Engineered Wood Floor Cleaning Guide

As LinkedIn recently reported, Walmart has been testing autonomous floor-cleaning robots in their stores. However, until the dream of many autonomous cleaning robots in every household comes true, having a good, proper and regular floor cleaning routine remains a necessity. The good news is that if you are owning an engineered wood flooring, the whole process will require just a fraction of the time and energy you would normally spend on other types of hard floors.

The design of the engineered wood is made to be less prone to the environmental elements that otherwise will lead to a number of issues typical of real wood products. Engineered planks are much more hygienic than carpets, for example, by attracting and holding significantly less dust and dirt. They are easier to maintain than stone, tiles and vinyl flooring, since they are more resistant to everyday imperfections, such as scratches, dents, etc.

Engineered Wood Flooring Specifics

The knowledge about the structure of the engineered planks will contribute a lot to your understanding of the essence of your care routine and why it's known as a low-maintenance product.

Unlike solid wood, this is a man-made product and not cut from one timber only. Although made out of wood and lumber products only, engineered wood comes in a different structure specially designed to be less prone to issues such as moisture, humidity, and temperature changes. While these changes in the direct environment of the floor can lead to a number of major and minor problems with the traditional hardwood floors, the risk is significantly lower with the engineered ones. The structure that is made out of timber layers that are glued and pressed together crisscross, makes them moisture-resistant.

How To Clean Engineered Wood Floor

As you may already know, or at least have guessed, real wood and excessive moisture, humidity and regularity are not exactly best friends. While engineered wood is created to offer an opportunity to you to enjoy the natural beauty even in areas where these factors could be an issue, such as bathrooms, kitchens and even basements. The main recommendation of not using excessive amounts of water and liquids when cleaning your floor is still applied. Here is the whole cleaning process step by step.

• Start with cleaning the surface and getting rid of the main amount of dirt, dust and grime. This can be easily done by vacuuming the floor. Just make sure your vacuum machine is adapted to cleaning hard floors, otherwise, you risk leaving fine scratches and dents. Cleaning with a broom is also an option. Choose a broom with soft bristles to prevent scratching your floor.
• There is a rule that is viable for both types of flooring – remove spills as soon as you notice them. If you notice a spilt liquid, food or drink and you neglect it, you risk ending up with water damage on the surface of your floor, or even worse, with a permanent stain that is impossible to get rid of.
• While vacuuming daily is a good idea(it's recommended for the evenings, so you can collect all the dust and grime collected throughout the day), additional and more thorough cleaning is recommended less often. A weekly mopping around is just enough to maintain a clean wooden floor.
• When using a mop to clean the hardwood surface, make sure it is slightly damp. Do not use an excessive amount of water and do not soak your mop into liquids, directly clean the floor without rinsing it out.
• While warm water can do the trick for a simple everyday cleaning, in case you feel like your engineered wood floor needs some extra cleaning, and you want to get rid of the stubborn dirt buildups, you can use a cleaning product. Just make sure to choose a cleaning product that is designed for real wood floors only, forget about all those multipurpose cleaners, since the chemicals and pH levels they have are not good for the condition of the wood floor’s finish. Then follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer and clean accordingly.

This is it! As we have already promised to you, cleaning your wooden floor is simple and easy, does not require elbow grease, time, or money!

Maintenance

Now, no matter how good and regular you are with the cleaning routine, your floor is probably going to start experiencing some issues and imperfections with time. While major issues are a subject of serious professional help and repair services, minor ones, such as a dulled or faded colour, finer scratches and dents on the surface, smaller gaps between the boards, a worn finish and an overall aged look can be easily tackled with the help of a quick and effective restoration service.

When it comes to the best maintenance routine, occasional sanding and refinishing is the key. In case you didn’t know that by now, engineered wood floors can also be sanded, although not as often as solid ones. A thorough treatment with the sanding machine will strip off the old finish from the surface of the wooden boards, removing all fine scratches, stains and dents that affect the finish and decrease the charm of your floor. The re-sanding process will also prepare the wood for the upcoming application of new and fresh coats of finishing product. Since the finish of your wooden floor is very important for protecting wood from a number of issues and preserving its beautiful colour and texture, renewing the hardwearing sealant once its protective power starts weakening is a very important part of your maintenance routine.

Additional Tips and Tricks

Generally speaking, engineered wood floors are a key option for those of you who don’t want to go through all the stress of difficult, time- and energy-consuming everyday cleaning. Hygienic and low-maintenance by nature, they do not attract and hold on as much dust and dirt, allergens and bacteria as other floor coverings do. In order to make things even easier for you, here are some tips and tricks on how to make sure your engineered wood flooring is always clean and in tip-top condition:

• Place some mats strategically around the house, but mainly in front of the main entrance of your house/space. A doormat will collect the majority of the dust and dirt from outside and prevent all of the nasty grime and soil from entering the house and transferring to your floor’s surface. This way you will save yourself some additional cleaning rounds, but also prevent dirt buildups, issues caused by some chemicals from outside the house, scratches caused by dirt and dust, etc.
• In the same thread of thought, if you notice that your floor experiences a lot of wear and tear in some high-traffic areas, make sure to place a few beautiful mats and rugs here and there. Hallways, kitchens and living rooms are often key areas.
• Dragging heavy objects and furniture pieces over your engineered wood floor is definitely not a good idea, as it will leave you with many scratches and dents to deal with. Generally, if you want to decrease the risk of scratches and dents caused by the weight of furniture pieces, make sure to provide furniture and other heavy objects with additional protectors.
• Try to avoid wearing shoes inside the house; instead, you can wear some fluffy and comfy slippers. You will prevent dirt and dust from entering the house, sticking to the soles of your shoes. High-heeled shoes are also not recommended, as they can cause a lot of scratches and dents.
• Keep the nails of your pets trimmed to prevent their happy paws from leaving scratches and dents on the sleek surface.