How to Clean Engineered Hardwood Floors

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Engineered hardwood is incredibly affordable when compared to other types of flooring but their main selling point is they’re simple to maintain. You won’t have to deal with regularly staining the floor to keep its brand new appeal or worrying about scrapes and scratches from even the lightest furniture.

Learning how to clean engineered hardwood floors is also simple as it’s a quick job that can easily be done by anyone in your home with the right tools.

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Finding the Right Tools

The first thing to take into consideration is what you’ll use to clean your hardwood as you’ll require a vacuum, a mop, and you may also need a cleaning solution.

Vacuum Cleaners for Hardwood Floors

Finding a vacuum cleaner for hardwood floors is simple, particularly because more people are adding the classic appeal of hardwood to their homes and so the market is quite saturated.

When you’re searching for the right vacuum cleaner it should include the following features:

Impeccable Suction: Dirt and grime will not only regularly settle on your hardwood, but it will also make its way into the cracks between each plank. Instead of relying on a traditional broom and dustpan that will only push dirt around, make sure your chosen vacuum has the perfect level of suction. This will help to capture debris in all of the edges and tight spaces.

Large Cleaning Path: The larger the cleaning path of the vacuum, the less time it’s going to take to get the job done. Instead of having to go over the same spot several times, you will only have to do a single sweep. Typically high-end models offer the superior suction across the entire width of the cleaning head.

Swivel Cleaning Head: Dirt can be found relatively anywhere, even if it’s along your baseboards or around the legs of your furniture. With a swiveling head you’ll have the ability to easily maneuver the vacuum into hard to reach areas.

Soft Cleaning Head Padding: Whether your chosen engineered hardwood vacuum has rolling brushes or not, you’ll want to make sure that the cleaning head offers extra padding to protect your floor. The last thing you’ll want to deal with is a cleaning tool that leaves scratches behind.

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Last update on 2023-06-09 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Steam Mops for Hardwood Floors

Now that you have the right tool for getting rid of the majority of dust, pet hair, and fine particles, it’s time to consider what you’ll use for washing the hardwood, such as a steam mop. These units are specifically designed to protect the integrity of your floor meanwhile ensuring that all traces of bacteria and grime are removed with each use.

Some important features of a steam mop for hardwood floors include:

Germ Fighting: The best mops you can find on the market give you the ability to kill up to 99.9% of bacteria that comes from dirt hidden in your floors. The more bacteria you have, the more dangerous your home can be for children, pets, and residents that are dealing with respiratory illnesses.

Built-in Scrubbing: There are times when you might not be able to immediately clean a spill and as a result, it becomes harder to get rid of. Your hardwood mop should have a gentle scrubbing feature that enables you to deal with caked on dirt and grime without having to use too much effort.

Fresheners: Engineered hardwood is resilient, but using the wrong cleaning solutions can easily damage it. This is why opting for a steam mop with fresheners can be preferable. You’ll get the germ fighting power from the steam with an added hint of freshness after every clean. In most cases your steam mop will advise you to not use chemicals in the water tank, as it will damage the mop and your floors.

Customizable Controls: Every home owner has a preference in terms of their level of cleanliness and it’s never been easier to customize your cleaning experience than with the help of easy to use cleaning controls. Most steam mops give you the ability to choose between different heat settings depending on how often you clean your floors and their level of dirtiness.

Bissell Steam Mop, Steamer, Tile, Hard Wood Floor Cleaner, 1806, Sapphire Powerfresh Deluxe

Every Bissell purchase helps save pets. Bissell proudly supports Bissell pet foundation and its mission to help save homeless pets..Choose between high or low steam settings based on your cleaning needed. Heater warm up time: 30 seconds. Cleaning path width - 12 inches
Sanitize your hard floors to eliminate 99.9 percent of germs and bacteria without the use of harsh chemicals; (When used as directed; Does not include fragrance disc)
Powerfresh deluxe steam mop has an on board spot boost brush to remove tough, sticky messes
Leave behind a refreshing spring breeze scent as you clean. Power rating: 12 ampere, power cord length: 25 feet. Power Source: Corded, Automatic Cord Rewind: No
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Last update on 2023-05-24 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Steam Cleaners for Hardwood Floors

In comparison to steam mops, steam cleaners use a process known as water extraction, which enables you to clean your floors with the combination of chemical cleaners and hot water sprays. Typically steam cleaners are recommended for carpet, but there are units that can be used on hardwood.

The impressive features of a steam cleaner for hardwood floors include:

Cleaning Solutions: You’ll easily be able to take advantage of chemical cleaning solutions in a steam cleaner because they are designed to allocate the perfect about of cleaner and water to ensure your hardwood is safely sanitized.

Wash/Dry Functions: Since a steam cleaner is known for its use of water, rather than steam, you’ll want to make sure to choose a model that gives you both wash and dry functions. You will be able to brush your floors clean and have excess water suctioned back into the unit to help minimize drying time.

Dual Tanks: Above all else, make sure your steam cleaner offers 2 separate tanks. One should be for the clean water used for cleaning and the other for dirty water that is suctioned back into the unit to be emptied.

The Steps for Cleaning Engineered Hardwood Floors

Step 1: Vacuuming the Dirt

The first step is to having cleaner engineered hardwood is to vacuum, otherwise you’ll simply be pushing dirt around with your wet cleaner. By using your vacuum with impeccable suction on hard surfaces you won’t have to worry about grime settling in the seams of the floor and then becoming dislodged once you start cleaning with a steam mop or cleaner.

Step 2: Washing the Floor

This is when you’ll want to decide whether to use a steam cleaner or a steam mop, depending on your personal preference.

While cleaning, ensure that you create straight vertical or horizontal lines to prevent the appearance of streaking while drying. In the event that you’re beginning to notice streaking, check the cleaning pads on the bottom of the cleaner to see if they’re dirty. If not, consider drying the floor with a soft microfiber towel.

Step 3: Cleaning Inspection and Spot Cleaning

Once the floor has completely dried, take the time to inspect the quality of cleanliness. In the event that there are some spots that aren’t as clean as others, you can easily spot clean them.

You’ll need a bucket of warm water and 2 soft dishcloths. Dip the dishcloth into the warm water and scrub to remove the excess dirt. You can then use the second cloth to dry the spot.

Cleaning hardwood floors has never been easier with the help of the right tools. With the numerous manufacturers that specialize in floor cleaning, you won’t ever have to worry about dealing with dirty engineered hardwood again.