Top Tips to Protect Your Floors This Holiday Season
We know that life is probably going to be busy and full of fun and festivities, so you probably won’t want to spend a lot of time worrying about the state of your beautiful flooring. To help put your mind at ease and minimize any potential damage, we’ve compiled a quick and simple list of tips to help save your hardwood, carpeting and laminate floors from the abundance of cheer that comes along with this time of year.
Doormats and Rugs
Strategically placing area rugs in high-traffic areas is also a great, stylish way to protect your hardwood floors. If you live in an area that is particularly prone to wet, snowy weather, it’s a good idea to have extra washable rugs placed near the doors for guests to knock off snow or mud before they come inside.
Remove Your Shoes
To help facilitate this, there are a few things you can do. First, have everyone in your house get into the habit of leaving a pair of slippers by the main entrance so it’s easy to slip off shoes and put on slippers. Keep a boot tray and small shoe rack near the door as well. Wet or dirty shoes go into the boot tray, and other shoes go onto the shoe rack or into their respective bedrooms.
For guests, you can either let them know ahead of time to bring a pair of slippers, or you can keep a few pairs of washable “house shoes” near the door. These are not difficult to find, and they are not very expensive either. To eliminate any potential awkwardness, you can make it fun and hang a lighthearted sign on the door letting guests know to leave their shoes at the entrance.
Clean Up Regularly
This one is obvious, but extra traffic means extra cleaning. To cut down on the time you spend doing housework, you can go high-tech and invest in a small robot vacuum that will pick up debris and even spot-mop your floors. If that’s outside of your budget, consider keeping a dry mop in all of the main living spaces, and do a quick once-over anytime you’re walking through.
Invest in Furniture Pads
This is an especially useful tip if your home is mostly hardwood floors. Home improvement or flooring stores will carry a variety of soft, easy-to-apply furniture pads that can be placed on the bottoms of chair legs, table legs and anything you know will be getting pushed or pulled across the floor regularly. Padding these surfaces will not only allow the furniture to move more easily, but it will save your floors from any potential scraping or gouging.
Seal and Treat
For hardwood flooring, you should take the time to have your floors varnished if you haven’t already. A fresh layer of sealant will protect the wood from spills and stains.
Carpeted floors should be steam cleaned and protected with an anti-stain or liquid-repelling treatment. Not only will this save your carpets, but it will save you stress and headache when someone drops a glass of wine or the kids get a little too excited about their holiday treats.
Train Your Pets
It may take a little bit of time and patience, but training your animals to sit by the door while you wipe their paws is an invaluable trick for reducing the amount of cleaning you do and keeping your floors fresh.
In addition to this, you should keep your pet’s nails trimmed and blunted whenever possible. Long or sharp nails can scratch and gouge hardwood in no time. If you have cats, make sure there are plenty of places for them to scratch. Otherwise, your carpeted floors may suffer.
One Final Tip – Relax
Remember, the memories and joy of the season are much more important than keeping your floors pristine. Enjoy your holidays, and consult with our professionals if you have questions or need help with post-party floor cleaning.