How To Clean and Care for Your Newly Finished Hardwood Floors
- Sep 9, 2017
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 22, 2025
Proper care of your newly finished hardwood floors is vital. Follow these simple steps to help retain its beauty and durability.
Do not walk on your newly finished floor for at least 24 hours after the final coat is applied. However, if absolutely necessary and when humidity levels are low to normal, the finish should be dry within 2-3 hours; after that time, it should be safe to walk on the floor in stocking feet.
NO SHOES in the first 7 days.
The finish will be roughly 85% cured three days after the final coat is applied. During these 3 days, do not move any heavy furniture across the floor.
The finish will be 100% cured in 7 days. NO CARPETS/RUGS of any kind on the floor for at least 8 days during this curing process. When using rugs, make sure the backing pad is made of a soft nonabrasive material. Recommended rug pads for hardwood floors.
Note: Use of area rugs results in the un-even aging and discoloration of your floor. For example, if the floor is exposed to a lot of sunlight, the area underneath the area rug will remain its true color while the surrounding area will be aged by the sun.
Use protective walk-off mats at the exterior doors to help prevent sand and grit from tracking onto the floor. If your kitchen has hardwood floors, you may want to place a throw rug in front of the sink to catch spills and splashes.
Dust mop or vacuum regularly. Keep doormats clean. If vacuuming, make sure to use a felt type wand as this shouldn't scratch your floor. No spinning brushes.
Wipe up spills promptly with a dry cloth or paper towel. Use a slightly dampened cloth for sticky spills and then dry any water left on the floor.
For general cleaning, we recommend Bona Floor Cleaning Kits which can be purchased from us or at any Home Improvement store, Target or right here on Amazon.
Note: Using 1/4 cup of white vinegar to 1/2 gallon of warm water may also be used. Dip a clean cloth or sponge mop in the mixture and wring nearly dry. Clean floor and wipe with a towel as you go. Excessive water causes wood to expand, possibly damaging the flooring. NEVER CLEAN WITH MURPHY'S OIL SOAP!
Install soft felt protective pads to furniture legs that come in contact with the hardwood floor. These can be purchased from a wide variety of places and in most cases, we at Jeff's Floor Refinishing leave some complimentary pads with our customers.
Ladies, please keep high heels in good repair. Heels that have lost their protective caps, thus exposing the fastening nail, will exert over 8,000 pounds per square inch of pressure on the floor.
NEVER WAX your hardwood floor. Wax will, in most cases be slippery and once waxed, the floor will not be able to be merely re-coated to rejuvenate it. It will have to be completely sanded down to raw wood to restore the floor.
Keep in mind, products not advertised as "wax" may still have wax in them and not all wax products disclose that wax is an ingredient. Chances are that if a product claims to "shine," it most likely contains wax.
You may notice tiny separations between the flooring strips during dry seasons or long heated periods. The amount of moisture in the air causes wood to expand and contract. When humidity levels are low, the flooring will contract and the separations will become more prominent than at other times. However, this is a natural characteristic of wood and it is nothing to be alarmed about. Each season, the separations will become less noticeable.
Over time, your hardwood floor's top finish coat will start to wear. The high traffic areas will wear faster than other less traffic areas and those are the areas that will determine when you will be needing a "buff and re-coat" to rejuvenate it.
How fast the top coat wears is dependent on how it is used and cared for. I've had floors go longer than 15 years without a re-coat, but in cases of extreme use, we have been called back in as short as 2 years. Follow my easy tips and you can avoid the latter.
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