Flooring Guides · Floor Care

How to Care for Hardwood Floors

Keep hardwood looking new: dry cleaning, the right damp mop, humidity through an Ottawa winter, protecting it from grit and furniture, and when to recoat or refinish.

By Agora Flooring · · 2 min read

Illustration of a dining room with a rich brown wide-plank hardwood floor
Illustration.

Short answer

Dust-mop or vacuum often, and clean with a barely damp mop and the cleaner your floor's manufacturer recommends. Never wet-mop or steam-mop wood. Keep indoor humidity steady (most manufacturers ask for roughly 35 to 55%, which in Ottawa usually means a humidifier in winter), use mats and felt pads, and recoat the finish before it wears through.

Hardwood lasts for decades with simple care. The biggest threats are grit, standing water and big swings in humidity, and Ottawa's dry winters and humid summers make the last one matter.

Everyday cleaning

  • Dust-mop or vacuum (hard-floor setting, no beater bar) a few times a week. Grit is what dulls and scratches the finish.
  • Clean with a barely damp mop and a cleaner recommended by your floor's manufacturer. The mop should leave the floor dry within a minute.
  • Wipe spills right away.

Never on hardwood

  • Wet mops and steam mops. Water and heat get into the joints and cause swelling, cupping and finish damage.
  • Vinegar, ammonia and oil soaps, which dull or leave residue on modern finishes.
  • Wax or polish on a urethane-finished floor, unless the manufacturer calls for it. It makes future recoating difficult.

Humidity through the seasons

Wood shrinks when the air is dry and swells when it's humid.

  • Winter: furnace heat dries the air, and gaps can open between boards. A humidifier helps keep humidity in the range your manufacturer asks for.
  • Summer: high humidity can cause cupping; air conditioning or a dehumidifier keeps it in check.

Small seasonal gaps that close again are normal. See hardwood floors and Ottawa winters.

Protecting the floor

  • Mats inside and outside every entrance to catch grit and salt.
  • Felt pads on furniture legs; chair mats under rolling chairs.
  • No stiletto heels or pet claws left untrimmed, if you can help it.
  • Area rugs in busy paths, with rug pads that are safe for wood.

Recoat or refinish?

  • Recoat (screen and recoat) when the finish looks dull or worn in traffic paths but the wood itself isn't damaged. It's quick and much cheaper than refinishing.
  • Refinish (sand to bare wood) for deep scratches, grey worn wood or a colour change. Solid hardwood can be refinished several times; engineered hardwood depends on its wear-layer thickness. See engineered vs solid hardwood.

More care guides: see all our floor care guides.

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