How do you prevent scratches on your hardwood floor?

Hello everyone.
I know that your time is precious so if you want to see the prevention tips, go straight to the section headed tips to prevent scratches on your hardwood floor. If you like reading, then carry on and hope you enjoy it.
Hardwood floors are beautiful, and being laid correctly can improve your home. However, they only stay looking beautiful if you can prevent them from being scratched. Sadly, the one thing all hardwood flooring experts agree on is that all hardwood floors do scratch.

Now you may not be able to change the fact they scratch easily, but you can reduce the chances of the floor scratching by following a few tips I found.

What doesn’t scratch hardwood floors?

I’m afraid most natural hardwood floors will scratch. Some will scratch quicker and more than others, but they all do scratch.
So, the answer to this question is there isn’t one. Some woods are softer, so scratches tend to be worse. For example, Pine is a softer wood that scratches a lot easier than Oak. If you would like some advice on this, speak to your local wood floor sanding company, they are ready and will happily guide you in the right direction.
Making sure you choose suitable wood for specific areas will help. Some varnishes/oiled finishes will help. Again, your local wood floor sanding company or a wood flooring company should be able to help you with both these issues.
At the end of this blog, I will link some blogs to help you with some other questions you may have.

Tips to prevent scratches on your hardwood floor?

These may seem obvious, but I didn’t think of them all, so you may not have either. I have picked seven ways to try and prevent scratching.

• Tip 1 – Have doormats at entry and exit doors.

A great way to prolong your wood floor mats inside and out is to give guests ways to get dirt and debris off their shoes before entering.
Having these mats will also help with another reason your wooden floors get worn: snow and water.

• Tip 2 – Remove shoes

Removal of shoes seems obvious, and many of you probably do this anyway, but your shoes may carry dirt and stones. These, in turn, walked across your beautiful wood floor will scratch it. Believe it or not, dirt is the number one reason for most scratches on hardwood floors.

• Tip 3 – Stay on top of maintenance

Pay close attention to cleaning duties, and you will remove the grit and dirt before it even gets a chance to see your floor. And as much as regular cleaning is essential, using the appropriate tools for the job is just as important, if not more important.

The correct tools mean using microfibre mops similar to soft cloths. And when it comes to cleaning solutions, always make sure you use one designed especially for hardwood floors. You risk staining the finish or doing other forms of damage if you use a solution that is too acidic or not correct for your wood floor.

• Tip 4 – Keep the outside Clean too

Grit, dirt and even small pebbles get caught up in shoes. These little things the eye may not see can be the biggest danger to your beautiful hardwood floors.
You can avoid this issue by regularly sweeping the outside area of your home and paying close attention to the entry places. Believe it or not, this job goes a long way to protecting your hardwood floor.

• Tip 5 – Pads for your Area Rugs

Sometimes rugs cause scratches on your hardwood floor as they have too coarse of a backing. So, another thing you can do to reduce scratches on your hardwood floor is place pads under any area rugs.
I didn’t know they existed, but if you want to look at some, click here.

• Tip 6 – Get pads for the legs of your furniture

As you can probably imagine, furniture legs are another big problem scratching hardwood floors. For this reason, you need to get some felt pads in place. To purchase these, click here.

• Tip 7 – Avoid or be careful with rollers on chairs

Unlike furniture with legs, there are no protection pads for rollers. There are only a couple of solutions to this. One, you place rugs underneath them, and then they have no direct contact with the surface of your floor. Secondly, you avoid such furniture completely.
If it’s for an office, the rug is the best option. I have done this on the carpet in my boy’s room, hoping it avoids wearing it down.

As you can see, there are some ways to avoid scratches. If you need any further help, though, see your professional. They have an abundance of knowledge and love to help.

To see how much it costs to have your wood floor sanded, check out this blog:

How much is wood floor sanding?

If you would like to find a floor sanding company, this blog will help you:

Floor Sanding Companies In Cambridgeshire

Check this blog out to ensure you care for your newly refinished wood floor correctly:

How do you care for a newly refinished wood floor?