Wood Floor Care

Are your hardwood floors looking dull and scuffed? These signs of everyday use are bound to occur in even the tidiest of households. In fact, you likely enjoy having hardwoods because of their durability and how they stand up to decades of foot traffic. But at some point in time, even the best maintained flooring needs a facelift. Below, we explore the best methods to refresh your hardwood floors and make them look newer again.

Obviously, your best approach to make your hardwood floors look new longer is to properly maintain them from the start. When your hardwoods are installed or refinished by Tri Point Flooring, we are happy to provide tips for keeping your floors looking their best.

Refresh Your Hardwood Floors Via:

Give Your Hardwood Flooring A Deep Cleaning

A thorough cleaning is one of the best ways to refresh your hardwood floors. To be thorough, such a cleaning involves removing all of the furniture and rugs from the room. Of course, you should never drag furniture or textiles across the floor. Doing so can scratch, scuff or dull your floor’s finish.

A good vacuuming will pick up loose dirt, dust and debris. After vacuuming, use a hardwood floor cleaner made specifically for floors like yours. It is important to note that damp mopping or wet mopping with water will damage your hardwood floor finish. Many people think that mopping is key to make your hardwood floors look new again. But instead, doing so adds a haze to the finish.

New Topcoat Could Be A Game Changer

When merely cleaning will no longer make your hardwood floors look new again, you need a better solution. Your next go-to method to refresh your hardwood floors is application of a fresh topcoat. Your Tri Point Flooring pros can quickly and easily provide a new finish for your hardwood floors to roll back time and make them look their best.

If you feel the urge to DIY this project, you will have some work to do. First remove the floor finish using extra-fine steel wool. After sweeping away the residue, use a fine brush to apply a fresh finish. You need to also wipe away excess finish before allowing it to dry. Finally, after the finish dries, use a soft, lint-free cloth to buff and make your hardwood floors look new again.

It is important to note that doing this work yourself can certainly refresh your hardwood floors. But if the flooring and its finish are under warranty, doing so on your own will void the policy. It is generally better to call upon the experts to do this work for you if you have recently installed hardwood floors or engineered hardwoods.

Buff and Polish Technique to Refresh Your Hardwood Floors

If you want to try an easier and less laborious method to refresh your hardwood floors instead of replacing the finish, consider the buff and polish technique. You can choose to rent or buy your own buffer machine and buffing pads if you have many rooms of hardwoods and want to do-it-yourself. Or you can call upon the pros of Tri Point Flooring to do this work for you.

The first step in buffing hardwood floors is to thoroughly clean dirt, dust and debris from the surfaces. Even the tiniest of debris can scuff or scratch your floors during the buffing process. Before buffing, apply polish to small sections of the floor. Then work this polish in with the buffer in circular movements from one part of the room to the next. Again, if your hardwood floors are under factory warranty, doing the work yourself will void that coverage.

Sand and Refinish to Totally Refresh Your Hardwood Floors

If you want to totally turn back the hands of time on your hardwoods, sanding and refinishing will do the trick. You can even change the stain or finish as part of this process, for a whole new look. But this is not a DIY project. Most people need to hire the pros like those of Tri Point Flooring to do this work for them.

If you want to refresh your hardwood floors, call upon the experts of Tri Point Flooring. Our pros can assess your wood surface and finish quality and determine which method can make your hardwood floors look new again. Call us at (919)771-7542 for appointment scheduling.

Your wood floors take a beating on a daily basis, particularly if you have pets, children and an active household. As enduring and timeless as hardwoods appear, you do have to maintain and care for them, like any other flooring. When you properly polish wood floors in your Raleigh area home, you keep them beautiful and resilient. Using the right products when polishing helps them retain their shine while reducing the appearance of imperfections.

The first step before you start to polish hardwood floors is to evaluate the finish. If yours feature a protective coating, such as urethane or other waterproof barrier, you can safely polish them. If you have unsealed wood floors or a tung oil finish, polish is not your solution. Instead, unsealed floors require wax.

Necessary Tools and Materials to Polish Wood Floors

To polish wood floors, you need:

• Sponge mop
• Hardwood floor cleaner
• Broom
• Dustpan
• Microfiber mop pad
• Wood floor polish
• Flathead mop

1. Test your wood floor finish.

To determine the type of finish on your wood floor, use a sharp knife blade to scrape a small amount of the finish from an unnoticeable area. If your scrapings do not include clear material but the finish smudges, your floors likely have a penetrating finish. You should not polish wood floors like these and instead need to wax them.

If your scrapings show clear material, the floor has a surface finish and you can polish them. But to be safe, you should test your polish on a hidden area before proceeding with the rest of your floors.

2. Clean your wood floors to remove dirt and dust.

Remove as much of your furniture and rugs from your room as you can. Then clean your wood floor using a broom and dustpan. You can also use a vacuum designed for hard flooring.

Next, mop using a quality wood floor cleaner, such as a professional one available from your wood flooring contractor. If you cannot locate commercial wood floor cleaning solution, you can make your own using a 1/4 cup of dish soap in one gallon of warm water. This process lifts grime and residual dust or dirt.

Rinse your floors with a clean, damp mop. Fully dry them using a soft and clean towel.

3. Polish wood floors for a beautiful shine.

Starting in a back corner of your room, work toward an exit to avoid polishing yourself into a corner. Pour a small amount of wood floor polish directly onto the floor in an “S” shape. Work this polish into the wood using a flathead mop in back and forth motions with the grain of the wood. Smooth air bubbles as they appear.

Continue this process in square sections of about five feet wide. Working in small sections makes it easier to maintain control over the polish before it dries. Remember that applying thin layers enables faster drying. You can apply multiple coats, if desired.

As you work, remember to avoid getting polish on your drywall or baseboards. It can stain these areas.

4. Wait one day before putting the room back together.

Avoid allowing any light traffic through the room for about one hour after you polish wood floors. After one day, you can move furniture and other items back into place. It is also safe to resume normal use after one day. It is important to not slide or drag items across the floor, however. This can scratch the polish and the wood beneath it.

5. Protect your floors to keep them looking great.

To keep your floors looking fresh and great, maintain them properly. This maintenance starts with placing floor mats or rugs at entry points to prevent tracking of dirt from outside. If you have wood floors in a kitchen, laundry room or bathroom, place rugs at sinks and other wet areas to avoid getting water on the wood.

Vacuum or sweep your floors at least once weekly. You should deep clean them as in step two, above, at least monthly. Do not use DIY cleaning solutions that contain diluted ammonia or vinegar. Instead, use cleaners designed specifically for wood floors.

Polish hardwood floors twice per year or as needed. But you should not polish them more than four times each year.

For more information about how to polish wood floors and maintain them, talk to your wood flooring expert at Tri Point Flooring. You can call us at (919) 771-7542.

If you live in or around Wake County, North Carolina, you probably have an appreciation for wood floors. Many people who buy homes here specifically list “hardwoods” as one of their buying preferences. But liking how these floors look when new and maintaining them for years to come are two totally different things. Some homeowners use the wrong cleaning agents on their floors and others harm the wood in other ways. Why do hardwood floors look dull and how can you prevent this problem?

Know the Finish of Your Hardwood Floors

You need to understand what type of finish your floors have to keep them looking their best. Whether you have engineered hardwoods or solid wood flooring, is the finish a polyurethane or polyacrylic urethane? If neither of these, is it paste wax?

Most people do not think to ask this question as they admire a brand new shine. But as years pass, the shine grows dull. Then you find yourself wondering why your hardwood floors look dull and how to bring back the shine.

If you do not know the type of finish on your hardwoods, you can find out. Simply find an area typically exposed to normal foot traffic. Drop a small amount of water on the wood. Watch and see what happens, to get your answer.

Does the flooring quickly absorb the drop? Or, does the water cause spotting? In either of these cases, you have unsealed hardwoods. For these floors, you should never clean with water.

Does the bead of water sit on the surface? If the floor does not absorb the drop, you have sealed hardwoods.

To test for a paste wax finish, find a spot in a hidden corner. Delicately rub steel wool over the wood. Is there a waxy gray film on the wool after doing so? If you notice this residue, your floors have been waxed.

7 Reasons Why Hardwood Floors Look Dull

Now you know whether you have unsealed, sealed or paste wax finished floors. Next, you can figure out what makes your hardwood floors look dull.

Hardwood Floors look dull because you just move dirt around.

If you do not sweep, vacuum or dust mop your floors before using a wet mop, you are just pushing dirt around. By adding water or other liquid to the existing dirt, you make a muddy solution that builds up on the floor surface. It is important to remove dirt and debris from the floor before mopping or using a cleaning solution.

Your acrylic-based cleaner is clouding the finish.

Although acrylic-based floor wax liquids claim to make your floors shine, they can actually cause clouding. These “no wax” cleaning solutions turn polyurethane and paste wax finishes milky over time. You can try using mineral spirits to clear one area at a time. But that takes elbow grease and rarely helps as much as having your floors stripped and refinished.

Too much cleaning product.

Even using the right cleaner can make hardwood floors look dull over time. This is the case when you use too much of the solution. In essence, you should only use the recommended amount as directed by the product label.

You do not finish the job.

Anytime you wax or damp mop your hardwoods, you need to follow this up with buffing. Buffing prevents streaking on the floors. To enhance shine, buff the finish using a dry microfiber cloth or mop.

Too many scratches.

Pet nails and stiletto heels are both notorious for ruining the finish of hardwood floors. Another cause of scratches is general residue on the bottom of shoes worn from outside into your home. Prevention is the best means of keeping your hardwoods looking their best. Keep pet nails trimmed, avoid wearing high heels indoors and place a doormat inside and outside of each entrance. Otherwise, highly scratched hardwood floors need stripping and refinishing for a better shine.

Floors have wax buildup.

Floors without a polyurethane finish are typically finished with carnauba paste wax. This creates a shine but can look dull over time and as the wax builds up. Even when you properly apply wax only annually, soon your hardwood floors look dull. You can strip this paste wax with mineral spirits or through the help of your floor refinishing experts.

You need to call the professionals for refinishing.

No matter how gingerly you use your hardwood floors and even when you clean them with great care, all hardwoods eventually need stripping and refinishing. Solid hardwoods can go through this process several times. Engineered hardwood floors can also endure through two to three refinishing and resealing processes.

Expert Care When Your Hardwood Floors Look Dull

If your hardwood floors look dull, call your hardwood flooring experts at Tri Point Flooring in Cary, North Carolina. We install and refinish hardwood floors and engineered hardwoods throughout Wake County and the rest of the Triangle Area. We can help your floors shine and look their best. Simply call Tri Point Flooring at (919)771-7542 for a free quote.

Today, many people are tearing out carpeting and replacing it with hardwoods. Refinished or engineered hardwood floors provide a much fresher and updated look for your home. They are easier to maintain. It is also easier to keep your hardwood floors looking new as compared to carpeting.

Once you have your new flooring installed, how do you properly maintain it? Below, find seven tips to keep your hardwood floors looking new.

Preventative Maintenance Keep Wood Floors Looking New

It is important to develop a habit of regularly cleaning your floors, particularly sweeping or vacuuming away dirt and debris. This helps you avoid having to spend more time and money on repairing your floors in the long run. Through daily preventive maintenance, such as sweeping every evening before bed, you can keep your hardwood floors looking new.

Clean Up Spills Immediately on Hardwood Floors

Spills happen. That is a fact of life. Although having hard floors means less likelihood of a spill becoming a stain, you still need to clean the mess up quickly. Stains can set into wood floors if they remain on the surface too long. When that happens, you must have your hardwood floor refinished to refresh its appearance.

Sweep Daily

As said before, sweeping your floors daily is an important rule to keep your hardwood floors looking new. But this rule deserves a second and more specific explanation. Residual dirt left on the flooring can scratch the wood. People easily and unknowingly step on tiny granules of sand or other debris left on the floor surface. As they move or apply weight, each granule works like sandpaper.

Consider using a rubber broom. These special brooms do not scratch the surface of your floors and work very well for picking up dirt and debris like pet hair and dander.

Use Hardwood Cleaner Once Weekly

If you have a standard amount of foot traffic going through your home, you need to use hardwood floor cleaner once weekly. This simple step can keep your hardwood floors looking new much longer. They also provide a fresh scent and slight sheen that everyone appreciates. Find these cleaners in your hardware store or from your professional flooring company, such as Cary, North Carolina’s Tri Point Flooring. Spray the cleaner and buff the flooring gently using a soft cloth or hardwood broom.

Avoid Soap and Water on Hardwood Floors

Many people do not realize that soap and water damages hardwood floors. Wood suffers water damage, so you need to keep water out of contact with these surfaces. The liquid seeps into cracks in each board, as well as the crevices between planks. This causes discoloration, swelling and deformation of boards.

Instead of using a traditional mop and bucket to clean your flooring, invest only several dollars in better materials. You need a microfiber mop or one specially designed for hardwoods to provide polished, streak-free appeal without scratching. Keep hardwood cleaner on hand and react quickly when water spills.

Place Felt on the Legs of Your Furniture

Furniture can quickly and seriously damage your new floors. To keep your hardwood floors looking new, apply felt to the bottom of each furniture leg or base. Pay particular attention to frequently used chairs, sofas and other furnishings that move. You can buy this felt at your hardware store or find pre-cut pieces designed for chair legs, table legs and sofa bases. Having these felt pads applied also makes sliding the furniture easier for cleaning, without scratching.

Keep Your Hardwood Floors Looking New with Professional Help

When Tri Point Flooring installs new engineered hardwood floors or refinishes existing hardwoods, we advise our customers about proper cleaning and care. If you have questions about how to keep your hardwood floors looking new, we are pleased to help. We have the experience, equipment and advanced knowledge to perform routine maintenance for you, such as in removing scratches, staining, buffing and recoating. Call Tri Point Flooring in Cary, NC today at (919) 771-7542.