How to Maintain Hardwood Floors

Sand and grit tracked in from outside are what scratch floors. Shoes grind them into the finish like sandpaper.

Mats at every exterior door, a shoes-off habit if you can manage it, and regular dry cleaning — a dust mop, a broom, or a vacuum with a hard-floor head and the beater bar off — will do more than every product on the shelf combined.

Use a cleaner made for your finish. Bona and similar pH-neutral hardwood cleaners for film finishes; the manufacturer's soap for oiled floors.

Never use vinegar — the acid dulls finishes over time. Never use oil soaps; they leave a residue that eventually prevents any recoat from bonding. Never use a steam mop; forcing hot moisture into seams is one of the few things that will genuinely destroy a hardwood floor.

Spray lightly onto a microfiber pad, not onto the floor, and wipe up standing water immediately.

Felt pads under every furniture leg, checked twice a year because they collect grit and fall off. Furniture lifted, never dragged. Pet nails trimmed. Chair mats under rolling office chairs. Humidity somewhere between 35 and 55 percent to keep seasonal movement gentle.

Oiled floors: maintenance oil every one to three years depending on traffic, and re-oil high-wear spots as they appear rather than waiting.

Film finishes: a professional deep clean every few years, and a maintenance coat when sheen starts flattening in walkways — before it wears through. A recoat at the right moment costs a fraction of a full refinish; a recoat six months too late is not possible at all.