Hardwood floors are timeless and will look their best for decades if they are cared for properly. When looking at photos of houses, you can kind of guess when they were built or last remodeled if they have tiled or carpeted floors. Those two floor coverings can be trendy, and what was stylish and popular in one decade might be totally “dated” the next. Hardwood floors, though, are classics that have been around forever, and their popularity continues to grow.
Mom and I both have hardwood floor in our homes. Our craftsman bungalow was built in 1928 and has the original wood floors. Mom’s townhouse was totally remodeled and the hardwoods were added three years ago. We both take similar steps to keep our floors looking good because we know that the effort we put into caring for them will result in their lasting longer. The expense, work, and dirt you have to go through to refinish wooden floors horrifies us.
These are the steps we follow to care for our hardwood floors:
1. Since my husband and I have a dog, we make sure to clean her feet well after she has been outside. Muddy, wet, or snowy paw prints tracked through the house not only look horrible, but they also could break down the finish on the floors.
2. Mom and Dad don’t wear their outside shoes inside. They have an armoire in their mudroom where they store their shoes. When they get home after being out, they sit on the mudroom benches and switch into their house shoes or just wear their socks. I heard that 80 percent of the dirt that is on our floors is carried in on the bottoms of shoes.
3.We both use rugs in high traffic areas. Not only do they add color, texture and design to a room, but they also serve their original design purpose of keeping dirt off of the floors.
4. We both vacuum regularly and wipe up spills and drips right away.
5. Finally but most importantly, we use the right products to clean our floors. Our favorite floor cleaners are Pledge products by SC Johnson. For instance, if we are short on time, we can use either Wood Squirt and Mop or Wood Spray Cleaner. They both can be used right out of the bottle. They give a fast clean-up that leaves a shine on the floor while cleaning and protecting at the same time. We also love that they aren’t sticky at all. When we want to do a deeper cleaning, we add some Wood Concentrated Cleaner to a bucket of water, and clean away. A one quart bottle will make up to 16 gallons of cleaner, and it doesn’t require rinsing. How sweet is that???? We also love that these products are all available in most big box stores, and each is priced under $6.50. Plus, they take just minutes to dry.
That gives me more time to do the things I enjoy doing like blog projects, reading, playing with Gracie, camping with my husband, kayaking, going to the movies, working in the garden, etc. You get the picture. Mom likes the way these products smell in addition to how easy they are to use. So, even though my floors are over 80 years older than hers, we can still use the same Pledge products to clean and protect our hardwoods.
Thank you all for stopping in today to read our blog. We really appreciate your setting aside some time each day to see what we are up to. We think you’ll like what we have in store for tomorrow. Here’s a hint: it’s sweet. We’ll see you then.
Cheers!
This is a sponsored post by Pledge but all opinions are our own.
