When we moved into our new house, three years ago, before Little Piglet was born, one of the things the we were attracted to was the solid oak flooring in the house entrance. Our entrance is quite open. There isn’t a hall, you are straight into an open area, where we keep the dining area too. Before we moved into the house, the previous owners showed my husband how to clean solid oak flooring and even left us some of the cleaning products he used.
This was a great help, as we had never had to look after solid oak flooring before. We realised it is important to be careful, as wood is a natural product and you can’t get it too wet. As it is a quality product, cleaning it is much more than a quick wipe down, like you may do with laminate flooring. This is what we used to have in the hallway of our old house.
Cleaning Solid Oak Flooring
I must admit this job is something my husband does! He is a little bit fussy about these sort of tasks. I maybe the one who does the tidying and de-cluttering but my husband is often the one who enjoys a deep clean and wants to get it just right! That’s fine by me, I must say!
The cleaning of solid oak floor comes in three stages, which I will highlight. You must use a separate cloth for each stage. My husband uses a micro-fibre cloth or even a muslin from one of our babies! They do come in useful don’t they!
Clean
The first stage is to physically clean the floor. My husband uses a brand of detergent called Osmo floor cleaner. This is a blend of gentle detergents and oils. You need to mix with water and use a damp cloth. It is very important not to get the floor too wet as mentioned above.
Oil and Wax – Clean Your Solid Oak Flooring
It is important to then let the floor dry and the next stage is to oil and wax. My husband uses Osmo Wooden floor wax for this; another product left by the previous owner. You need to rub the wax in gentle throughout the whole floor. This process can take a while and you need to be very thorough. Again take a less is more approach, as you can use too much and over oil/over wax it. Make sure you use a fresh cloth for this; a microfibre or a muslin.
Polish – Clean Your Solid Oak Flooring
After the wax has soaked in, the final stage is to polish your lovely clean floor. Again use a fresh cloth! And you are complete. The difference is pretty amazing and you can really smell the difference too.
It is generally important to try and look after your solid oak flooring in between cleans. I have to admit I struggle to keep it clean, as we are in and out a lot, with young children. I have to sweep and hoover it, sometimes daily. If the children spill any thing (and they do) we have to ensure we clean it up immediately!
We also have sliders on our furniture; dining room table and chairs but we have had scratches.
Solid oak flooring is worth it though. It is beautiful and really lasts a long time. Personally I think it has the wow factor as well. Just like anything though, you have to look after it and clean solid oak flooring.
Disclosure – this is a sponsored post!
