Timber floors can be a great choice for your home, as they're durable and attractive and typically cleaner than carpeting, the fibres of which hold lots of dust and other debris. While timber floors can last for years without needing maintenance, note a few mistakes to avoid when caring for timber floors so you avoid doing any undue damage to those floors and are sure to keep them looking their best.
Wax
After you clean a timber floor, you may be tempted to add a layer of wax to give it a shine and enhance the appearance of the wood grain. Wax may be recommended for some timber floors, but not all of them. Using wax on very soft varieties of timber can allow it to seep into the wood grain and soften the wood. Too many layers of wax can also be a mistake; thick wax can hold dirt, dust, and mud, and this can get ground into the floor and damage the timber. It can also be very slick and dangerous to walk on! If you want a shine to the timber floor, be sure you buff it properly and then seal it, rather than assuming wax is the best solution.
Scratching
Avoid scratching the surface of timber floors as much as possible, as scratches on the floor can allow moisture and humidity to seep into the wood so that it softens and even allows mould to form. The floor may also start to cup and bow in the area of the softened wood. If the floor has a stain of any sort, using a wire brush or scrubby pad is not the best way to remove it; try a cleanser meant for timber floors and blot the stain, and then reseal the timber as necessary instead.
Damp cleaning
It's never good to use damp rags or mops on a wood floor; any type of moisture on the floor can seep into the wood grain and cause damage, as mentioned above. You may assume that you can quickly dry the floor after mopping it, but your timber floors can wind up with water spots and other such marks very easily. You may also not be able to remove all the water from the floor after cleaning a stain, as that water gets absorbed quickly. To avoid this damage, never use any type of damp cloth or mop; a dry microfiber cloth can absorb stains or pick up dust and other debris so that the floors are clean and polished and protected from damage.
