Many homeowners make the switch from carpeted floors to hardwood floors for several important reasons. First, hardwood floors easily add beauty and elegant style to any of the rooms in your home. Second, hardwood floors add value to the price of your home. And perhaps most importantly for whoever handles the vacuuming, hardwood floors are much easier to clean. Hardwood flooring can last for many years and stand the test of time, whereas carpeting tends to absorb all of the stains from pets, children and other accidents.

Perhaps you're wondering the best way to clean hardwood floors. People claim that hardwood floors are extremely easy to clean and maintain, so this page will present you with ways to keep those floors clean. Having all of the hardwood floors clean in your home will give it a beautiful, spacious appearance. The ways to clean hardwood floors won't differ much among the different types, but some of the different floor finishes might need extra care, if you are removing stains for example. Keep in mind that no floors are completely impervious to stains, so it is possible your hardwood floors will get them. However, these types of floors are less likely to have them than carpeted floors will.

Polyurethane surface finish is used on most hardwood floors today.  In the past a waxed finish was used.  You'll want to refer to the specific directions for how to care and clean your type of floor, although most newer hardwood floors these days will use the ideas presented here.

Almost all of the different hard floors will be cleaned quickest and best by using a damp mop on them. You may even want to use one of those Swiffer wetpack mop devices. Prior to doing that, you'll want to make sure to remove any dust or other debris from off the surface of the floor. Do this using a broom or even one of those lightweight vacuum cleaners that are available. You want to make sure there's no small pieces of debris, dirt or grit on the surface, because it can lead to scratching of the floor. From there, you'll use the damp mop on the floor, rinse as necessary, and repeat until you've gone over the entire floor. Hardwood floors with a varnish shine may best be cleaned by using a water and vinegar mixture. Some people also like to add some Pinesol so they will have that "clean smell" also.

Many homeowners may want to take the cleaning a step further by using a polish or wax on the hardwood flooring after they've cleaned it by mop. The important thing to note when using a polish or wax on the floor regularly, is that it can cause problems with adhesion if you ever go to recoat the floors.

Amazon.com sells many highly-rated hardwood floor cleaning products including specially made mops and vacuums for these floors. Bissel is a well-known name for creating these products.For example there's the Bissell Flip-It Select Hard Floor Vac, which sells for around $99, but will make cleaning your hardwood floors a breeze.  This particular product offers three modes of cleaning-dry vacuum, heated wet vacuum and drying to get your floors looking clean and shiny.  It's got a fingertrip control that allows you to release cleaning solution onto the floor with ease, and also a dry mode to pick up crumbs, dust and dirt.  The heated cleaning gives you the ability to clean those sticky or harder-to-clean areas on the floor.  A nifty all-in-one type device which does it all for your hardwood floors.  

Another top brand is Bona, which also makes a complete hardwood floor cleaning kit. The Bona Kemi Hardwood Floor cleaning kit includes a 24 ounce spray bottle cleaner, 1 Mop, pole and Microplus fiber mop cover so that you can do your cleaning. According to the company, the mop head will last up to 200 washes, and will reduce/control most household allergens. It's also environmentally safe and non-toxic.The Bona company also manufactures a Hardwood Floor refresher and cleaner from their "Bona X" series of products. For more information see the products listed below.

As for stains, as mentioned before no hardwood floor is completely invincible when it comes to them.  Although carpets are more likely to get stains, your wood floors may also develop them.  In these cases, use a fine steel wool to remove tough stains.  Also you can try using alcohol on any stains on a cleaned floor.  After you've removed the stain, do some polishing and buffing to finish the job.  If you find a stain is too stubborn, your final option may be to lightly sand the area of the floor down to remove it.

To keep your hardwood floors clean, you might consider making it a rule that people remove their shoes when entering the home.  This will prevent tracking of dirt and grime, scuff marks or other wear on the floor, making maintenance less of a chore.

Hardwood floors should be a simple cleaning job in your home, and if done about once a week, will keep your home looking beautiful, spacious and elegant inside for all visitors.