Around The House: Keep Your Wooden Floors in Perfect Condition

By Yehudit Garmaise

Hardwood floors can look beautiful, but they are easily, scratched, scraped, and scuffed.

Most wood flooring can be repaired by expensive sanding, smoothing, and refinishing, but by taking a few careful precautions, families can keep wood floors intact and shining.

1. Keep floors clean. Regularly removing dirt is the most important way to prevent wood floors from getting scratched. First, use a broom with soft bristles to sweep, or run a vacuum cleaner suitable for hardwood floors. 

When mopping, use a product specifically meant for hardwood floors in your bucket. Try to let minimal water sit on your floors to prevent warping. Dry your floor as soon as it is clean to prevent both water damage and anyone from slipping.

1. Sweep outside the front and back doors once a week to reduce the amount of dirt, grit, and moisture that enters and can ruin the floors. 

2. Lay out the welcome mat: Outside the front door, place a sturdy mat. Inside the front door, lay down a small rug that can be washed. Absorbent entry mats can help to reduce the amount of water, slush, salt, and dirt that will damage floors if allowed to enter the home.

3. Some families wear only socks or slippers at home. “Remove your shoes,” Just as Moshe was told at the burning bush. Think of your home as “holy ground,” and make sure that family members and guests take off their shoes and boots as they enter.

Not only can shoes cause scratches, but the outside dirt tracked in creates grit that will scratch floors when tables and chairs are moved. 

4. Add felt pads to the undersides of the legs of chairs, tables, and sofas. Every time a family member or guest pulls out a chair on which to sit, hardwood can get seriously scratched. 

5. When buying furniture, try to avoid chairs that have rollers or castor wheels underneath, as they can easily attract dirt and grit that will fall onto the floor regularly, increasing the chances that the wheels will scratch the floor.

If you already own chairs with rollers or other sharp feet, fit “castor cups” around the wheels or place a mat under the chairs to protect hardwood floor from scratches.

6. Throw rugs can dramatically reduce the damage done to wood floors. Place rug pads underneath the rugs to keep them from slipping around or damaging the floor in any way.

When moving furniture, always throw down a mat or sheet to protect wood floors from getting scratched.

Throw rugs not only look great by providing color and warmth, but they will give you more privacy by reducing the noise downstairs neighbors hear when children decide to tap dance or walk around in Mommy’s heels.