A Guide to Cleaning Timber Flooring

You’ve done your homework and chosen the perfect engineered timber flooring for your home, and it looks fabulous, right? Now, how do we make sure it stays looking as pristine as the day it was installed for as long as possible? Read on.

Prevention is better than the cure!

Engineered timber has so many advantages, including how much easier it is to care for than solid timber, but it still requires a bit of care and maintenance. Make life easier by avoiding the accumulation of floor scratching grit and grime in the first instance.

It’s common practice in a host of countries to remove your shoes before entering the home, swapping grubby outdoor boots and shoes for comfy indoor footwear when indoors. A simple measure that, along with entry and exit door mats, will help keep the dirt in the garden and not in your hallway.

Pet Manicures

Dog and cat zoomies are part of the joy of pet ownership, but out of control nails can scratch up softer timber or thinner laminates, so regular nail clipping is a must for long lasting floor surfaces.

Clean as you go

While the simplest way to keep on top of things is to clean as you go, wiping up spills as quickly as possible, despite our best efforts, dust and dirt will inevitably find its way inside. One the easiest and most effective cleaning methods is a combination dry / spray mop.  

Flooring Online recommends using the dual action Embelton Spray Mop and Neutral Floor Cleaner, a factory blended cleaning solution you dilute with water to both remove soiling and hydrate timber floors.

Begin by dry mopping with the special pad to remove dust and fluff, before attaching the second pad and using the spray facility. One jet spray of Neutral Floor Cleaner will take care of around 3 square metres of flooring - a cost effective super cleaning solution designed specifically for engineered timber floors.

Suck it up!

Vacuuming timber flooring makes for even quicker dirt and dust busting. Just as long as your choice of appliance comes with a soft vacuum head,  purpose designed for hard floor surfaces, you’re good to go.

Protective Measures

Furniture pads are a must to prevent table and chair legs from scraping across your timber floor surface and causing superficial scratches, while good quality curtains, blinds and outdoor awnings will reduce the chances of sunlight colour fade. 

Hallway runners, rugs and mats will also protect your beautiful timber flooring from the potential for busy family foot traffic trekking in grit.

See our complete floor cleaning guide here.

By Ebony Fraser With a background in fashion and design, she has a great eye for colour composition and interior design. Heavily involved in the selection of new products and colours, Ebony has helped develop Flooring Online's product selection to one of the best contemporary flooring collections in Australia.