Finally your hardwood floor has been installed so how do you take care of this expensive investment of yours? You may use floor mats to protect your hardwood floor. These wonderful things will keep dirt and other small particles from scratching your floor. You can place a floor mat or rug at every entryway encouraging your guests and family members to wipe their feet before going inside. This way the grime and dirt from the outdoors remain outside on the mat. You may also want to place mats in areas where water can be splashed like near the kitchen sink, refrigerator and outside the bathroom door. This will thwart any possibility of water spilling and damaging the hardwood. Putting mats is not enough to maintain the beauty of your flooring you have to first and foremost keep it clean.

Floor cleaning a hardwood floor is quite difficult compared to other floorings such as floor tiles and concrete floors. The more you take care of your floor the better and longer it will retain its original look. The first step in floor cleaning is to buy a high quality broom so that you will not have a hard time in sweeping dirt, dust and other small particles from your floor. The second step is to utilize a vacuum cleaner without the beater bar in order to get in between the base boards and other hard to reach places.

Deep floor cleaning methods depends on how your floor was installed and finish. You may use 8 inches by 14 inches terry cloth mop with a rotating head which would make corner, under cabinets easier to clean.

The following are the Dos and the Don'ts of floor cleaning:

- Do use cleaners which will not leave a residue

- Do wipe sticky spots with a damp or moist sponge

- Do avoid water and other liquid spills

- Do apply hardwood floor cleaner to remove scuffs and heel marks

- Don't wax floor made of hardwood with a urethane finish

- Don't utilize cleaners with ammonia or oil soaps on wood floor because they made your floor dull

- Don't use wet mop (wet is different from damp) to clean your wood floor

When you have not been taking care of your floor the way it should be taken care of, after some time it will look dull, dirty, may be full of scuffs and heel marks. This signals a time for screening and recoating. Screening is the method utilized to grind down the polyurethane finish of your floor. Then fresh coats of urethane are applied on your floor for it to have its original look. In case your hardwood floor is severely damaged then sanding may be needed and refinishing. Just leave this to the professionals.

Hardwood floors fade after sometime whether we like it or not and no matter how much we try to take care of it especially if it is exposed to sunlight. You may try treating your windows to control the sunlight which goes inside your home and shade your floors from the harsh sunlight. You can also try moving your rugs and furniture around regularly but carefully to avoid scratching your floor.

Take good care of your floor and they will stay beautiful for you for a very long time.