The floor is one of the most important parts of a home. It gives a space its character and personality and can influence all other interior design and decorative decisions.
Whether you have cheap laminate floors or parquet floors, keeping your floor in tip-top condition should be your top priority. Wooden flooring is famed for its robustness and durability, but even it can be damaged and scratched if improperly cared for. How can you prevent scratches from appearing on your wooden floor? Find out here.
Use Rugs
It might seem counterintuitive to hide your beautiful wooden floor under a rug, but this can, in fact, be one of the most effective ways to protect your floor and ensure it doesn’t get scratched.
There’s no need to cover every inch with rugs and mats. Placing one or two in strategic areas can be the best option. Place rugs in areas of high traffic, such as corridors, doorways, and entrances, as these are the places scratches are most likely to appear.
Rugs can protect your wooden floor from scratches, but they can also serve an important decorative purpose. Rugs come in a huge variety of different styles, colours, and patterns; they can be the perfect way to add a little extra to your interior design.
Implement A No-Shoes Policy
Shoes can pick up small pieces of dirt and debris as we go about our day. Walking across a wooden floor in the same shoes can cause scratches to appear, as small, sharp shards are dragged across the material and forced into the wood by the weight from above.
Rather than inspecting the shoes of all visitors who come to your home, an easier option is to implement and enforce a no-shoes policy. Ask all guests to remove their shoes at the door, and ensure you do the same to set an example.
Set up a shoe rack at your front door. This will make guests feel more comfortable about removing their footwear and will ensure you don’t have an unsightly stack of shoes piled at the door every time you are entertaining guests.
Be Careful With Your Furniture
Furniture can be a common cause of scratches in wooden flooring. The underside of the feet on chairs, sofas, and tables can be sharp and cause serious damage to your floor.
There are a couple of ways to address this issue. One of the easiest is to place all your furniture on rugs. This will stop the feet from causing damage and even make it easier to move your furniture around, as all you’ll need to do is pull the rug.
The other option is to use small felt pads and attach these to the feet. These will act as a protective layer and ensure your wooden floor isn’t damaged or scratched.
Keep Your Floor Clean
A general rule of thumb that can help prevent scratches from appearing on your wooden floor is to keep it clean. Dirt and grime can cause wood to degrade, which can make it more vulnerable to scratches.
There’s no need to use heavy-duty cleaning chemicals, these can actually cause more harm than good. Instead, sweep your floor regularly and clean it with a cloth and lukewarm water to prevent a build-up of dirt.
There’s nothing worse than seeing a deep gouge or scratch in the middle of your prized wooden floor. Thankfully, preventing such a disaster from occurring is easier than you might think. Use rugs and mats, implement a strict no-shoes policy, be careful with your furniture, and keep your floor clean and tidy at all times.
