How Often Should You Mop Wood Floors | Heavy to Light Traffic

Wood floors are quite famous for their sleek and shiny look and extremely durable quality. Their elegant appearance adds a nice touch to any space. But these pleasing flooring materials of interior design also comes with some limitations like other flooring materials. They need some care, regular maintenance, and your proper attention to protect them from damage and keep them looking luxurious, fresh, and new. 

Besides this, a clean wood floor stays protected from pet hair, dust, and other various types of messes, which can be a cause of scratches or unwanted marks. Keep the wood floor clean is essential; otherwise, it can ruin the floor’s shiny finish. Sometimes a situation can become out of control, and there is no way but change the flooring. 

Are you thinking about how often you should mop wood floors? Yes! Well, to know the answer, keep reading this article. Here we will discuss how often you should clean your wood floor and how efficiently you can do it.

Floor category- Sealed and unsealed

Before you go for frequent mopping the wood floor, you just need to find out whether it is sealed or unsealed. 

If it is a sealed wood, then you can mop it frequently without any risk of damage, and it dried fairly quickly. While the unsealed wood floor also comes with a fair amount of water resistance, but there is a risk, it holds water for too long. 

So, when you mop an unsealed floor, you must have to wring out enough water so that it just moist. It will help your floor to dry quickly and preserve year after year. So, find out whether your floor is sealed or unsealed and go for the accurate mopping. 

How often should you mop the wood floor?

On average, you should mop your wood floor at least once a week. But there are some important factors to inspect before you decide how many times will mop. You should consider-

• How many people live in your home? 
• Is there are kids or pets in your family?
• How much traffic your floor obtains? 

If you consider these factors, it will be easy to identify how often you should mop the floor and which cleaning process you need to follow for a better result. If traffic is more, you should mop more frequently, and if traffic is less, you should mop less frequently. 

Wood floors with heavy traffic

If you have more people in your family, then your floor is experiencing heavy traffics. So, you should mop the floor every day or at least every other day to keep the floor clean, shiny, and protected for a couple of years. 

Now the question is, how can you decide that your floor obtains heavy traffic or else. If at least 15 persons or more people are walking every day, it may be defined as a heavy traffic area. However, hopefully, it is not necessary to mention that heavy traffic usually tends not to be found in homes. It may be found in an apartment building, businesses, lobbies, and any other public buildings. 

Tips for heavy traffic floor

You can place a highly absorbent mat at the entry way to fight with heavy traffic. 

Wood floors with medium traffic

Wood floors with medium traffic need to mop once a week on average. If you can do it and want a better result, you can mop two or three times per week. 

Usually, a home building and an office building are included in this category. This medium traffic includes slippers, shoes, boots carrying dirt and dust particles on the soles.

You should sweep first to remove all unwanted particulates. And now you can start your mopping. Do not forget to check the floor category before start mopping and then manage to dry the wood floors properly. 

Wood floors with light traffic

Rooms of your house where you find less activity usually consider as a light traffic wood floor. An appropriate example of the wood floor with light traffic is your bedroom, living room, and dining room. In fact, all those areas of your household are not used every day. 

If you think as these areas are not being used every day, there is no need to mop them regularly; you may be going to ruin your wood floor very soon. Because we still recommend mopping the floor at least once a week for light traffic. Besides, you need to dust these areas regularly. 

We hope your idea is clear enough on how often you should clean mop your wood floors. 

Frequently Asked Question (FAQ)

Is it bad to mop hardwood floors every day?

If it is a wood floor with light traffic then no need to mop every day. Bed rooms, dining rooms, and living rooms are the best example of light traffic floors as they are not used every day. So, mop them once every week is enough. 

Is it safe to use vinegar to clean hardwood floors?

Vinegar is not entirely safe for hardwood floors. As vinegar consists of an acidic component, it can break down the finish on the wood floor’s surface and if you leave it for long time, it can reduce the shine and dull the appearance.

Is Murphy’s oil soap good for hardwood floors?

Yes, Murphy’s oil soap is completely safe for hardwood floors. You can use it in one area on the overall floor. 

What is the best natural way to clean hardwood floors?

The best natural cleaning process of hardwood floor:

• Make a solution using four cups of warm water and a few drops of dish soap or castile soap. Gently mix the elements and make a natural cleaner.
• Sweep or dust well on the floor.
• Use the solution for mopping the floor.
• Dry the floor with a dry mop or clean cloth.

How do you brighten dull wood floors?

You can use an ammonia solution to brighten dull wood floors. Just pour one cup of ammonia into one gallon of water. This solution helps to break down the buildup on the floor surface and bring back the shiny look.

Wrapping up

Do not think mopping the wood floor on a regular basis means a waste of time. In fact, keeping wood floors clean and beautiful is essential for making them long-lasting. We hope this post will guide you enough to find out the category of your wood floor and how often you should mop it. So, at first, find out the floor category and then inspect the traffic category. Then make your mopping schedule.