How to Make Wood Floors Less Slippery?

Last Updated on September 11, 2023 by admin

With changing times, various new flooring ideas have been developed by companies keeping in view market demand, where customers want to adopt more practical ways to make their floor look lively and clean. And why not? Everyone likes to have a tidy house floor.

Wooden flooring is one of these practical home decor ideas. If you search the market, many varieties can be found for selection of floor, from synthetic solutions to the vinyl floor, from rubber flooring to coated sheeting versions.

Material varieties are further segregated into designs and colors of your choice. Often color schemes and designs are manufactured based on the orders and demands of the customer. One must pay attention and carefully examine the samples available in the market while selecting flooring material for their homes.

The practicality of wooden floors can be a tricky part as it depends on the extent of usage of the space and the intended users. For example, If you have kids and older adults in your home, safety factors should be of utmost importance. Similarly, a gym owner or a ballet floor owner would have to analyze his flooring options from another angle.

Changing your entire floor layers with a permanent solution such as tiles and ceramics can be an expensive and lengthy task. With ready to apply flooring ideas, this subject has been practically resolved. Wooden floors are quite easy to apply on almost every surface and are long-lasting. Simultaneously, if you are not satisfied with the floor or want to change it at regular intervals, after a few years, it is quite simple to remove the old flooring sheets and apply a brand new one.

With proper guidelines, one can effectively apply these flooring sheets without bearing additional expenses of hiring a specialist from the market. It’s effective, inexpensive, and everlasting.

Nature of wooden floors

All products made from timber and applied for flooring are considered in the category of wooden flooring, whether structural or aesthetic in nature.

By nature, wooden floors are not slippery; however, when the flooring is done, wax and polish are applied to the floor. On the one hand theses, polishes and waxes make them shine and appear glossy, but on the other hand, these are the main reason for floors being slippery in general. Same way, presence of water or lubricant on the floor, a person wearing specific shoes with flat soles, can also make wooden floors dangerously slippery.

There are many types of wooden flooring, a few of which are listed below for better understanding:

 Hardwood flooring: These solid hardwood floor planks are quite famous among customers. These can be finished several times before they completely wore out. Not much slippery in nature.

 Solid wood manufacturing: Timber is cut in pieces and lengths in comparison with the required dimensions. Slippery nature depends on their finishing solution used.

 Rotary peel floorings: Wood logs are peeled with blade and then pressed flat, making them appear plywood.

 Engineered wood floorings: Wood logs are engineered to form a wooden plank. A layer of less expensive wood is covered and pressed between sleek layers of expensive wood. A much cheaper and less expensive wood plank is engineered in this way.

General reasons for slippery floors

List of reasons for slippery floors are as follows:

o Application of wax or polish
o Different types of synthetic coatings
o Floor being wet due water or any sort of lubricant
o Shoes with flat or slippery soles

Methods to avoid make the wood floor less slippery

Over the years, several industrial solutions have been developed for making wood floors less slippery. People following the quote “necessity is the mother of invention” have taken the initiative themselves and developed several homemade easy to apply solutions for this problem.

A few of these methods to resolve this issue are list down below:

Vinegar

To make a solution to apply on the floor, make a mixture of one part vinegar and two parts water and stir. Give this solution some time to settle. Apply this solution to the floor with the help of a mop. Remove old residues on the floor, which may be accelerating the slipperiness of the floor.

Post moping, if you feel that the floor is still wet than usual, make it dry with a regular dry mop to absorb the excess solution.

Use of rugs

One can always use rugs to reduce the slippery issue of floors. Firstly, identify areas with more traffic or usage or areas with more frequent slippery problems. You can find absorbent mats from the market which are designed specifically for this purpose. Place absorbent mats in problematic areas such are doorways. Regularly remove these rugs when you feel these rugs are too wet and put them in sunlight to dry.

Frequent clean up

If you do not have any rugs or want to avoid applying any solution to the floor, frequent cleaning is the tried and tested way as always. As soon as the problem arises, clean up the mess and wipe it off to avoid any incident.

Door-mats

Doorways are the most used areas of the house with fast-paced traffic. To keep the doorways safe and dry, try using door-mats at each entrance of the room. Door-mats are designed to make the shoes dry and residue-free, which helps prevent skidding on the wood floors.

Shoes without flat or slippery soles

When you go to the market to buy shoes, look for shoes with jotted soles. Ask your guest and family members to wipe their shoes on the mats whenever they use the entrance. This will help to prevent the risk of any unfortunate incident.

Nonskid treatment

There are several ready to use nonskid solutions available in the market. Different solutions are available for different types of floors. Carefully choose a nonskid solution keeping in view the type of your floor. Make sure to apply it in a small floor area first. Check the results of the test, whether any anything unwanted has happened to the testing floor. If you are comfortable with the results, apply this solution to the floor’s designated areas for a carefree and nonskid floor.

Note:

Before applying any floor treatment, always wipe the floor clean with soaked cloth in order to remove any dust particles. This helps in the smooth application of treatment/solution to achieve the desired results.

Conclusion

we have tried to analyze wooden floors, naturally and jotted down possible easy to apply solutions for those facing the problem of slippery wooden floors. It is impossible to explain every single method here in a small article, but we have tried our level best.

We feel that the methods illustrated above are practical in nature, easy to use, and quick fix for this issue. Simply apply these ideas and have a carefree wooden floor without any risk of slipperiness.