nikola
Hardwood flooring refers to any timber or wood product that is used to cover the flooring of a house. Used both aesthetically and to improve the structure, such wooden flooring is much in demand due to their elegant feel and durability to resist frigid temperatures keeping the house warm.
Advantages of hardwood flooring-
- Enhances your house aesthetically:
Wooden floorboards are known to be aesthetically pleasing with the Quality of wood to retain the heat, thus keeping the home warm. Wooden floorboards give an elegant and classy feel, with the appearance of the room being more spacious. Durable in nature, these are the perfect option in extremely cold countries and are much in demand in other countries as well.
• Easy to Maintain:
Hardwood floors are very convenient to take care of as they can be vacuumed and swept easily. The dirt on the surface also gets cleaned easily with one swipe making it extremely easy to maintain it owing to its stain-resistant characteristic.
- Durability and strength:
Hardwood floors are quite durable as they are more resistant to stains and damages and are quite strong too. Timber is a natural product that undergoes years of wear and tear before being brought down. Thus, such worn-down durable wood can show immense strength, and such floorboards can last decades.
- Improved Quality of the inside air
Wooden flooring or hardwood flooring does not absorb any dirt like carpets, thus eliminating risks of stuck pollen or germs. Therefore, all the dirt gets cleaned up without getting absorbed anywhere, improving the Quality of the air we breathe.
- Colours do not fade
The hardwood floorings are quite cost-effective as they can last for decades if maintained properly. Moreover, unlike carpets, they need to replace them because of issues like fading colours, fibre entanglements, or tear is nil as the wood is prone to wear and tear and doesn’t give away to damage easily. Thus, keeping hardwood flooring is a quite cost-effective way of maintaining a house.
But why do wooden floors lose their shine?
- Hardwood flooring can quickly lose its shine owing to many factors like poor maintenance, wrong products, etc. Let’s have a look at some of the most common factors why hardwood floorboards look dull.
- Mopping without sweeping circulating the dirt around in a limited place. The water allows the dust to settle down making the floor look dull
- Using the wrong cleaner is one of the biggest reasons why hardwood floors lose its shine. These products are encapsulated with wax that provides an instant shine when used, but with time the layers stick to the surface and become greasy, making it look dull and dirty.
- Using chlorine to remove stubborn dirt is a huge reason why the floor loses its shine. Chlorine is suitable for tiles and marbles and not for wooden floorboards. The chlorine, with its harsh chemicals, forms a layer on top of the floorboard with the floor looking dull and lifeless.
- Pet scratched, or door hinge scratches is another reason why the floorboards look unclean and scratchy and dirty.
- If the wooden floorboards have a lot of footfall, then re-polishing of the floor is required. Sometimes increased footfall circulates and distributes the dirt around, and sometimes there is a waxy build-up where a layer of wax made of impurities and dirt collects on top. Thus, re-polishing or refinishing the woods will help.
How to gain back the shine for hardwood flooring:
- Understand the finish:
Understanding the finish of the floor is essential to begin refinishing or restoring the shine of the wooden floor. For that, take a corner and scrape off a little wood with a knife or sharp object. If the damage is only a smudge here and there, and no chunk has come off, then it requires just waxing and not polishing, but if a chunk comes off, then polishing is needed along with waxing.
- Clean the floor:
Cleaning and mopping the floor with a clean mop is necessary before initiating the shine restoration process. Once it’s cleaned, allow the moisture to soak and become dry and check for any residue.
