{"id":23524,"date":"2014-07-23T18:14:58","date_gmt":"2014-07-23T23:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/?p=23524"},"modified":"2014-07-23T18:14:58","modified_gmt":"2014-07-23T23:14:58","slug":"caring-hardwood-floors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/?p=23524","title":{"rendered":"Caring for Your Hardwood Floors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hardwood floors are timeless and will look their best for decades if they are cared for properly. \u00a0When looking at photos of houses, you can kind of guess when they were built or last remodeled if they have tiled or carpeted floors. \u00a0Those two floor coverings can be trendy, and what was stylish and popular in one decade might be totally “dated” the next. \u00a0Hardwood floors, though, are classics that have been around forever, and their popularity continues to grow.<\/h3>\n

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\"New<\/p>\n

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Mom and I both have hardwood floor in our homes. \u00a0Our craftsman bungalow was built in 1928 and has the original wood floors. \u00a0Mom’s townhouse was totally remodeled and the hardwoods were added three years ago. \u00a0We 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. \u00a0 The expense, work, and dirt you have to go through to refinish wooden floors horrifies us.<\/h3>\n

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These are the steps we follow to care for our hardwood floors:<\/h3>\n

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\"Gracie\"<\/p>\n

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1. \u00a0Since my husband and I have a dog, we make sure to clean her feet well after she has been outside. \u00a0Muddy, wet, or snowy paw prints tracked through the house not only look horrible, but they also could break down the finish on the floors.<\/h3>\n

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\"Duluth<\/p>\n

2. Mom and Dad don’t wear their outside shoes inside. \u00a0They have an armoire in their mudroom where they store their shoes. \u00a0When they get home after being out, they sit on the mudroom benches and switch into their house shoes or just wear their socks. \u00a0I heard that 80 percent of the dirt that is on our floors is carried in on the bottoms of shoes.<\/h3>\n

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\"Gracie\"<\/p>\n

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3.We both use rugs in high traffic areas. \u00a0Not 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.<\/h3>\n

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\"IMG_7721\"<\/p>\n

4. \u00a0We both vacuum regularly and wipe up spills and drips right away.<\/h3>\n

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\"IMG_7715\"<\/p>\n

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5. \u00a0Finally but most importantly, we use the right products to clean our floors. \u00a0Our favorite floor cleaners are Pledge products by SC Johnson. \u00a0For instance, if we are short on time, we can use either Wood Squirt and Mop or Wood Spray Cleaner. \u00a0They both can be used right out of the bottle. \u00a0They give a fast clean-up that leaves a shine on the floor while cleaning and protecting at the same time. \u00a0We also love that they aren’t sticky at all. \u00a0When we want to do a deeper cleaning, we add some Wood Concentrated Cleaner to a bucket of water, and clean away. \u00a0A one quart bottle will make up to 16 gallons of cleaner, and it doesn’t require rinsing. \u00a0How sweet is that???? \u00a0We also love that these products are all available in most big box stores, and each is priced under $6.50. \u00a0Plus, they take just minutes to dry.<\/h3>\n

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\"Kayak<\/h3>\n

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. \u00a0You get the picture. \u00a0Mom likes the way these products smell in addition to how easy they are to use. \u00a0So, 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.<\/h3>\n

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Thank you all for stopping in today to read our blog. \u00a0We really appreciate your setting aside some time each day to see what we are up to. \u00a0We think you’ll like what we have in store for tomorrow. \u00a0Here’s a hint: \u00a0it’s sweet. \u00a0We’ll see you then.<\/h3>\n

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Cheers!<\/h3>\n

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This is a sponsored post by Pledge but all opinions \u00a0are our own.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Hardwood floors are timeless and will look their best for decades if they are cared for properly. \u00a0When looking at photos of houses, you can kind of guess when they were built or last remodeled if they have tiled or carpeted floors. \u00a0Those two floor coverings can be trendy, and what was stylish and popular […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23524"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23524"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23535,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23524\/revisions\/23535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}