How to clean and maintain flooring

Cleaning our flooring is a vital part of keeping a happier, healthier home. Dirt, allergens and germs can easily hide in our rooms, especially in carpets. Keeping on top of your floor cleaning helps you uphold an inviting and welcoming space, and it ensures you maximise the lifespan of your floors.

To make sure you get the most out of your surfaces, we’ve broken down our recommended floor cleaning methods into three simple steps. So, keep reading for a simple guide on how to clean, protect, and maintain your flooring for years to come.

Good old-fashioned dish soap and water is a safe, effective choice for cleaning most hard floors, while a quick vacuum and targeted spray cleaner work best for deep cleaning carpets without soaking them.
You can protect high-traffic areas from scratches, marks, and daily wear by simply putting down mats, rugs, and soft furniture pads.
A fresh coat of water-based or polyurethane varnish breathes new life into old wooden floors, offering a durable, scratch-resistant finish that prevents the need for a full replacement.

Step 1: clean

If you don’t know where to start, good old-fashioned soap and water is a fail-safe. Simple dish soap works well across almost all floor materials. The main thing to bear in mind is that soaking your floors can damage them. Over-soaping is a real issue, and vast amounts of water can discolour and dampen the quality of your floor. Because of this, it’s always worth spraying a protective solution onto the surface first.

If you’re looking for an intense deep clean, there’s a wide range of specific products that won’t damage your flooring. Different materials need different kinds of attention, so you need suitable products that don’t compromise your floor's quality.

How to clean wood, laminate, and engineered wood

When looking at the cleaning of wooden floors, always start with a simple sweep or vacuum. If you use a broom, make sure you avoid hard bristles that might scratch the surface. Once the dust is gone, it’s time to mop. A mop is a fantastic floor cleaning method, as long as you don’t soak the wood.

A laminate flooring clean follows the exact same rules. The best clean laminate floors come from using mops with clip-on floor wipes. This makes for a quick and easy process that prevents water damage.

The same gentle approach applies if you want to know how to clean engineered wood floors.

How to clean vinyl and LVT

If you’re researching how to clean vinyl floors or how to clean luxury vinyl tiles (LVT) flooring, it’s really straightforward. A quick sweep removes abrasive dirt, then mild soap and water is usually all you need for cleaning vinyl floors. Just make sure to wring your mop out well to keep moisture levels low and protect your floor from discolouration.

How to clean stone and tiles

Tiles are incredibly durable. When it comes to cleaning floor tiles, a standard mop and soapy water does a great job. It’s worth noting though that stone floor cleaning requires a bit more care to avoid acidic cleaners that can wear away natural materials, so again, soapy water or a specialist stone cleaner is your best bet.

If you want to know how to clean tile floors thoroughly, you also need to think about the lines between them. Learning how to clean floor tile grout often involves a small brush and a baking soda paste to lift stubborn dirt safely. You can also get specialised grout cleaner.

How to clean carpet

A quick carpet clean is a very simple job. Vacuuming is perfect for picking up obvious messes, dirt, allergens, and dust, and it can make a huge difference.

For a deeper floor cleaning, pour your chosen cleaning product into a spray bottle. This gives you easier application and peace of mind that you won’t damage the fibres by soaking them. Just make sure to avoid bleach as it can damage the backing, the sub-floor, and discolour the tuft.

There are many tools designed to help you deep clean a carpet. Steam cleaners and specific mop heads can do a thorough job quickly. But you can also bring it back to basics with a fresh sponge and some hard labour. Scrubbing your carpets is a tough job, but the results make it fully worth it.

If you don’t want to splash the cash on cleaning products, there are also many home remedies you can try. These can range from a simple white vinegar and water mixture to baking soda and salt.

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Step 2: protect

Once you have your flooring clean, you want to keep it that way.

Guarding high-traffic areas

A high-traffic area refers to a location in your home where people often walk through or interact with furniture. Flooring in these spots degrades quicker due to general wear and tear. It’s impossible to avoid wearing completely, but there are easy ways to combat erosion and ensure your flooring looks consistent throughout your home.

In high-traffic areas, using a rug or mat is the quickest and easiest solution. It catches dirt and protects your floor from scratches or marks. Regular cleaning counteracts signs of use, with a deep clean needed at least once a month.

Looking after your surfaces

Attaching furniture pads to the bottom of your chairs and tables is very useful. They’re soft and ultimately prevent the floor from getting scratched when furniture is moved.

In low-traffic areas, routine cleaning is just as important. It stops dust from settling into the grain or fibres of your floor, so it stays fresher and cleaner for longer.

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Step 3: maintain

Maintaining your floor keeps it looking newer for longer, and taking small actions now will save you time and money later.

Varnishing wooden floors

If your wooden floors look a bit old and worn, it doesn’t necessarily mean they need replacing. A good varnishing could do the trick in reviving the wood, giving it a new lease of life. There are several different types of varnishes available, all with their own benefits.

Water-based varnishes, such as acrylic, work across a variety of wood types. They brighten the wood up and protect it from impacts and scratches. They’re less toxic and help the wood retain its natural colour.

Polyurethane varnish is a good choice for darker rooms that don’t get a lot of light. While it’s harder to apply, the outcome is highly durable and scratch resistant. This makes it perfect for high-traffic areas like a dining room.

If you’re working on outside flooring, water-based varnishes shouldn’t be used. Decking oil or stain products are much better suited as they’re weather-resistant and offer a durable finish. For more info on how to use wood varnish, check out our article on how to apply varnish, stain, wax, and oil to wood.

Keep things level

Moving your furniture around every so often helps maintain level flooring. It stops heavy pieces from creating permanent dents in carpets or fading specific patches of wood in the sunlight. If you’ve already found some dents in your carpet, these can be easily fixed. Check out our guide on how to repair dents in your carpet.

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Common mistakes to avoid when cleaning and maintaining floors

When you’re cleaning your floors, there are a few simple things we recommend you avoid to keep them looking their best. The main thing to remember is that soaking your floors can easily damage them. Using vast amounts of water or over-soaping can actually discolour and dampen the overall quality of your floor.

If you’re sweeping up beforehand, make sure to avoid using hard bristles that could scratch your wood, tile, or laminate surfaces. And if you’re tackling a carpet, always avoid bleach. It can damage the sub-floor and backing, as well as discolour the tufts. Instead, try pouring your chosen cleaner into a spray bottle so you don’t accidentally soak and damage the fibres.

By taking the time to carefully clean, protect, and maintain your surfaces, you ensure you maximise the longevity and quality of your flooring. Whether you’re exploring new floor cleaning methods or simply doing a quick routine clean, we hope we’ve inspired you to get the most out of your home. For inspiration on flooring designs, check out our guide on how to choose the right flooring for your home.

FAQs

A vacuum or a soft broom is perfect for picking up everyday dirt, allergens, and dust. Once the dust is clear, a good mop is a fantastic choice. Mops with clip-on floor wipes are very popular, as they offer a quick clean and help prevent water damage.

For your carpets, keeping a spray bottle handy allows you to apply cleaners easily without soaking and damaging the fibres. If you want a deeper clean, steam cleaners, specific mop heads, or a simple fresh sponge and some scrubbing will do a thorough job.

If your wooden floors look old, they don’t necessarily need replacing. A good varnishing gives the wood a new lease of life. Water-based varnishes retain natural colour and protect from scratches, while polyurethane leaves a super durable finish for high-traffic areas.

While often confused, these three methods protect and maintain your floors in very different ways.

Waxing involves applying a temporary, sacrificial layer on top of the floor that takes the brunt of daily wear and must be periodically stripped and reapplied.

Sealing offers a more permanent defence by either coating the surface or soaking deep into the material's pores to block moisture and stains.

Polishing doesn’t add a new layer at all. Instead, it uses fine abrasives to physically smooth and refine the existing surface to bring out a natural, long-lasting shine.