How To Clean Prefinished Hardwood Floors? – Step By Step Guide

how to clean prefinished hardwood floors

How To Clean Prefinished Hardwood Floors? – Many people ask this question on the internet, as cleaning prefinished hardwood floors can be a bit tricky. But if you follow expert recommendations and the necessary steps, it will be really easy cleaning old wood floors without refinishing. In recent years, however, prefinished hardwood floors have grown in popularity.

In this article, you will learn about prefinished hardwood floors and the major pros and cons associated with them. Furthermore, we will also give you a step-by-step guide on how to clean dirt in the grooves of hardwood floors when the floors are prefinished. Once you learn this, you will be efficient in cleaning ingrained dirt from wood.

Prefinished Hardwood: What Is It?

Prefinished Hardwood: What Is It?
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In recent years, prefinished hardwood floors have grown in popularity, as it is becoming common in commercial as well as residential buildings. Although unfinished hardwood floors were common before, now prefinished hardwood floors are quite common and are easily available both online and in flooring shops.

According to A+ Hardwood Floors, a popular flooring company, “When we say that prefinished floors are finished before installation, we mean that they are sanded, stained, and coated with polyurethane in a factory. The planks simply need to be cut and nailed to complete installation. After that, they’re ready to go.”

Hence, you can understand that prefinished hardwood floors are finished in the factory, where each board comes with proper coating beforehand. It comes with a polyurethane coating from the first. All you need to do is to set them on your floors with cement, sand, and water. Furthermore, they are easy to install, and the process of done quickly.

Pros And Cons Of Prefinished Hardwood Floors

Pros And Cons Of Prefinished Hardwood Floors
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All types of floors, be it prefinished hardwood floors, unfinished hardwood floors, or any other floor types, have their own pros and cons. Depending on your needs, demands, and budget, you can choose the floor you want for your room.

The following are some of the major pros and cons of prefinished hardwood floors:

Quick Installation And Immediate Use

Quick Installation And Immediate Use
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Prefinished hardwood floors can be installed fast. According to A+ Hardwoods, “Prefinished hardwood flooring options are often chosen by homeowners due to their quick installation and incredible durability… Once your prefinished floors are installed, they are immediately ready to be walked on and enjoyed by your family.” Basically, you do not need to wait for a long amount of time for your floors to get installed.

Limited VOCs

Limited VOCs
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Since prefinished hardwood floors are finished in the factory, you will not need to worry about staying near Volatile Organic Compounds for a long amount of time. On the other hand, with unfinished hardwood floors, VOCs hand in the air on your site for days.

Easy Design Selection

Easy Design Selection
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According to Palo Duro Hardwoods, “With prefinished wood flooring, it’s easy to take a short board to compare colors, graining and texture against other design elements you’re considering (e.g. paint colors, rugs, furniture styles and colors).” You can easily select the design and order as per your choice with prefinished hardwood floors.

Highly Durable

Highly Durable
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One of the major aspects of prefinished hardwood floors is that they are more durable than unfinished hardwood floors. It is easier to make hardwood floors in a factory, where all types of machinery and the environment is available for the workers to work fast and efficiently.

The following are some of the major cons associated with prefinished hardwood floors:

  • You can face problems related to the sizes of each hardwood piece and also the colors of the hardwood.
  • If you want to re-sand and re-finish the hardwood, you will not be able to perform it in prefinished hardwood floors. You will have to remove and remake the floor, which is time-consuming.

How To Clean Prefinished Hardwood Floors?

How To Clean Prefinished Hardwood Floors
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The best way to clean your prefinished hardwood floors is by mopping them with water and appropriate floor cleaners. Always make sure to use top-quality cleaners for your floors, as they do not fade away the color and make your floor durable as well. Cleaning your floors every week is enough to keep the prefinished hardwood floors from degrading.

The following are the steps you must follow and precautions you must take to clean your prefinished hardwood floors efficiently:

Step 1: Clean Off Dust With The Help Of Cloths Or Sweeps

Clean Off Dust With The Help Of Cloths Or Sweeps
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With time, prefinished hardwood floors accumulate a lot of dust, especially on the corners. With more accumulation, it can get degraded. Hence, try to clean off those dust with dust cleaners and sweeps. Furthermore, you must also consider moving some of your furniture items once every month to clean off the dust underneath. These specks of dust can degrade the floor and also make marks on it with time.

Step 2: Mop The Floor With Wet Mopping

Mop The Floor With Wet Mopping
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This is an age-old technique and the most obvious cleaning method. Use a floor cleaner and dilute it with water, and use a flat microfiber mop to clean the floor with the use of this solution. Use the leaning-edge technique to mop the floor for the best results. Here, you walk backward through the room and work the mop from side to side. Be careful while doing this, as you can fall backward by colliding.

Step 3: Polish Your Floors

Polish Your Floors
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If you have streaks on your floors, you can reduce them by ensuring that you do not let dirty water dry into the hardwood floors. This can leave out streaks. Hence, when you see dirt, you must clean the mop and dip it into the cleaning solution again.

Summing Up

How to clean prefinished hardwood floors? – Hope this article was helpful enough to guide you about the ways to clean your prefinished hardwood floors. Once you follow the aforementioned steps, it will be really simple for you to clean your floors. However, it requires some work, which is quite obvious.

However, if you are thinking of buying prefinished hardwood floors and worrying about cleaning them, this cleaning guide can be helpful for you as well. Do you know of any better way of cleaning your prefinished hardwood floors? Share some instructions with us in the comments section below.

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A passionate writer and an avid reader, Soumava is academically inclined and loves writing on topics requiring deep research. Having 3+ years of experience, Soumava also loves writing blogs in other domains, including digital marketing, business, technology, travel, and sports.

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