coat is completed to ensure the varnish is completely cured.
  • To reduce wear and scratching of a timber floor, use mats at your exterior doors to minimise dirt being brought onto the floorboards inside. Regularly sweep high traffic sections with a soft-bristle broom.
  • Install felt pads to the bottom of furniture legs . This will reduce the risk of marking the floorboards. For furniture with castors, use protective mats.
  • Rotate rugs occasionally and shield the floor from direct sunlight by installing curtains or blinds. All timber floors will fade, darken or change shades over a period of time, however exposure to direct sunlight may quicken this process.
  • Stilettos can dent the timber floor surface. Ensure shoes with sharp endings are removed to avoid damaging the timber floor surface.
  • Animals with nails or claws may scratch the varnished finish, so make sure all pets nails are trimmed and kept blunt.

A key benefit of a timber floor is that it can be refinished if it becomes scratched or dented without having to replace the flooring.

Cleaning Wooden Floors

Cleaning wooden floors is fairly straight forward and simple. Your timber floors will maintain it’s look for longer if it is kept as clean as possible. To remove surface dirt, vacuum your floor regularly. This is especially necessary in the heavy traffic areas. Keep door mats clean.

For more stubborn dirt, you can use a damp mop and pH neutral floor cleaners can help. *use as per manufacturer’s instructions

You shouldn’t be cleaning wooden floors with common household detergents, polishes or wax. These products may be abrasive and scratch the timber floors finish.

Other products can leave a film on the timber which may hinder the future refinishing of your floor. Never use Methylated Spirits or Kerosene, as petroleum distillate degrades the coating and will dull the floor.

Use quality lint free floor mops. Wipe spills immediately with a dry cloth. For sticky spills, moisten the cloth.

Do not overly wet the timber floor as it can cause the floor to expand and may result in cupping. For this reason, it’s critical to ensure that mops or cloths are wrung out.

Steam mops are not recommended for cleaning timber floors.

When cleaning wooden floors in your home the simple rule of ‘less is more’ should work a treat.

Care & Maintenance of Decking

When it comes to exposed decks, cleaning wooden floors is similar. To keep your timber deck looking pristine, it must be kept clean and maintained. It will need to be inspected at least annually to make sure that it’s in satisfactory condition.

As the deck is external and therefore affected by moisture and weather, the deck must be regularly maintained. Inspect the timber and any loose or damaged boards should be secured or replaced and loose nails should be hammered back in.

Sweep off any loose dirt or residue and then clean the boards with a deck cleaning product. After you have completed cleaning the deck, it may require a light sand that will remove any splinters and damage to the timber. We recommend that you contact our company to assist you with this process as it requires expertise.

Once cleaned and lightly sanded it will require resealing. Before the finishing product is applied, you will need to cover the areas around the deck that need protection.

If your timber deck has become grey from weathering or is discoloured due to other factors, there are a range of maintenance and cleaning products which may be able to bring back the timber’s original tone when cleaning wooden floors in your home. Make sure you use them with care and closely follow the manufacturer’s instructions. If you need some more advice, feel free to contact our professional floor sanding team!

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