How Often Should You Clean Your Hardwood Floors?

Hardwood floors are beautiful, and they can add a rich, sophisticated touch to your home’s decor. However, these natural hardwood floors are susceptible to damage from daily wear and tear, so it’s important to clean them properly to keep them looking good for years to come.

Cleaning Your Hardwood Floors

How often you should clean your hardwood floors depends on your family’s habits and the amount of traffic they receive. For most homes, a weekly vacuuming and damp mopping is enough to keep the floors looking good, but occasionally, you may need to do a deeper cleaning to get rid of dust and dirt that has built up over time.

The frequency of your routine cleaning is based on factors such as how many people and pets you have, the amount of foot traffic your hardwood floors see, and what kind of floor finish you’re using. For a quick, simple way to clean your wood floors, simply dust them with a broom or dust mop once a week, according to cleaning expert Alicia Sokolowski, who works as the president and co-CEO of AspenClean.

Vacuuming

The best method for cleaning your hardwood floors is with a vacuum cleaner designed specifically for the type of wood flooring you have. These machines can be purchased at any major hardware or department store. They are also easy to find online.

Don’t forget to dust your floors with a broom or dust mop before you vacuum, so that any loose soil won’t clog up your vacuum’s filter. This will help your vacuum work faster and more efficiently, which in turn will save you time.

If your floor is sealed, you should wet-clean it every one to two months (more or less depending on the amount of traffic) with a solution that’s formulated for hardwood floors, like Bona’s Hardwood Floor Cleaner Spray. Apply a small amount of the solution to a small section of your floor and then use a microfiber mop to wipe away any remaining residue.

For other types of wood floors, such as a surface-treated or engineered hardwood, you’ll want to wet-clean with an all-purpose floor cleaner a few times a year. Generally, Sokolowski recommends using a diluted solution of 1 cup of distilled vinegar mixed with 1 gallon of water to keep your hardwood floors looking great.

Avoid Over-Mopping

You may think that using a sopping-wet mop is the most effective way to clean your hardwood floors, but oversaturating the floors with water can lead to water damage and unnecessary staining. Sokolowski says to only mist the floor with a cleaning solution and then move across it in backward motions to prevent the floor from getting wet.

She also recommends that you don’t use a heavy bucket of suds to clean your floors, which can cause the sealant on the floors to buckle and damage the wood. Instead, she recommends using a spray bottle filled with a mixture of mild dish soap and water.