A large number of newer homes have been built with various hard flooring in them
instead of carpets; buyers love the rich classic look that hardwood, stone tiles, or ceramic tile contributes to a home. However, many new home owners have never experienced these types of floors before and are unsure about how to keep them in good shape. Keeping a hard floor in good shape is not difficult but needs to be taken care of pretty much every day depending on how much grit your family tracks in the house.
The first key to daily cleaning is getting the dirt and grit off your floors; any particles on your floor that are tracked in on peoples shoes or pets feet will dull and scratch the finish of your floor. Use a dust mop or a soft broom to sweep up particles every day and vacuum the floors once or twice a week, depending how dirty they get. Make sure that you use mats at each entrance to your home to cut down on the amount of dirt that gets tracked into the house; it is a good idea to have an area for people to take off their shoes at the entrance to the home as well.
Make sure that if youre using mats inside the entrances of your home or other rugs placed on the floors that you vacuum them well so that dirt doesnt make its way through them and scratch the floor when people walk on them. Small rugs can easily be moved and vacuumed underneath periodically.
To wash any hard surface floors use either a very well wrung out mop or a dry steam cleaner that heats water up to 260 degrees. A steam cleaner is preferable to cleaning with a mop due to the lesser amount of water that it uses, thereby being less likely to cause any water damage to the floor. Due to the high heat that this system heats water to, it works well at removing dirt and sticky residues from your floor and killing bacteria as well.
For other types of scratches and floor damage on softer flooring or on flooring that has a sealant coating on it, avoid dragging furniture on the floor and avoid wearing your shoes in the house, particularly high heels. All furniture should sit either on a rug or have soft pads installed on the bottoms of the legs.
Maintaining the floors in your new home shouldnt be a big chore. If you take a few minutes every day to sweep up and a few more each week to vacuum or mop, your floors should keep looking beautiful for years to come.