Winter is here and with it comes dry, cold air and dust. Winter comes with plenty of cleaning challenges, making it difficult to keep everything clean during this season. In winter, your hard floors can get scratched, causing long-lasting damage to the appearance of your beloved property. As such, there are certain steps you should take to protect your floors from dirt, snow, and ice. 

You may have to give your floors some special attention and put in the time to protect your floors in winter, but with regular maintenance, you can overcome the  challenges of frosty weather. Here’s how to look after your floors in winter.

1. Reseal Hard Floors

Enough finishing on the surface of your hard floors is important to keep them protected from snow, salt and other winter debris. Often the excessive dryness in winter can cause the floor to crack and peel. An extra coat of varnish will help you to give your floor some extra protection against winter challenges. Once cracking and peeling starts, scrubbing and resealing hard floors is your best bet.

2. Spread the Heat Evenly

If your hardwood floor is exposed to moisture and dry weather frequently, it can cause the wood to expand and contract. Make sure your floor is exposed to even heated and humidity to avoid damage. You can use a humidifier to balance humidity levels in your home.

3. Clean off Salt

Everyone knows that salt is great for melting ice and snow, and that’s why you  often see people applying salt on walkways and pavement. On the other hand, the same salt can cause several types of damage to your floors so it is important to clean off salt regularly. Clean the floor with a mixture of warm water and vinegar and then rinse with clean water.

You can also use a neutralizer to protect your floors from ice melt damage. These are specially designed to remove ice melt chlorides, hard water films, soap as well as scum, scale, and other organic residues from the floor surface. Regular floor cleaners may not work as the pH balance of ice melters are way higher than dirt, but a neutralizer can get the job done. If your entryway gets a lot of traffic, it is a good idea to mop it once every four to five hours.

4. Implement an Entrance Mat System

A proper entryway matting system is essential for protecting your floors in winter. A good entrance mat system can remove 80% to 90% of the dirt and debris people otherwise track in on their shoes and can affect the floor finishing. Your entryway mat system should cover eight to 12 steps before shoes touch your floor, or around 15 feet of matting. You should add 15 feet of matting outside the front door. If there is no space outside, try to set up 20 feet matting inside the house.

Scraper and wiper mats are perfect for your entryway matting system as they are more efficient in removing dirt and water from shoes. It will help to keep your floors clean from soil and salt. It is better to have a matting system with a “water dam” border as with flat edges, the water and moisture can seep off the outside, causing floor damage.

5. Regular Cleaning is Essential

Winter is the season of snow, dirt and dust, making it necessary to step up your regular maintenance to protect your floors, especially the finishing. Your floors require daily cleaning and maintenance on frosty days. In other seasons, it is ok to clean your floors once a day, but in winter, you may need to clean them twice or even three times to maintain the glow.

When it comes to carpeted floors, frequent vacuuming and spot removal is important. Carpet damage can ruin the appearance of your space. Keep cleaning equipment at hand, as the longer you let a stain sit on the floor, the more damage it will do.

6. Use Furniture Pads

This tip will not only help you to protect your flooring in winters but at any time of the year. It’s important to use furniture pads under heavy furniture. These pads help avoid scratches and unwanted marks on your floors.

7. Use the Best Cleaning Equipment

You can’t get top results with poor equipment, so be sure to use the best cleaning products and equipment. Winter is a harsh season, and your floors need extra care. You can even consider hiring professional cleaning services like winter phs to give your floors extra attention.

Whether it is the best matting system or an efficient neutralizer, the experts will be able to offer the perfect solution to protect your floors from damage. Floor damage can not only ruin the look of your space, but fixing it later can be very expensive. Prevention is always better than cure, so make the effort to protect your floors this winter!

 

Feature Photo by Léonie Beaudet-Dubois on Unsplash