how do you disinfect hardwood floors
Why You Should Clean Hardwood Floors ?
Tools and Materials:
1. Mop
One of the best tools that you will be able to use to clean your wood floors without scratching them or causing any kind of damage would be a soft mop. A soft mop is going to allow you to effectively get rid of the surface layers of dirt, grime, and bacteria that exist on your floors and it won’t cause scratches. Keep in mind, you should always be looking to use a mop that utilizes a microfiber cloth.
2. Hardwood Specific Cleaning Wipes
You will find a lot of specialized cleaning wipes for hardwood floors. You can find these from leading brands like Clorox and even Lysol. This will enable you to clean your floors quickly, easily, and safely.
3. Vinegar
If you are looking to clean your floors using something more natural, you will be able to utilize white vinegar. White vinegar has been and will continue to be one of the best options for those who want to disinfect their hardwood floors safely and effectively. Simply create your vinegar solution by diluting it in water. From there, you will have a good disinfecting solution that you can use to spread across your hardwood floors. However, when used improperly, you could end up damaging your floor’s seal. It’s important to do this only if your seal is intact.
4. Broom
By completing a once over regularly with a broom, you should be able to mitigate a lot of the larger issues you may otherwise deal with. By getting rid of debris regularly, you can avoid allowing them to get trapped into the grooves of the wood.
5. Vacuum
A vacuum can be a valuable addition to your cleaning routine if you are looking to keep your hardwood floors clean. However, you need to be certain that you are only using the soft portion of your vacuum. If your vacuum comes with a floor-brush specific attachment, you can use it to get rid of the surface debris sitting on your floors. However, if it comes with other attachments that have a material that is coarse and that can scratch your floors, avoid using it.
The Cleaning Process:
1. Microfiber Mop
Try to use a mop that has a microfiber cloth attachment. This will give you the ability to get rid of the debris that is on the surface without causing any kind of scratches. This should help you pick up all of the pet hair, dust, and various dirt and other debris that may be on the surface of your floors.
2. Vacuum Attachment
Here is where your vacuum attachment comes in handy. Simply use the attachment that is meant for floors and try to get rid of all of the stuff that you couldn’t get with your microfiber mop. This will enable you to vacuum up some of the larger things like gravel or wood chips that may have entered your home from walking with shoes.
3. Disinfecting Products
This is where you will want to begin using disinfecting products. If you are going to be purchasing and using wood floor specific disinfecting cloths from a leading brand, you can do that. These clothes are full of a cleaning solution that will effectively help you disinfect your floors without an issue. You will be able to clean your floors rather quickly using them. If this is your preferred method, you don’t have to do anything else.
4. Use A Damp Mop
One of the key things that you should be doing is using a damp mop. You could make your own cleaning solution by combining dish soap with water. You could also attempt to use a vinegar-based solution diluted with water. Ideally, you want to try to avoid using vinegar unless you are entirely sure your floors seals are intact. From there, you should be focusing on specific areas at a time. This way, you aren’t over-saturating your floors with water. Water is the enemy of hardwood floors. This is why you want to be cognizant of how wet you are getting your floors while you are cleaning them. This can help you avoid damaging your floors.
5. Use Only Water
Once you have cleaned your floors with your preferred cleaning solution, you will want to do another round of only water. This way, you will be able to get rid of all of the cleaning solutions you used in the previous step.
Things You Should Do:
Soap and Water
You cannot go wrong with soap and water. While we mentioned you can use a vinegar-based solution for a natural disinfectant, it would still be recommended to opt for soap and water whenever you are unsure if your floors can handle vinegar.
Avoid Anything Abrasive
You want to avoid abrasive cleansers on the marketplace including ammonia. You want to avoid both abrasive cleaning solutions and physical cleaning equipment that could cause your hardwood floors to scratch or get ruined.
Clean Regularly
You should be going through cleaning your floors every now and then. That way, you will be able to keep your floors from getting overly dirty which would force you into having to give your floor a deep clean. By vacuuming and sweeping regularly with a microfiber mop, you should be able to keep a lot of the issues at bay.
Things You Shouldn’t Do:
Use Steam Cleaners
While there are certain products you will find that are specifically targeting hardwood floor owners, you are not going to want to depend on a steam cleaner. Unfortunately, a steam cleaner can end up causing damage to a wood floor [1]. While a professional could clean hardwood with steam cleaners safely, if you aren’t experienced, it’s best to avoid it. That way, you don’t risk damaging your floor. Keep in mind, excessive moisture is the number one enemy of a hardwood floor. As you can see, there is a lot that you are going to want to do when it comes to keeping your hardwood floors disinfected and clean. Cleaning your floors doesn’t have to be too difficult. While you could always call on professionals for the best cleaning, you should be able to do a lot of the tasks on your own. Keep in mind, moisture is the enemy of your floors. Don’t soak your hardwood floors with too much water and don’t misuse steam cleaners. Otherwise, you risk damaging your floors. Stick to using approved cleaning products from the manufacturer. This will ensure that you are using the products that are not going to cause issues with your specific type of hardwood flooring. You should always try to implement preventative procedures in order to keep your floors from getting too dirty and unclean. By doing routine cleaning maintenance with regular sweeps and vacuuming, you should be able to avoid a lot of the major build-up. Also, try to implement a rule in your home where you tell people to take their shoes off prior to walking into your home or at the very least have a welcome mat for people to wipe their shoes off. This can prevent a lot of issues in the first place.