Herringbone floor has been popular for many years. It embraces the warmth, style, and durability of hardwood flooring and, thanks to the addition of a recognizable pattern, creates a beautiful floor. It’s likely to be the talk of any party.
The original herringbone pattern dates from Egyptian times and it has appeared throughout history in a variety of formats. It has managed to remain popular but, having high-quality herringbone parquetry flooring means you need to take good care of it.
That starts with cleaning. Fortunately, the following techniques make keeping it looking stunning easy!
Dry Mop
The first step in cleaning herringbone flooring is to remove the debris and dust. The simplest way to do this is to brush the floor. However, brushes tend to move debris around and don’t always pick it up. They can also scratch your floor.
Vacuuming is not a good idea at this stage as it can catch on minute pieces of debris and scratch the floor. That’s why a dry mop, or more accurately a mop with a microfibre cloth on the end of it, is effective.
The microfibre cloth attracts dust and debris, making it easy to remove them from the floor. If this is done daily your floor will stay in good shape.
However, at least once a week you need to do a little more:
Vacuum
To ensure you have cleaned the floor thoroughly you can now run your vacuum across it. It is important to verify the brush on your vacuum is compatible with hardwood flooring.
This will help to keep your floor looking its best.
Mopping
You can mop your floor every week or once a month, it depends on how often it seems to need it. Mopping wood always involves using a damp mop. Too much water will cause the wood to swell, damaging the patternµ. It can also leave water marks.
Warm water and standard dish soap is usually a good choice when mopping, simply dip your mop in the bucket and wring it out thoroughly before mopping the floor. You may be surprised at how much dirt is lifted off.
If necessary, allow the floor to dry and repeat the process to ensure all the dirt is removed.
Polish
It’s advisable to check with the floor manufacturer regarding the best floor polish to use. The aim is to protect the floor against spills and stains while restoring its natural shine. Of course, polish can make a floor slippery which means you need to choose the right product carefully. It must be designed for wooden floors.
Getting Professional Help
If your floor is badly damaged by dirt then it’s a good idea to get the professionals involved. They have specialist machines that can be used on the floor, removing dirt and restoring shine. Naturally, the room will need to be emptied for this to work properly, which is why you don’t want the professionals doing it every week!
It should be noted that the professionals will get the floor much wetter than you do and they’ll use mechanical dryers to dry it. The room could be out of action for several days.