Top Tips For Maintaining Your Oak Flooring
1st May 2020
As we go through this lockdown and we all stay at home, we thought we would put together some advice on the cleaning and maintenance of your oak flooring to keep you busy and perhaps get that worn oak floor looking as good as new.
Regular cleaning has perhaps become the norm during these times - but to minimise damage to your floor it is important it is done so regularly. General dirt and dust can be swept away or removed with a vacuum. This will stop the grit from running along the oak floors surface and creating scratches.
A damp mop should also be apart of your cleaning routine. It is important that this is strictly a damp mop - don’t over apply water. It is also important that a suitable wood floor cleaner is used at this point. Products such as Flash and Detergents should not be used to clean your oak floor. Instead a specific wood floor cleaner should be used - such as the Osmo Wash and Care. These products are designed to not only clean the floor but to also maintain. This makes the floor surface more resistant against soiling and wear. For the quick cleaning of spillages, spray bottles such as the Osmo Spray Cleaner are great for a quick application.
But what about those more intense stains that can’t be removed by a standard cleaner?
One option is to opt for a more intensive cleaner - such as the Blanchon Powerful Cleaner. Products such as this are designed to thoroughly remove the most stubborn of stains, dirt and grease from wooden flooring that a typical floor soap could not. Blanchon Powerful Cleaner is simply diluted with water before being applied with a damp microfibre mop or floor cloth. This process perfectly prepares the surface for applying a new layer of maintenance oil or the original oil - which we get into later in this post.
For oiled finishes with more serious marks that cannot be removed by cleaning alone it is still normally possible to spot repair. This can typically be done by sanding away the isolated area using sandpaper - removing all reminiscent of the stain. The great advantage of oiled finishes is that this area can now be recoated with the original oil - which should blend in reasonably well with the rest of the finish.
With the oak flooring now free of stains and marks we would recommend applying a maintenance oil to really get the oak floor looking in tip top shape. Maintenance oils are designed to help regenerate previously coated oak floors - bringing life back into the finish. These oils will also help to protect your oak floor even further.
It is important that the correct maintenance oil is used for your specific wood floor finish. Typically your chosen brand will have their own maintenance oil product for their specific oil. For the Blanchon and Osmo Hard Wax Oils there is products such as the Blanchon - Maintenance Oil and Osmo Liquid Wax Cleaner available. For the water-based nature of the Blanchon Original Wood Environment there is the Blanchon Original Wood Environment Maintenance Oil.
If you are unsure what type of oil finish is on your oak floor, take a look at the Blanchon Universal Maintenance Oil - designed for all types of oiled floor finishes.
Do you have a query regarding oak flooring maintenance? Drop us an email - sales@peakoak.co.uk.
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