1) Prior to placing any furniture or other items in the room, be certain to place the heavy duty felt pads on the bottoms of any items coming in contact with the floor.(Including Plant stands, floor vases, umbrella stands, trash cans, etc.)

  

  2) For daily or general cleaning, use either a micro-fiber dust mop, or an untreated old fashioned dust mop.(We do not recommend using any of the “Swiffer” type mops or cleaning cloths, even though they may say they are safe for hardwood floors.)

 

  3) For periodic cleaning, mix @ 1 cup of ordinary white vinegar with @ 1 gallon of warm water, and clean using either a micro-fiber mop or a terry cloth bonnet type mop. Be certain to wring the mop head out until just barely damp, and rinse frequently in your water.

 

  4) If you choose to use area rugs, a minimum of once a year you will need to lift the rugs and leave them off of the floor for @ 1 week. This will allow any change in floor color surrounding the rug due to sun exposure to equalize. ( A good time to do this is when going on vacation or sending the rugs out to be cleaned.)

 

  5) Use a Straw or Grass bristle type of entry mat outside any exterior doors. This allows everyone the opportunity to clean any small stones or sediment from their shoes and not carry it into the house where it could grind scratches into the floors finish. Another good choice for this is a “brush hog” kept at the door to clean the soles of shoes.

 

   6)  Keep the canine members of the household manicured on a regular basis. Their claws can be extremely hard on not only the finish, but can actually  groove the wood itself.

 

   7) Ladies, if you must wear high heels on the hardwoods, please make sure the heels are in good repair. If the cap covering the nail or steel rod in the heel should become exposed, you are applying over 1,500 lbs. of pressure with every step you take, which will do significant damage to the floors.