Caring for your varnished Floor

The first hours and moving in with a varnished floor

It will take a little while for the finish on your floor to dry fully, we have chosen our products carefully to minimise the time before you can really begin to live with and enjoy your 'new' floor. Your finish should be touch dry usually within 1 to 3 hours but this is just the surface hardening and you should wait 8 hours before use. It may be possible to walk on the floor in bare or stockinged feet for brief periods before this, please ask one of our trained finishers should you think this will be necessary.

After 24 hours:

Please ensure you have put some form of felt or other protective pads on the legs/feet of any furniture to avoid scuffing your floor. Wherever possible we would recommend leaving very large items of furniture for longer (72 hours), but standard domestic items can be moved in at this time. DO NOT DRAG furniture (even with protective pads), always lift and place to avoid surface scratches or bruising of the wood.

Rugs should not be placed on the floor until 7 days have elapsed.

Caring for your floor

The finish on your wood floor has been chosen to give the best finish and wear resistance for the intended use. As such, it should give you many years of enjoyment with the simplest level of care; a good vacuum is the best tool for the job, with the head brushes down or sweeping with a soft broom.

Prevention is better than cure. Good quality barrier matting in doorways is one of the easiest ways of preventing dirt from being tracked across your floor and drastically reduces the chance of matter you may bring in on your shoes from outside scratching the finish. Stiletto heels should be avoided especially if damaged (eg where the heel is worn down to the nail holding it in place). Even with the most attentive level of vacuuming or sweeping your floor will need a little extra care from time to time. A flat mop with a swivel head and good quality cleaner used sparingly will cope with all but the most resistant of marks. Really difficult marks can be spot cleaned with a cloth lightly dampened with the same floor cleaner and minimal effort. The old style mop and bucket should not be used, as it will place too much water on the floor, which will be to its detriment over time.

After Care

Once you have lived with your floor for a while it may begin to lose its lustre but the good news is there are finishes on the market that can revitalise your floor and leave it looking as good as new once more, but that time is a long way off yet and so we would simply invite you to call us in a few years (depending on traffic and wear) when we can let you know the best product currently available.

Download our Caring for your Wood Floor leaflet