Whether you have toddlers, middle school aged children, or teenagers, you know that kids love to be active! While it can be heartwarming to see your youngest child play with their favorite toy or your middle schooler show off their new soccer cleats, you may also be concerned about the possible damage to your hardwood flooring! After all, despite their durability that can last several lifetimes, hardwood floors are still vulnerable to the constant activity from your kids. The good news is that there are several things that you can do to keep your floors in great shape! Check out the following top 4 ways to protect hardwood floors from children:
1. Remove Shoes When Entering the House
One of the easiest things you can do to protect your hardwood floors from children is to create a household rule that everyone must remove their shoes when entering the home. While your own shoes may pick up grit and other items that can damage hardwood floors, kids feet can be especially detrimental as children tend to run, jump and stomp frequently! You should place bins just inside of your front door where your kids can exchange their shoes for socks or slippers. When you remove shoes instantly inside your home, you will save your hardwood floors from years of damage!
2. Place Area Rugs On Wood Around High Traffic Areas
Another great way to protect hardwood flooring from children is to place area rugs around the high traffic areas in your home. Rugs are not only practical and aesthetically pleasing, but they will save years of wear on your hardwood flooring from feet, heavy furniture, toys and other items! For those areas where you don’t have an area rug, you should place felt pads at the bottom of furniture legs. This is especially helpful if you have older children who are more prone to bumping and moving furniture when they are horsing around.
3. Clean Up Spills Immediately
As a parent, one of the things that you are probably cleaning up constantly is drink spills from your kids! When you have hardwood flooring, you should clean up spills immediately with paper towels or a soft, lint-free cloth. If you leave the spill for too long, the liquid can penetrate deeply into the grain of the wood and cause permanent damage. You can even have your kids assist with the clean up up process so that they become more aware of their surroundings!
4. Perform Regular Maintenance On Wood Floors
You should keep your hardwood flooring regularly maintained so that they are not ruined by the accidents and messes that kids can cause. This means that you should dust mop your hardwood floors on a weekly basis to avoid grime buildup and to remove dust. Once your kids are old enough, you can make this responsibility one of their chores.
Bonus Tips on Protecting Your Hardwood Floors
One of the most underrated tools we have to guard our wood floor from scratches and abrasive wear is walkoff mats. These mats are available with lots of cute messages but their most attractive feature is that they allow dust and grit to fall from your shoes and stay in the mat. The tips of the plastic molds help brush even more of those floor-dulling particles from your shoes. Homeowners should have a walkoff mat at every doorway that leads onto your wood floors from outside. And those mats should be cleaned out frequently.
Now that you are familiar with how to protect hardwood floors from children, take a look at all of the affordable hardwood floors from ReallyCheapFloors.com today! We look forward to assisting you with all of your hardwood flooring needs!
