How to Clean Teak Floors

Teak flooring is one of the most beautiful, classy and exotic flooring that has the ability to sort of make the look of the entire room absolutely serene and classy in its own way. Among the many types of hardwood floors that exist, teak flooring is considered to be one of the most durable and low maintenance options to choose from. Teak is a tropical wood that is widely used for the purpose of construction and interior designing, just because of its extraordinary durability, appearance and finish. However, even though it is absolutely low maintenance and long lasting, you still need to keep in mind some simple points when it comes to cleaning teak floors. There are specialized teak cleaners available in the market that are very effective for the same purpose. The following section will tell you about some simple caution and care that you need to give to your teak flooring for an everlasting shine and radiance.

How to Clean Teak Wood Floors

Because of the elevated demand of teak wood for various purposes, it is becoming all the more exotic and rare. Therefore, consider yourself lucky to be the proud owner of a teak wood floor and make every possible effort to make sure that you do all that you can to increase its shine and durability. It is very simple to clean and maintain it, provided you know what to do and how. Have a look at the following tips to clean your teak wood flooring.

Teak Cleaners
Using cleaners that are specially designed for this purpose prove to be very helpful when it comes to getting rid of the mildew and the molds that can actually form on the floor and cause black spots on them. There are two kinds of cleaners that are available in the market. These are one part cleaners and two part cleaners. One part cleaners are more gentle in nature and require a lot of 'gentle' scrubbing (for 10-15 minutes). On the other hand, two part cleaners are a little harsh as the first part contains application of acid, followed by slight scrubbing, followed by a neutralizer to clean up the leftover acid. These are very effective in cleaning of the mold and mildew spores that can damage the wood flooring.

Vacuum Weekly
Using cylinder vacuum cleaners would prove to be very effective for the purpose of cleaning your teak flooring. This is because these vacuums are specially designed to clean hard flooring and they use powerful suction to clean off the dust and debris which tend to make the flooring look dull. We need cleaning options that are gentle on the floor and these vacuums do exactly what is needed.

Mop Regularly
Mopping is probably one of the best teak cleaning methods when it comes to the basic cleaning. Using plain water and using a damp (not wet) mop and gently rubbing it all over the floor is all that it takes to clean your teak floor to prevent the accumulation of dust particles on the floor. Using a vee sweeper mop or a push mop is something you can go for in order to clean hardwood floors.

Other Tips
While the cleaning part for teak flooring is pretty easy, you just have to make sure that you are gentle with it when it comes to cleaning and maintaining. Well, apart from the aforementioned tips, some other teak cleaning and maintenance tips for your floor would be:

• Avoid using harsh items or materials on your teak floor. This includes wearing normal footwear which doesn't include highly pointed heels. Even your furniture legs should have cover pads so that their movement doesn't harm the flooring.
• Use a humidifier during winters as it helps reduce the shrinking of the wood and also prevents the build up of molds.
• Never mop the floor with a completely wet mop as the water may make the wood swell up and lose its luster and shine.
• To maintain the luster and shine of the teak wood, you can also apply teak oil on the floor at least once in a year. Though it doesn't affect the durability of the wood, it is a good option for cosmetic purposes.
• Buffing the floor once in a while will also help lift up the dust and get the luster and shine of the wood back to a great extent.

I hope these tips helped you with identifying the approach that should be taken to clean your teak wood floors. There are many pros and cons of teak flooring based on which the products are specifically designed to clean teak floors. So make sure you don't go for any products that are designed for non-wood floors. Just be a little cautious and regular when it comes to cleaning your teak floors so that they don't lose up on their shine and continue to make your living space look as beautiful and radiant as possible.