Flooring Maintenance Tips: How to Keep Your Floors Looking like New

When anyone enters a home, one of the first things that they notice is the floor. This is especially true of homeowners who love to see what other homeowners have chosen to do with their floors. If you want your floors to look new all the time, then read through the tips below for the best result.

Sweep Continuously

With busy lives and packed schedules, sometimes sweeping the floor can get neglected and it isn’t until you drag a dustball across the floor in your socks that you realize you have forgotten to do it. Not only is sweeping important for hygienic purposes, but it also makes a big impact on the way your floors look.

The buildup of dust in the grain of wood floors or the grout of tile floors makes them look dull and aged. Regular sweeping will prevent this kind of buildup and will keep you from having to do a heavy-duty clean down the line. Sometimes maintenance is the easiest way to keep floors looking squeaky clean all the time.

Invest in Durable Flooring Materials

To start off on the right foot, you should choose a flooring material that is durable and will keep its color and shine for years to come. If you have just purchased a home that has old and overused flooring or the flooring that was installed is not of good quality, then it is worth investing in a flooring material that you love and that you know will stay looking new.

There are many materials to choose from, like vinyl plank flooring solutions that look and even feel like hardwood floors without the high price tag and high-maintenance upkeep of hardwood floors. This vinyl material is so durable that it is resistant to scratches and will maintain its color for years. If you have kids or pets, this is the best option for flooring that will continue to look new no matter what you throw at it.

Mop Weekly

Sweeping the floor once a day or once every other day will keep floors from looking dull and dirty, but mopping is equally as important. This is especially true in areas of the home like the kitchen and bathroom where things like food, toothpaste, and other substances splash onto the floor constantly.

After sweeping, if you do a quick mop once per week to scrub off all of the spills, then you will avoid any possible long-term staining. If you spill food like tomato sauce or curry, then you should wipe it up and mop the area right away because these foods stain quickly.

Put Anti-scratch Pads on All Furniture

For rooms in the house where most of your flooring is covered by furniture, it is important to immediately put anti-scratch pads on all of your furniture when you install it. This means every chair and the table in the dining room, sofas and side tables in the living room, and barstools in the kitchen.

The biggest culprits of scratching in the home are chairs because they are constantly being pulled in and out. After putting the initial anti-scratch pads on furniture, make sure to replace them once a year or once they have worn down or fallen off. This will ensure that the flooring won’t get scratched and it also won’t get worn down in certain areas leading to irregular discolorations. 

Use and Rotate Rugs

If you have any kind of hard flooring, whether it’s hardwood, laminate, tile, or vinyl, you will likely have some rugs set up around your house. Rugs offer a soft and warm feeling to relaxation areas of the home but they also serve as a protective layer for your floors.

If you want to keep your flooring looking brand new, then consider investing in large statement-piece rugs for areas like the living room where kids, pets, and guests tend to hang out on the floor. This kind of placement will keep your flooring from seeing a lot of wear and tear. 

In addition to using rugs, you should also rotate them from time to time so that there are no large areas of discoloration. This kind of discoloration tends to happen to most hardwood flooring, especially if it is exposed to direct sunlight.

If you have a living room or family room that gets a lot of sunlight, a rug may protect the majority of the flooring from getting washed out by the sun, but you will have to rotate it every once in a while to prevent lines in the flooring due to only one part of the floor being exposed.

The flooring in your home is one of the main ways in which you can express your style and personality, so make sure that you pick the flooring that you love and follow the tips above to keep it looking brand new.

Recap