Cleaning the Grooves in Your Wood Floors
Hardwood floors are not only a stylish trendy and beautiful flooring choice; they are a durable, long lasting, and fairly simple to clean one. The general maintenance for hardwood floors is fairly easy, but over time everyday debris and dirt builds up in the grooves between the floorboards. Cleaning the grooves out can be a little more complicated, but is extremely important to keep your floors in good condition. This cleaning process is not difficult, but it does require a large chunk of time and patience.
Here are the steps to cleaning the grooves in your hardwood floors:
Start with a powerful wet/dry vacuum and meticulously vacuum along every groove line in your floor.
Mix up a cleaning solution in a bucket of water and hand dishwashing detergent or a cleaner made specifically for your type of hardwood flooring. If using the detergent method add just enough soap that bubbles barely begin to from in the water. If using a commercial hardwood floor cleaner read the instructions carefully before starting and follow them exactly as written. Lightly dip a rag into the solution just enough to get it barely damp (remember water is one of wood’s biggest enemies) and wipe along the grooves. Follow this with a new rag dipped in plain water to rinse the soap away. Remember use as little moisture as needed to get the job done. Make sure to follow this step by wiping the floor immediately after rinsing with a new dry and clean rag.
If there is still some stubborn gunk and grime hanging out in the floorboards it is time to find a slim tool like a plastic putty knife or an unused toothbrush.
When you have all of the gunk and grime successfully removed from between each floorboard plank you can follow up with another thorough vacuuming making sure to go slow and not push anything you just pulled out back into the grooves.
When you are finished vacuuming, now would be an ideal time to use a dry mop method and get your floors sparkling clean again.
Removing the dirt from the grooves in between your hardwood floorboards is a time-consuming task. Alternatively, if you do not have the time, the physical capacity, or just do not want to do the amount of work, you can hire a professional hardwood floor cleaner to come in and get it done in less time with high-powered truck-mounted equipment. It is a good idea to check hardwood floor grooves once a year and clean them out.
For hardwood floor cleaning in North Seattle and Snohomish County make an appointment any time online or over the phone with All Kleen.