How to clean wood floors

Before you start cleaning, it's important to identify what type of flooring you're dealing with. While there are many varieties of wooden flooring available, some of the most popular fit into three general categories: laminate, solid hardwood and engineered wood.

Laminate flooring is a synthetic type of flooring that has the appearance of natural materials like hardwood, tile or stone thanks to its decorative top layer. Laminate has multiple layers, with high-density fibreboard at its core and a durable wear layer for additional strength.

You can use laminate flooring in most rooms in your home. It's an attractive and durable option for high-traffic spaces like living rooms and hallways and can also be used in bedrooms. Laminate is also a popular choice for kitchen flooring due to its versatile designs and water-resistant layer.

Hardwood flooring is made from natural wood harvested from trees. It's a classic and timeless flooring option known for its durability and homely appearance. Solid hardwood flooring can be made from a wide variety of trees, each with their own distinct colour, grain and character.

Oak: The most popular type of hardwood flooring, oak comes in two varieties, red and white. Both colours are known for their warmth, durability and versatility within a space.

Cherry: Also known as Jatoba, Brazilian Cherry is the hardest type of hardwood flooring and the most resistant to daily wear and tear. It's known for its rich reddish brown colour and brings warmth to any room.

Walnut: Easily recognised by its deep brown tones, walnut flooring is prized for its distinct grain patterns. It's one of the softer hardwoods on this list, but is still incredibly durable.

Hickory: A great choice for high-traffic areas, hickory is incredibly durable and has a charming, rustic grain pattern. Its colour varies from light to medium brown so every plank is rich with varying colours.

Maple: Incredibly durable, maple is a light creamy colour and has become a modern staple due to its uniform grain and how it can brighten any space.

Unlike solid hardwood, which is made from a single piece of timber, engineered wood flooring is constructed from multiple layers of wood veneer or plywood stacked and bonded together with adhesives. The top layer, known as the wear layer, is a thin slice of real hardwood or hardwood veneer, while the stacked layers of plywood and fibreboard provide strength and water-resistance beneath.

Beyond its construction, here are a few more differences between solid hardwood and engineered wood flooring:

Stability: Engineered wooden flooring offers more stability and water-resistance than solid hardwood due to its synthetic material and layered construction. Changes in humidity, moisture and temperature are less likely to cause engineered wood to contract and expand than porous solid hardwood.

Installation: Solid wood may not be suitable for some areas of the home where there is additional moisture. Due to its moisture-resistance, engineered wood is better suited to spaces like basements, kitchens and areas that experience more water, damp or humidity.

Price: Because it is a combination of veneer and solid hardwood, engineered wood flooring tends to be the more cost-effective choice.

Durability: While both solid and engineered wood floors can be refinished, solid hardwood floors typically have a thicker wear layer, allowing for more refinishing cycles over the lifespan of the floor.

When dirt and debris builds up it can become abrasive against the surface of your wooden floors, causing scratching and damage to the floor's finish. Vacuuming high-traffic areas on a daily basis and vacuuming other areas weekly will maintain the cleanliness and quality of your wooden floor.

Between your floorboards there are crevices where dust, mud and dirt accumulate. We recommend using a powerful vacuum cleaner to pull up the dirt between planks. The Unlimited 8 is our most powerful vacuum and is ideal for removing dirt and pet hair.

Wood is a porous material and swells when it gets too wet. To avoid water damage, it's important to reduce the amount of moisture that comes into contact with your floor boards.

When mopping, use a damp mop to prevent excess water. We recommend using our mop and vacuum in one, the Unlimited 7 Aqua, which not only allows you to control the amount of water coming out of the Aqua nozzle, but you can also apply your favourite wood floor cleaner to the reusable spin pads.

Aside from regularly cleaning your wooden floors, it's also important to maintain them to improve their longevity.

Alongside using the right cleaning tools and products for wooden floors, you can take pre-emptive methods to not damage the wood on a daily basis. This includes measures like using rugs in high-traffic areas or using furniture pads on the bottom of heavy furnishings to protect the flooring.

If the protective coat of your wooden floor has worn away, or if your floor is scratched and damaged, you may be able to sand away the top layer and recoat the floor with a protective solution to bring it back to life.

Popular solutions for cleaning wood floors include: pH-neutral wood floor cleaners, simple vinegar and water solutions and mild dish soap diluted with warm water. These solutions effectively remove dirt and grime without damaging the finish of the wood.

It's also important to consider what vacuum you use on your wooden floors. A vacuum designed for hard flooring is ideal, as vacuums with still brushes can scratch the surfaces. Regularly vacuuming your flooring prevents harder particles in mud, dirt and general mess from eroding the finish of your floor, whether its synthetic or natural wood.

With the correct cleaning and maintenance, your wooden floors will look better for longer.

Yes, wooden floors can be mopped but it is important to be cautious of the amount of water you use when mopping. Oversaturating your floorboards with water can cause the wood to expand, any synthetic finishes to bubble or even cause the wood to rot over time.

The Unlimited 7 Aqua is a mop and vacuum in one, and is perfect for deep cleaning wooden floors and removing stains without causing damage to the finish with the adjustable water levels of the Aqua nozzle.

You can use DIY methods like wood fillers or touch-up markers to remove minor scratches and stains from wood flooring. If the issue is more severe, you can also consider sanding and refinishing the surface to fix deeper damage. There are plenty of commercial products on the market designed for repairing scuffs and scratches from wooden services. While DIY methods are effective in some cases, occasional professional cleaning can provide thorough maintenance and preserve the integrity and appearance of your wood flooring, improving its longevity and protecting it from further damage.