Cleaning Wood Floors – Keep it Simple

Extraction is important in cleaning. The goal is to remove the dirt without leaving behind a bunch of residue. Extraction is optimized for commercial carpets and their installation. In fact, extraction needs to be optimized for every cleaning situation.

Although only a small portion of commercial flooring is wood, it holds a significant portion of flooring in homes and as such, this should be personally beneficial. In addition, this is a great example of our two-part goal for any good cleaning system:

Remove dirt, leave behind no residue

Simple tips for cleaning wood floors:

• Most hardwood should be maintained on a regular basis by just vacuuming, and only an occasional “wet-mopping”.

• Vacuuming removes most of the dust and grit deposited on the floor from daily living. This chore should be done daily to keep the deposits from slowly grinding that shiny finish away. Investing in a robotic vacuum for this task would make a lot of sense.

• On the occasion you need to ‘wet’ (damp) mop, the simplest product to use for this is a spray mop (absorbent microfiber flat mop) with just plain warm water. Any product you use to wipe or “Swiffer” away dirt needs to be totally extracted or you will leave a residue. The cleaning product alone will dull your floor, but even worse the remaining residue allows dirt and dust to stick to the floor. You may not feel those tiny dirt/dust particles, but they create a gritty surface to walk on. You end up putting little scratches in your finish, rapidly dulling the floor and creating ‘traffic lanes’. If you are determined to use some cleaning product, then wet mop your floors again with just plain water. Make sure to do this three or four times to rinse away any residue!

• The goal of any good cleaning system is to remove the dirt and leave no residue. Optimizing the extraction method for the cleaning environment is paramount. It must be recognized that there is poor airflow for the use of vacuum extraction on this type of floor. If the surface is made wet with cleaning products, the residue will be left. Moisture must be minimized, and a heavy reliance on dry vacuuming is key.

• This air flow limitation is found with commercial carpet installations as well. The objectives of reliance on dry vacuuming and minimal moisture are equally important here in order to achieve the goals of removing dirt and leaving no residue.

It’s the sensible thing to do… work with the environment and optimize the cleaning system to achieve the goal.

Contact us or call (510) 796-1150 if you’re interested in a scheduled maintenance program that saves you money in the long run!