How to maintain your wood floor so it retains the new look

General maintenance pointers for real wood & laminate floors - The most important rule is not to add too much water or cleaning agent to the product. However, as a simplified overview, the following instruction is considered suitable for most products. Vacuum or sweep the area first to clear any loose dust or grit. Now apply a fine mist of water over the floor in manageable sections, and then wipe dry taking care to use a non-abrasive, clean cloth.

There are lots of real wood flooring and laminate flooring cleaners available on the market, but please ensure that they are compatible with your particular floor before use. As with any cleaning product (washing-up liquid, etc) different brands are of different qualities, but does not necessarily affect suitability.

Obviously, taking a few precautions to reduce the level of dirt in the first instance would be prudent. Place doormats by the exterior doors to help prevent dirt and grit from being brought in by foot-traffic, which can cause considerable wear and tear. Put protective pads on furniture (not metal feet, which mark wood floors) to avoid unnecessary marks and scratches on the floor.

Observe caution in areas where spillages are more likely to occur and ensure that any spillage, regardless of how small, is mopped up immediately.

Real wood - lacquered
The general day-to-day maintenance for a lacquered real wooden floor is actually very easy. All lacquered floors have a hardwearing polyurethane surface, which requires no treatment prior to use. Simply vacuum to remove surface dust and clean using a minimum amount of water or cleaning agent for general day to day maintenance.

Real wood - oiled
The general day-to-day maintenance for a natural & UV oiled real wooden floor is actually very easy. Simply vacuum to remove surface dust and clean using a minimum amount of water or cleaning agent for general day to day maintenance. Re-oiling is necessary when your floor starts to feel more difficult to clean. In the majority of cases an oiled floor will require re-oiling twice in the first year and then typically once per year thereafter.

Real wood - unfinished
The general day-to-day maintenance for an unfinished wooden floor will initially depend upon the type of finish you have chosen to apply. Since it is not usual to leave an unfinished floor in an unfinished state, it is presumed here that you will have applied a stain or coating of your own choice. It is first necessary to check with the manufacturer of your particular coating for any specific maintenance instructions before proceeding. In most cases the instructions will be the same as one of the above, however may not necessarily be so. If you are uncertain then it is always possible to sand away the existing finish so that your flooring returns to the same unfinished state in which you purchased it.