There is none denying the fact that hard wood floors look stunning. But, you need to put in extra efforts towards their maintenance. Unlike other kinds of materials used for flooring, hardwood lacks the characteristics of offering a tough resistance to normal wear and tear. Water and humidity cause worst effects on such floors and may cause them to get warped up. Even the toenails of your pet may spoil its looks by causing scratches or chipping its surface. Periodic proper cleaning keeps such floors in good shape. To further enhance the affects of cleaning, a mixture of hardwood floor cleaner with one of the essential oils brings in a changed atmosphere as everything starts smelling good all around.

Hard wood floors are not only gorgeous, they need regular special care. Unlike many other kinds of flooring, hard wood floors are not so forgiving to normal wear and tear. They can warp in humidity, become chipped by dog toenails and rot because of water damage. But regular cleaning can keep it strong and protected. A mix of your hard wood floor cleaner and essential oils can help your floors look and smell great.

Not Just the Oil, Please

It’s not that any and every essential oil can be used in association with hardwood cleaners. Some of the oils are far too expensive for the purpose whereas others may not be healthy for the wood. An example would be cinnamon oil. This oil, if used for the purpose would cause permanent stains on wood.

You never want to use only essential oil as a floor cleaner. Not only is this fabulously expensive, many oils can also be far too powerful for hard wood floors. Essential oils like cinnamon can also stain your floors permanently, or strip any finish off. You shouldn’t use cinnamon oil as furniture cleaner, anyway, but that’s just an example.

There is a category of essential oils that jells very well with hard wood floor cleaners. It will be interesting and worthwhile to experiment with a few and find one that suits your taste, and also goes well with the cleaner used for cleaning hard wood floors and furniture. Some of the oils may not be healthy for hard wood and may even damage the floor.

It will be good to educate yourself on the subject by visiting a website on aromatherapy or reading a book. That way you can check the characteristics of the essential oil you may like to experiment with.

Only some kinds of essential oils will work well mixed with hard wood floor cleaners. You really need to do your research before you just randomly mix and match hard wood floor cleaners and essential oils. That’s a great way to obliterate your floors. Go to an aromatherapy web site or book to check up on all of the properties of the essential oils you have in your home. When in doubt, leave it out.

That Smells Fresh

You may start with not so expensive essential oils for mixing with hard wood floor or hardwood furniture cleaners. Oils of citrus fruits like lime, lemon and orange fall in this category. These very common essential oils while being inexpensive, offer the additional benefits of being naturally antiseptic and antibacterial.

Some relatively inexpensive essential oils that you can mix with hard wood floor cleaners – or just about any kind of hard furniture cleaner, for that matter – are the citrus fruit group. This includes lemon, lime and orange. These are not only some of the most common essential oils on store shelves, but they also have natural antiseptic and antibacterial properties.

Hardwood floor cleaners may also have essential oils of lavender or tea tree. Rosemary is also a favorite of some, though it’s very expensive and smells a bit too strong when used on floors and pieces of furniture. Anyway the choice is yours.
Some people claim rosemary makes a great cleaner, but this writer finds the smell far too overpowering. Rosemary is also a much more expensive oil to put on your floors or other pieces of hard furniture.

It’s very simple to have your own flavor of hardwood floor cleaner. Just add 15-20 drops of your favorite oil in a gallon of hot water and hard wood cleaners. It is advisable to make a small quantity, test the same on a small patch to confirm compatibility and then go ahead.

All you need to do to make hard wood floor cleaner and essential oil mix is to add about fifteen to twenty drops of your chosen oil to a gallon bucket of hot water and hard wood cleaner. You might want to take a very small amount and do a test patch on your hard wood floor first to see that they are compatible.

Of course, people used to wash floors in the past. Though not essentially required in present times, it helps to dispense with the residuals and gives a feeling of freshness. Mop up the floor with warm water to which a few drops of oil with your kind of scent have been added.

A long time ago, people did floor washes. This isn’t needed in modern flooring, but can really help get rid of any extra residue and help give your room the desired scent. Put fifteen to twenty drops into a gallon of warm water and mop.

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The most distinctive feature of hard wood floor that enables them to impart that unique and rich look is that no two floors can be made to look alike as the grain structure of natural wood varies along its length and breadth. Another unique feature is that a well maintained floor, over the years, develops its own distinctive shine that is hard to beat. Since ages hard wood floor have been in use because of these features. It’s not difficult to maintain such floors but it needs time and attention to make them to continue to look that impressive. Here are a few hints for the lovers of this natural material to help them maintain its uniqueness.

Daily Care

It’s not difficult tom guess that dirt, sand and grit are the three elements that spoil the health and thus the looks of hardwood floors. These externals get embedded into the cracks and gaps between the slats and boards. To prevent such elements from spoiling the finish of floors it’s important to regularly employ a vacuum cleaner with a non-reciprocating brush attachment. A non-reciprocating brush is specifically mentioned because a reciprocating brush itself can scratch the top most layer of natural wood. At least once a month, if not twice, clean the grime with a slightly damp mop. It’s not advisable to be using products like dry mop Swifter because such mops tend to push the dirt and sand under the cloth and across the surface, creating the effect of a sandpaper application.

It’s a smart idea to incorporate small rugs and doormats in frequently used parts of the floor. These aids successfully absorb a good part of damaging elements before they go to damage your floor.

Not so long ago, such kinds of floors were treated with wax or varnish to get the required shine and to prevent the damaging elements from affecting the top most surface of wood. These days they use polyurethane that adds to the durability. Generally this treatment is given before installation, thus the joints do not get any sealing to protect entry of water or any fluid for that matter. Irrespective of any finishing material used, it is of utmost importance to wipe of the floor with an absorbent material if you happen to spill over any liquid or food on the floor. Otherwise, the fluid would seep down the slats or boards and cause the wood to warp.

At times even if you act swiftly to wipe off the liquid, you may have stains left over the surface. Such stains can be removed by using a wood floor cleaner and one should never use liquid soaps for the purpose. Mix the wood floor cleaner with a mixture of vinegar and water. Use this mixture to wipe off the stain with a clean towel or paper tissue. If this mixture fails to remove the stain, you might be required to use an extra-fine sand paper of 600 grit or some steel wool of size 0000. Take care to rub the sandpaper or steel wool in the direction of the grains of wood. Having thus removed the stain, buff the affected area with a clean cloth and if so needed, apply wax or varnish or polyurethane as per the original finishing material.

Quarterly Care

Make it a practice to clean hardwood floors once in each quarter to prevent accumulation of grime and grease. Use only a floor cleaner with neutral pH.

You should never use any abrasive material for cleaning of hardwood floor. Nor should you use liquid soap detergents, or cleaners with ammonia content. Use of any of these materials may deprive the wood floor of its sheen.

Floors with a wax finish should be buffed at least once a year if not twice. Scuffmarks that appear on waxed floor may be removed by spot buffing as and when needed. Mind you, a hardwood floor with a protective coating of polyurethane should never be buffed or waxed.

Preventative Care

It’s always helpful to take a few preventive measures to retain the looks of your hardwood floor. Avoid direct contact of furniture legs with the floor by using felt pads. This simple measure prevents the floor from getting dented or gouged. Take measures to prevent heavier or sharp items from falling on the floor to prevent formation of dents in the wood. Waxed or varnished wooden floors should be prevented from direct exposure to the sun as it fades away the natural color of hardwood floors and turns them yellowish. If the floor has been treated with varnish or wax it will be helpful to keep the curtains drawn while the sun is around. However, sunlight does not affect floors with a coating of polyurethane. Sunlight certainly affects most of the floors that have been treated with non-synthetic materials.

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