Wooden floors are much easier to clean than other types of floor coverings, such as carpets. However, cleaning wooden floors needs to be done with particular care as they are very sensitive to moisture and using unappropriated cleaning materials could actually damage the floors.
Preparation: Cleaning The Floor
Choosing the most suitable cleaning product for your wooden floors will normally be defined by the type of the sealant, whether it is oil or lacquer. Oiled floors and lacquered floors should only be cleaned with cleaning agents for oiled floors or floor cleaners for lacquered floors respectively. It is also very important that wooden floors are well hoovered before the application of wood floor cleaner with the use of a mop. Hovering will remove all solids from the floors, which could be damaging to the floor surface if mopping is done without hoovering first. When cleaning your wooden floors, we will also make sure that we have cleaned the hard to reach areas such as under sofas and under tables areas as well. Otherwise, hidden solids and dirt could accumulate and might eventually damage the wooden flooring.
There is a huge variety of wood floor cleaners on the market and it could be a difficult task to choose the right one for you. You can always contact FloorWorks and ask for advice on how to clean your wooden floors.
Another important consideration for choosing the right cleaner is whether there are any stains and spots on the flooring surface. As with any other floor covering, some stains are easier to clean than others. For example, stains from alcohol, such as red wine will require more care than others. Make sure that any liquid that is poured on the wooden floor is removed as soon as possible as the longer it stays the greater the risk of it penetrating the sealant and reaching the natural wood. Should the liquid reach the natural wood, then no cleaner will be able to remove it and a proper sanding and resealing might be required.
Polishing The Wooden Floor
Wood floor polishing is often mistaken with the process of sanding and resealing wooden floors. However, these are two completely different services are appropriate in very different circumstances. Sanding and varnishing is a process that is applied on damaged floors and completely removes the existing sealant, followed by resealing where several layers of new sealant are applied.
Polishing on the other hand is a service that maintains the existing sealant and does not remove it. Just the contrary, it protects the existing sealant by adding another layer on top of it. Therefore, wood floor polishing is inly applicable to wooden floors which are in relatively good condition and where the existing sealant is not worn out. This is just a maintenance service, not a complete sealing service.
Before the polishing begins, we will carry out a thorough cleaning of the floors. A specific wood floor polish is then applied with the use of an applicator pad, which would distribute it throughout. Leave it to dry for at least 24 hours and there you go – your floors are nice and shiny again!
