Hard Wood Floor Cleaning ·Feb 01, 2023

How to Clean Prefinished Hardwood Floors

Prefinished hardwood floors are a beautiful type of flooring that is likely to last you a good couple of decades. But, unfortunately, it doesn’t come without a price.

Because this type of flooring is a bit more expensive, it’s obviously something that you want to preserve and look after properly. For this reason, it is crucial that you know how to clean prefinished hardwood floors correctly.

Prefinished hardwood floors take a bit more care to clean and maintain, so it helps to know the best way to do so. Luckily, this is a bit easier to do than it is to clean untreated wood floors. But, it is still important to do it properly, even if they are prefinished.

In this article, we will guide you on how to deep clean real hardwood floors and ensure you maintain their quality.

What this article covers:

What to Use to Clean Prefinished Hardwood Floors
The Best Way to Clean Prefinished Hardwood Floors

What To Use To Clean Prefinished Hardwood Floors

how to clean prefinished wood flooring

Prefinished hardwood floors require a very specific cleaning regime, and certain tools are needed to follow it.

There are three main tools that you are going to need to keep up with your prefinished hardwood floor cleaning regime. They will ensure that you clean your prefinished hardwood floors safely, and don’t risk scratching or damaging the wood.

The three best tools to clean a hardwood floor are a microfiber mop or cloth, such as our Flat Mop, a vacuum cleaner with a natural bristle brush attachment, and our Lindhaus LW38 LindWash Bare Surface Floor Scrubber and Extractor.

We will explain below exactly why you need them and how to use them. But, in the meantime, try and get all of these tools ready for when your prefinished hardwood floors arrive.

Or, if you already have your prefinished hardwood floors, but don’t have any of these tools - get them asap!

If you can’t manage to get all of these tools, you could get a broom with very soft bristles instead of the Flat Mop. Additionally, you could use the Flat Mop with some water instead of the Lindhaus LW38 LindWash Bare Surface Floor Scrubber and Extractor.

But, we do not recommend this, as it will be much more effective if you use the products that were initially discussed. Another great option is the Orbot Vibe.

The Best Way To Clean Prefinished Hardwood Floors

As we mentioned earlier, there is a certain cleaning regime that you need to follow if you want to clean your hardwood floors without streaking and maintain them so that they last decades to come.

The cleaning regime will be discussed next.

Dust Daily With The Flat Mop

The first thing that you want to do is to dust your prefinished hardwood floors daily with our Flat Mop, which is the best mop to clean hardwood floors. If you aren’t able to get to this daily, every second day will suffice, but it should preferably be done numerous times a week.

Dirt, debris, and pet hair can accumulate without you realizing it, especially in areas with high foot traffic. These particles can cause damage to your hardwood floors over time, especially when they are continuously stepped into your floors.

Give your floors a good dust daily, making sure to get into all the corners, as this will help your floors to remain in pristine condition.

Our flat mop is covered in a Terry Cloth which ensures that your floors do not get scratched or damaged. We recommend using this instead of a soft bristle broom if you can.

Vacuum Weekly

The next part of the cleaning regime is to vacuum your prefinished hardwood floors weekly. As we mentioned earlier, it is important that your vacuum cleaner has a natural-bristled brush attachment so that it does not scratch the floors.

Ideally, you’d also like the wheels to be made out of soft rubber so they do not leave any marks or scratches on the floors.

You may be wondering why it is necessary to vacuum weekly if you are dusting daily. It is necessary because even though you dust the floors, pet hair and debris can still settle into the slight cracks in the wood, corners, and any nooks and crannies they can find.

what is the best way to clean prefinished hardwood floors

Vacuuming weekly just helps to ensure that you get all of the dirt out of your floors so that it does not accumulate to be too much. This will help keep your prefinished hardwood floors clean and will also protect them in the long run.

Wet Mop Monthly

The last thing you need to do in your prefinished hardwood floor cleaning routine is to wet mop them monthly.

You could use our Flat Mop and a bucket of water. But, luckily for you, we have a product that you can use that will be even more effective and safe. And, in our eyes, it is the best machine to clean hardwood floors.

This product is our Lindhaus LW38 LindWash Bare Surface Floor Scrubber and Extractor. This tool is a must-have for anyone who has hardwood floors. While it does have the capability to work on tough concrete floors, it also has a setting that makes it perfect for delicate hardwood floors.

Thanks to the brushes, dosing pumps, and suction function, this tool ensures that a large body of water does not sit on your floor. Something you want to avoid if you want to protect your hardwood floor, and also something that would probably happen if you used a mop.

how to clean prefinished hardwood flooring best product

The best liquid to clean hardwood floors is usually just water which is sometimes mixed with a mild detergent. But if you find that you are struggling with stains, find out what your manufacturer recommends.

Conclusion

As you can see, cleaning prefinished hardwood floors really is quite easy. Unfortunately, what is also easy is the tendency to neglect the recommended cleaning regime.

We would strongly recommend that you make time to stick to and fulfill the daily, weekly, and monthly regime if you want your prefinished hardwood floors to last decades to come.

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