Among the rooms in the house that get the dirtiest, the kitchen wins the gold medal. While incredibly aesthetic in the kitchen, hardwood flooring is not immune to splashes of all kinds when you cook delicious family meals or when your little ones eat with their fingers and try to escape their spinach.
To avoid damaging a hardwood floor while trying to maintain and preserve it, it’s necessary to know a bit more about your kitchen flooring: is it varnished or oiled?
A varnished hardwood floor
The finishing of a hardwood floor known as varnishing consists of spreading several layers of a thin, transparent protective and waterproofing film on the wooden floor. Varnishing makes the hardwood floor more resistant to impacts, regular foot traffic, as well as the chemical agents contained in cleaning products.
- To regularly maintain a varnished hardwood floor, start by vacuuming, preferably with an attachment that has a soft brush to avoid scratches. Then, about once a week, it’s necessary to pass a well-wrung damp cloth over the varnished floor to clean and remove grease buildup in a simple and effective way. You can also use a microfiber mop soaked in a mild, suitable renovator, after cleaning, from time to time, to reveal the natural shine of your wooden floor.
- To preserve your kitchen’s hardwood floor, then be sure to avoid anything that could scratch it. To protect the varnish finish and preserve this protective film as much as possible, you can notably apply small pads under the kitchen table, but also and especially under the legs of chairs that are very often used.
An oiled hardwood floor
The finishing of an oiled hardwood floor consists of impregnating the floor covering with a product specific to its material that completely envelops all its material and therefore its fibers in depth. These products formed with natural ingredients have the advantage of protecting the hardwood floor from stains.
- To maintain an oiled hardwood floor in a kitchen, you first need to dust it regularly using a broom or a regular vacuum cleaner. Then, at least once a week, remember to continue the maintenance by using a microfiber mop or a sponge mop soaked in natural soap specifically for oiled hardwood floors. In any case, avoid steam cleaning on an oiled hardwood floor to preserve the oily product that protects it from stains. Finally, once or twice a year, depending on the needs of your oiled hardwood floor, you can apply a layer of protective maintenance oil to refresh its condition.
- If you want to remove a scratch on your oiled hardwood floor, you can lightly sand the area affected by the scratch, then dust the entire floor and apply a touch of maintenance oil to the previously sanded area if necessary.
Tips for all kitchen hardwood floors
- Ventilate your kitchen well! To preserve your kitchen hardwood floor, it is essential to properly ventilate this living space. Proper ventilation helps, indeed, to eliminate unpleasant odors, but also to maintain a good level of humidity, important for preserving a hardwood floor in the long term. When you cook, or even in winter when your windows must remain closed, also remember to turn on your stove’s ventilation as often as possible.
- On a daily basis, if you stain your kitchen hardwood floor, clean it immediately to prevent the stain(s) from soaking in and marking the wood. For quick cleaning, refer to the specific advice for your type of varnished or oiled hardwood floor.
