How to prevent scratches on your wooden floors?

Looking after your wooden floors is a never-ending responsibility, here are some tips to minimize scratches and extend the life of your hardwood.

Avoid wearing pointed-toe shoes and thin heels. 

They can dig into wooden floors and cause scratches. Take off your shoes and change your slippers when you enter, and to make life easier, add a bench near the door.

Cleaning dirt or grit

By far the other cause of scratches on wooden floors is dirt/grit, so do everything you can to minimize it. As dirt, grit and pebbles stuck to shoes can easily cause scratches, please clean the outside of the house regularly, especially in key entrance areas - front door, garage, back porch. Remember, if you have pets, clean the areas they enter and exit.

Add entrance mats to doorways

Water (and snow/salt) is the worst culprit, so the area by the door tends to wear out the quickest. Prepare entrance mats — one for outside the door and one for inside the door.

Felt kitchen mats

For kitchens, consider using felt mats as they serve two purposes: 1) to make it easier on your feet and 2) to keep water from spilling onto the floor.

Make sure you use an area rug pad

Small rugs add a sense of comfort, style and warmth to your room. They can also help you reduce scratches. However, it is important that you lay a rug underneath. If you don't, many rugs will scratch your floor (from the back).

To prevent scratches from moving furniture

This means that you must take steps to prevent the legs of your furniture from sticking in and damaging the surface of your floor. Here are some ways to make sure your furniture doesn't scratch your wooden floors.

●Lift furniture when moving

Many furniture items are too heavy for one person, so they end up being pushed or dragged across the floor. This is when floor scratches often occur. The next time you rearrange a room or redecorate, make sure another person is present when furniture needs to be moved to lift it safely off the floor. Your floors will thank you!

●Installing furniture pads

Carpet — Find and cut out a piece of old carpet and stick the soft side to the floor and glue it to the furniture feet.

Felt — Cut and glue your own thick felt to fit the feet of your furniture.

Towel — You can also find an old towel in your collection that can be used to make a usable cushion.

Felt mats have many benefits: 1) they reduce scratches, 2) they actually help make your wooden floors last longer, 3) their softness makes them more comfortable for your feet to step on and 4) felt mats also reduce noise. So this is something I highly recommend.