How to Clean Oak Floors?

Last Updated on September 11, 2023 by admin

Wooden flooring has been a popular trend these days and rightly so. Wooden flooring completely changes the outlook of the entire house. With its numerous benefits, most housebuilders recommend wooden flooring for the house. Unless your home is in an excessively moist or damp area, the wooden floor is perfect for your house and your family.

Wooden flooring is one of those flooring ideas that give you a natural and dynamic look with your home appearance completely changed. For those of you, who prefer a natural appearance, the wooden floor is just the thing for you.

Wooden floors present natural touch and contribute to maintaining a healthy indoor air environment. Carpets being the inhabitants of insects, especially nasty bugs in some cases, wooden floor is preferred as a healthy alternate by most customers.
Some of the benefits of wooden flooring are as follows:

• Its helps to boost your overall home interior
• If you are an investor or a house builder, you will be interested in appraising your house’s value. Well, the wooden floor will certainly add a noticeable in the house value.
• Variety of types makes wood floors easy to choose from
• Feasible for all kinds of homes, gyms, schools, and indoor sports centers.
• Wooden floors are quite practical, so these can be restored easily

Oakwood

Oaktree planks are considered one of the most commonly used top wood for manufacturing furniture, fixtures, and flooring sheets. Due to the extremely hard-wearing of oak tree planks, these have been used in buildings and furniture for centuries. Extremely durable nature and attractive grans make them ideal for all types of flooring.

Since ancient times, Oak trees are known for their symbol of nobility and strength. Some of these trees are believed to be as old as 800 years. Generally, most species of oaks have a life span of more than 200 years.

Oak trees have a variety of types, including the following:

1.White Oak:

These have Greyish or semi white bark and can grow 80 – 100 feet and have a huge spread. These are considered best for flooring due to their hardness level, which has a hardness rating of 1360.

2.Black oak:

Slightly smaller than white oaks, these grow up to 70 – 80 feet at the most.

3.Northern red oak:

Generally, with string and thick trunk, these can quickly grow around 20 feet in approximately ten years. These have a hardness rating of 1290, which makes them less hard as compared to white oaks.

4.Nuttall Oak:

These relatively fast-growing species grow taller than 80 feet.

Reasons for oaks being one of the best suitable wood

• Extraordinarily durable and lifetime performance
• Hard-wearing
• Attractive grain and surface
• Capacity for absorbing stains
• Striking surface even in a raw stateTradit
• ional look and high aesthetic value
• A low carbon footprint makes its domestic farming more environment friendly

Problems faced with oak floors

• Oak floorings are quite heavy compared to other wooden floors; therefore, it may have some profound impact on the floor if an expert or professional is not hired for the job.
• You are hiring a professional means additional labour cost, which can vary to work.
• Tree diseases such as blight are common in oak trees; therefore, it may impact the floors’ attractiveness or appearance. One must be cautious of observing any signs of damage done to the wood.
• Due to its hardness level, oak wooden floors can be noisy and do not absorb much noise.

Methods of cleaning oak floors

Cleaning floors with modern technology is not more than a fun activity nowadays. Those days are long gone when you have to buckle up for a full day of tiresome cleaning of the floor using traditional methods. With the help of the latest technology, helpful gadgets, home appliance, and homemade self-developed cleaning tips, it is as easy as possible. Primarily, if you have installed wooden oak floors, half of your job is already carried out.

A list of easy and practical methods have been illustrated below for understanding and application. This analysis looks into some of the helpful homemade tips for cleaning wooden oak floors.

Floor cleaning agents

Always check for product specifications when buying floor cleaning agents. One should always try to use only those products that have been recommended by the manufacturer of the floors. Any harmful impact of a non-feasible product on the oak floor will harm your subsequent warranty claims for changes that happened to the floor.

Vinegar

Vinegar is an essential part of our daily lives with its presence in every household’s kitchens. It is also proven to be useful when used in cleaning agents. It’s even a cheap way of making a cleaning solution, ultimately saving the user’s money.

Take half a cup of white vinegar and add this in a gallon of lukewarm water. Always test a small portion of the floor and see if any side effects of the cleaning solution have appeared on the wooden oak floor’s surface. If it seems fine, use a mop to apply this cleaning solution to make your floor brand new.

Soap

After dry mopping your oak floor to remove any dust particles, make a cleaning solution by mixing 4 cups of warms water with a few dish soap drops. Apply this cleaning solution to your oak floor, and do not forget to sweep a dry mop afterwards.

Tea Bag

Another homemade method for bringing extra shine to your oak floors is with the help of teabags. Take one teabag and put it in 2 cups of boiling water. Please wait for it to come to room temperature. Now, soak a piece of cloth in this water and gently rub the floor. If you compare this treated portion of the floor with the untreated one, you will notice the extra shine it has brought to the floor.

Removing Stains

Floor wax can remove dark spots, heal marks, watermarks, or pet stains on oak floors. If floor wax in ineffective on such dark spots, you can apply bleach profoundly, give some time to settle, and after an hour, you can use a damp cloth to rub the area. Check for any precautionary measures when buying floor waxes as different brands can have other effects on oaks floors.

General tips

• This goes without saying that before applying a cleaning solution, one must sweep the floor and ensure no dust particles or grime are present there.
• Vacuum cleaners emitting heat above a certain level should never be used to clean oak wooden floors or damage it.
• When moping, use an only damp mop and avoid excessive use of water on the floor.
• Based on the humidity level in the area, switch on a ceiling fan for speeding up the drying process.
• Never use vinyl or tile floor cleaners on oak wooden floors. Always look for the specification on cleaning agents available in the market before using it on your oak floor.

Conclusion

Installation of wooden oak floors can be an expensive investment sometimes; hence, cleaning measures should also apply to up to the mark to save this investment and make it long-lasting. The methods and precautions described above should be kept in mind if you have newly installed wooden oak floors in your home.
It’s not that tricky. One must analyze its options well.