Before we even started re-building our house, I knew I wanted hardwood floors and I wanted them dark….like almost black. I had seen many pictures on Houzz and Pinterest of homes with dark floors and white trim and I just loved the look. When it came time to stain the floors, there was a lot of back and forth and several stain swatches later, we I finally decided on a 50/50 mix of Ebony & Coffee. It was dark…and I loved it!
When I chose dark hardwood floors, many told me I was crazy and that I would have a hard time keeping them clean. I never worried about it and now, almost 2 years later, I still don’t regret my color choice.
In this post, I’m going to talk a little bit about what I do to keep my hardwood floors clean.
Dark hardwood floors don’t show as much as you would think.
Surprisingly, the dark hardwood floors don’t show as much as you would think. If you have children who are messy like mine however, you will definitely see the piles or trail of crumbs they leave after every meal.
Dust is hard to see on dark hardwood floors unless the light is shining just right and even then, it’s usually dust that has gathered under furniture where there’s no foot traffic.
Also, we don’t have any pets so we don’t have to worry about pet hair or dander.
How to Keep Dark Hardwood Floors Clean
Since we don’t have pets but do have two messy children the only trouble spot is under the kitchen table where they eat. My girls are old enough to clean up their own messes so I have a little hand broom and dust pan that they use to clean up the piles of crumbs they leave after eating. If they spill something, they know to get a paper towel and wipe it up immediately. It’s taken some training but I think they are finally learning to clean up after themselves.
If there are a lot of visible dust and crumbs, I will pull out the vacuum (we have a Shark) and sweep the floors with the brush turned off. Otherwise, I will just use a dust mop.
The owner of the floor company that installed our floors has been out a few times to check on them so I’ve asked him all kinds of questions about cleaning and maintaining hardwood floors. His answer for keeping them clean is simple….to clean hardwood floors, only use Bona products. I then immediately went out and bought the Bona Hardwood Floor Mop and for spot cleaning, a bottle of Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner (affiliate links).
I have read all over pinterest about people using a steam mop or using vinegar and I’ve asked if those are ok. The answer? If you want to have your floors looking good for a long time, use the Bona products as they are best products for hardwood floors. Steam and vinegar can wear down the protective top coat so unless you want to have to refinish your floors long before you need to, it’s best to stop using them.
Please note that I am not an expert. I’m just passing along info from an expert and sharing my experience. This post is not sponsored by Bona.
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