Sanding wood is easy, right? You just grab a piece of sandpaper and sand away all the rough and uneven surfaces…
There’s actually much more to it than that to ensure you achieve a professional sanding job every time.
Caring For Your Wooden Flooring
Wooden flooring gives a beautiful finish to any room. It works well with modern designs to provide a minimalist feel, or with comfy farmhouse décor too. However, it is more delicate than carpet or tile and will need you to provide the proper care to keep it looking its best.
Spillages, marks, and scratches are bound to happen, especially if you have children or pets, so it’s important that you understand the right aftercare for your wooden flooring to stay on top of any issues. Water damage, cracks, or scratches will only get worse if you don’t fix them straight away.
To protect your floor from damage, you’ll need to apply some rules in your household.
- Always remove shoes when you walk on the floor.
- Keep your pet’s claws trimmed to avoid minor scratches.
- Put down a rug if your children intend to play with their toys in that room.
Say Goodbye to Scratches and Marks!
To keep your floor looking shiny and new, you’ll need to understand how to maintain it properly and ensure you keep up with your care routine. Accidents happen but can be resolved more quickly if you constantly maintain the floor. It’s much more difficult to pull it back to perfection if you don’t continue the upkeep.
- Ensure you give your wooden floor a good clean once per week. For this, try not to use a hoover or hard bristle sweeping brush. Microfibre mops are the best solution. They’re gentle on your floor and will remove the dust without creating scratches.
- Don’t use abrasive chemicals. Some cleaning products can damage the protective coating on your wood, even if they say they’re intended for floor use. Instead, use a damp (not wet) microfibre cloth with clean, warm water.
- Never use a mop and bucket. Soaking your wooden flooring could cause the wood to warp and bend, creating large cracks.
Handy Tips
Depending on the type and colour of your wooden flooring, there may be items in your pantry that can help you maintain and provide the proper aftercare for wooden flooring.
Olive Oil and Baking Soda – After removing any dust or dirt from the floor surface, you could mix some baking soda with a couple of drops of olive oil until it makes a paste. Gently apply this to any areas of scratched flooring, leave for a few minutes, then buff away with a microfibre cloth. Your scratches should appear reduced.
Walnut Finish – The rich oil within walnuts can help disguise a scratched or marked wooden floor. Simply warm up the nut first (in your hand will do), then gentle rub on the affected area in a circular motion. This acts as a wood stain and will cure any visible blemishes.
Coconut Oil – Coconut oil is thick enough to fill cracks in its solid form. Rubbing a little into a larger crack, letting it dry, then buffing off the excess can help restore a smooth surface.
Wood Stain – Wood stain is a great idea to recover from any scuff marks. Gently sand away the affected area with fine sandpaper then conduct a patch test in an unseen area to ensure you have the right colour and finish. Remember, wood stains will dry slightly darker.
Once you’re confident that your damaged wooden flooring has been restored to its former glory, you should finish it with a water-based silicone polish to maintain its integrity and shine.
Contact us
We hope that our blog has been informative, please don’t hesitate to give us a call on 0208 427 6604 or head over to our contact page to fill in our online enquiry form.
Aftercare Advice on Wooden Flooring
Wooden flooring is a great fit for any home. It has the capability of making a room look homely and traditional, but also contemporary and minimalist depending on the type of wood and stain.
Why Choose Wooden Flooring?
- It’s timeless – wooden flooring works with lots of styles and means that you can redecorate without needing to change the floor. Plus, it never goes out of fashion.
- It’s easy to clean – Unlike carpet, a wooden floor is simple to keep clean and care for, especially if you have pets.
- It’s hard-wearing – Wooden flooring doesn’t tend to wear out – whereas a carpet might become patchy after years of use.
Aftercare For Wooden Flooring
While it’s a great choice, you’ll need to provide ongoing care for your wooden floor to keep it looking its best. Scratches can build up quickly from pet claws, furniture moving, or children’s toys, so you need to keep on top of them.
Usually, wooden flooring will have a lacquered surface to keep it looking shiny and fresh. But it’s this surface that can easily be damaged – making scratches noticeable and dull in comparison.
Wooden Flooring Aftercare Tips
Before you immediately grab the polish to try to buff out any scratches, you’ll need to take a look at these tips on how to look after wooden flooring.
Prepping Your Wooden Floor
Clean your floor
Before you start to restore any scratches, you’ll need to make sure that it’s 100% clean. Polishing doesn’t clean the floor; it just adds a protective layer, and you don’t want to be protecting the dust that’s formed.
Choose A No-Rinse Cleaner
Some cleaning agents ask you to mop the cleaner onto the floor and then use a clean mop to wash away the cleaning residue with water. But soaking your floor with cleaner, then again with water can make the wood expand and warp.
Use a no-rinse cleaner and a damp – not wet – mop to remove any dust and dirt.
Pay Attention To Corners
Most people will give their wooden flooring a quick mop over and then get straight to the polish. However, the highest build-up of dust is in the corners of your room which are often missed by your mop.
Wipe around the corners and edges of the room by hand.
Repeat If Necessary
Don’t assume one clean will do the trick. If it still looks dirty – try again.
Choosing Lacquer
Oil, polish, and lacquer are all names for the same thing. They come in matt or satin finishes depending on what type of style you’re going for. The matt look provides a more natural feel to the wood, while satin gives it a nice shine.
Most lacquer is a yellowish colour and may make your wood dry very slightly darker than it was before, so bear this in mind.
To lacquer your floor, you’ll need:
- A paintbrush
- A paint roller with a long handle
- A paint tray
The Steps To Follow
- Pour the lacquer into the paint tray and apply a small amount to your paintbrush.
- Paint around the sides of the room by hand and be careful to avoid the walls.
- Use the roller to paint the rest of the floor with a thin layer.
- Leave to dry for 8 hours.
- Don’t leave any puddles of lacquer – they’ll dry awkwardly and scrape off.
- Don’t walk on the floor for 8 hours after application.
- If there are still visible scratches, repeat the same process to add another layer.
Contact Us
We hope that our blog has been informative, please don’t hesitate to give us a call on 020 8427 6604 or head over to our contact page to fill in our online enquiry form.
Floor Sanding, Buffing or Screening?
If you have a variety of wooden or wood finish floors throughout your home, then you may already be thinking of ways to keep them looking at their best. Ultimately, a great wooden floor is one that you clean and treat regularly. They take time and care to keep them looking at their best, but providing you work out what’s best for your flooring, there are no reasons why this should provide any headaches. Continue reading Floor Sanding, Buffing or Screening?
Flooring Trends | Kitchen Hardwoods
Hardwood flooring has grown massively in popularity in recent years and is now one of the most common choices for flooring in the home because of its durability, low maintenance, and how easy it is to clean. It can even add value to your home. While materials such as laminate or even tiles can emulate the look of hardwood they will never be as good as the real thing. Continue reading Flooring Trends | Kitchen Hardwoods
Preparing for Your Flooring Project
You’ve thought it all out and arrived at the conclusion that it’s time to redo your floors. Before you go tearing up carpet or refinishing hardwood there is plenty of prep work that needs to be done. In order to get your project off to a good start, there are several things you’ll need to take into consideration, such as the following: