Preventative Care
Regular cleaning is preventative care for your wood floors. Keeping dirt, grit, sand, etc off your floor will obviously prevent it from causing scratches. It is good practice to place floor mats at entrances, whether they lead outside or just to another room in your home. They will trap a large percentage of dirt and debris before it ever touches your floor.
Use felt pads on the legs of all your furniture and be sure to pick it up completely off your floor before moving it. Too much sun can also cause damage to your wood flooring, use curtains or drapes to protect the wood from UV rays where ever possible.
Weekly Maintenance
Using a vacuum with a bare floor attachment is the best way to make sure all the dirt, grit, and other debris that makes it past the floor mat gets picked up before it can do much damage. Dust mopping is also a great way to keep you wood floor shining. Be sure to spray any cleaning treatment onto the dust mop head at least 24 hours prior to using it on your wood. Sweeping helpful if you don't have time to vacuum thoroughly, just be sure to use a broom with fine bristles, you don't want to scratch your floor while you're trying to protect it!
Deep Care
Eventually you are going to need to give your wood floors a deep cleaning. There are many varying opinions when it comes to using any kind of liquid on wood flooring. Here are some suggestions, just be sure to make sure your floor's finish is in good enough condition to protect your wood before you attempt any of the below cleaning techniques.
Water
Using a damp mop to give your floors a deep clean is actually okay if your finish is in good shape. If the finish is intact the water will never penetrate and touch the wood beneath. Make sure you use a wood cleaner with a neutral pH and you should be able to get your floors shining as if they were new.
Vinegar
Vinegar will make your wood flooring shine, but it won't help with grease or dirt removal.
