It’s the most wonderful time of the year, but it’s also one of the most testing for your hardwood floors. Christmas is a time for an increased number of visitors in your home, horrendous weather, a tree, and so many more things that could potentially ruin your lovely hardwood floors.

Now, more than ever, it’s worth thinking about how you can protect your hardwood floors and keep your home looking as good as new by the time January rolls around…

HIGH FOOTFALL

Christmas is that time of year when your home is most likely at its busiest. Family and friends come to visit and, if you are hosting at Christmas, there could be dozens of people in your home at one time. This means that your hardwood floors are likely to encounter the dangers that comes with high traffic in a social space such as marks from shoes, spills from the glasses of wine and everything else that comes with playing host.

Without being a Scrooge or stressing yourself out, you can stay prepared for the inevitability of a spillage by having paper towels to hand at all times and cleaning them up immediately.
You should also invest in some good cleaning products so that you can maintain a dirt-free floor by having a good clean up when dirt does find its way into your home.

You can even step up your hosting skills by asking everyone to remove their footwear when they step through their front door and providing them with some cosy (and wood flooring approved) slippers that can be worn around the house instead.

WINTER WEATHER

Not only does the high footfall mean that your hardwood floors are exposed to more dirt and damage from outside, but the weather doesn’t make things any easier.
Just because there is more water on the ground outside, it doesn’t have to mean that your hardwood floors are exposed to more water too.

A doormat has never been more important than during Autumn/Winter when the rain fall is at its highest and ice/snow can also creep its way into your home if not cautious.

Grit is also another huge hazard that comes around this time of year when snowfall is very likely and the roads and pavements are covered in grit. This can easily get caught in people’s shoes and brought into the house where it has the ability to scratch up your flooring.
Again, providing doormats at every entrance is the best way to prevent any unwanted residue from outside getting into the house.
Encourage all visitors to use these doormats and even remove their shoes before entering any room that has hardwood flooring.

CHRISTMAS TREE

By now, you have probably already decorated your home for Christmas, and that includes putting up a Christmas tree.
The biggest risk comes from real Christmas trees as they lose their needles regularly and these could scratch up your flooring.

The best way to protect your flooring is to lay a mat under the tree to catch these needles when they drop to the floor - this will also make it far easier to keep the area tidy and it will make the tree look even more festive and dressed up.

Whether you have a mat under the tree or not, you should clean the area regularly - more than usual - to ensure that it doesn’t get damaged and that any scratches or marks are treated as soon as possible.

If you want to avoid that fuss altogether, then why not opt for a fake Christmas tree instead.

You can find further information in our previous blog on How To Maintain A Wood Floor which lists how to best clean and protect your wood flooring throughout the entire year and not just for Christmas.