How To Make Bamboo Floors Shine - 5 Steps Guide

Bamboo floors always add beauty to your home. With its beautiful outlook and durability, it has always been the popular choice for flooring. Moreover, bamboo floors are easy to maintain. The daily wear and tear are inevitable, but keeping it in its perfect shape is totally in our hands.

In the long run, to maintain its lustre, learning a few tricks to make it shine like new always comes in handy and also gives you control over your floors. So we have a number of simple methods on how to make bamboo floors shine? Let’s get to it.

Preventive Measures You Need To Take Care Of Before You Proceed With Shining Bamboo Floors

There are many ways in which you can make your bamboo floors shine, but before that, you have to know how to keep the inevitable damage to a minimum. Keeping it minimal means less work for you, right? Who doesn’t want that? So let’s go.


Reduce foot traffic




Our own foot is the arch-nemesis of wooden floors. Dust, dirt, oil, grease, and all other things we bring inside are the sole reasons for our floor damage. Unfortunately, too much foot traffic also tears down polyurethane laminate floors paving the way to wood damage.

Fortunately, there’s a way to avoid that. All you have to do is remove your shoes before entering the bamboo floored rooms and walk with just your socks on. If you can, get your guests too to try the same. This prevents all the rock, dirt and dust from your shoes from entering the room.

Another initiative you can take is to install doormats inside and outside every entryway so that you rub your feet clean and then enter the room every time. Also, remember to clean the mats regularly to get rid of the built-up dirt. You can also add long rugs on your floor to protect them from your feet to reduce the damage.


Be careful with furniture




Furniture might look classy and rich on a bamboo floor. But at the same time, they can easily scratch your floors and leave marks. So while moving them, you ought to be extra careful as they can easily scratch. As a quick solution for that, you can use floor protector pads that are readily available in any home improvement and attach them under your sofa, table, bed and any other furniture that has frequent contact with the floor.

Remember to buy the correct size of floor protectors that fits your furniture as it comes in a wide range of sizes. As the name suggests, these floor protectors will help protect your floor from scratches and other damages.

Instead of dragging your furniture all around, you can try lifting it off the ground with a helping hand to avoid contact with the floor. If not, you can try using furniture coasters. This helps in sliding the furniture without much work and also doesn’t scratch your floors.


Sunlight exposure




Keep changing your floor plan regularly to avoid keeping your rugs and furniture in one place for a long time. Bamboo floors, like any other hardwood floors, when exposed to too much sunlight for a long time, start fading. In order to avoid fading of bamboo floors, opt for heavy curtains that’ll stop direct UV exposure. Installing heavy curtains will definitely prevent the discolouring and fading of bamboo floors in the long run.


Moisture




Moisture is another big enemy of wood floors. When not attended to immediately, it can cause serious damages. Make sure to clean spills as soon as it happens to avoid white spots on your bamboo floors. Never allow liquid or moisture to sink into your floor, as it brings damages to your floors, like wood warping making it very hard to get rid of.

How To Make Bamboo Floors Shiny?

Now that you’ve learnt all the preventive measures to keep your floors scratch-free and healthy in the long run, it’s time you learnt how to make them shine.


Sweep or vacuum




The first step is to remove all the dust and dirt from the floor with the help of a broom or a vacuum. There are few tips to follow while vacuuming the bamboo floors. The vacuum must be lightweight because the heavy ones will scratch and dent the floors. The vacuum must also have a removable or no beater bar to prevent serious damage to bamboo floors.

Also, remember to get a vacuum cleaner with enough suction to suck in all the dirt and grit.

Make sure you sweep or vacuum all curves and crevices and empty the dust bag or bin regularly. Repeat until you’ve made the floors clean.


Use a microfiber dust mop




A microfiber dust mop is a good alternative for regular brooms and vacuum cleaners. If your floor has a textured or a matte finish, then you should definitely opt for a dust mop.

Like other appliances, a dust mop doesn’t damage your floor if it is used frequently, and it is also more efficient than regular brooms. These mops lift the dust off the floor and not drag around as other mops and brooms do.

This mop can also be used alongside when needed to wax your floors, as they give the best shine when finished. Dust mops can either be wet or dry while using, but it is recommended to use a wet one to clear off all the dust easily. When using a dust mop, having a handy dustpan or a broom for cleaning small spots might be very helpful.


Hardwood cleaner


Sweeping and mopping a bamboo floor can definitely give a clean and classy look. But when you want to do a deep cleaning, to make your floors brand new, then you’ll have to use a hardwood cleaner.


Step 1


When you plan to use a hardwood cleaner, move all your furniture aside beforehand without damaging the floor and then you can move it back after you’re done cleaning.


Step 2


You can either use a microfiber dust mop or a vacuum to get rid of dust and dirt from your floor. While vacuuming, make sure you remove the beater bar cause you don’t want to damage your floor. For the more dusty areas, use a wet mop and wipe it clean. Don’t use a soaking wet one, because water and moisture always bring problems to bamboo floors.


Step 3


Once you have got your floors dust-free, apply the bamboo cleaner to your floors. Before getting into that, you can try applying the cleaner to a small portion of your floor and wait for any reaction. If that cleaner doesn’t discolour or bring any problems to your floor, then you can proceed with cleaning.

While using hardwood cleaners, always look for their concentration. If it’s high, dilute it first and then add to a spray can.


Step 4


To make it easier, divide the floor into separate sections and continue cleaning. Spray the cleaner lightly on the floor and use a microfiber dust mop to wipe. Remember to apply light pressure and remove all dirt with ease. Make sure to get to all curves, corners and crevices and make the floors shine. To maintain the lustre of the bamboo floors, you can use the hardwood cleaner once a week.


Step 5


With the help of a clean rug or a mop, remove all the extra moisture. If there’s any remaining water or cleaner on the floor, wipe it immediately because dampness and moisture bring warping of hardwood floors.

Refinishing bamboo floors

Only when your floors are dull, worn out or scratched will you need to refinish them.

Step 1

Using a microfiber dust mop that is damp, you’ll have to wipe and get rid of all dust and dirt on the floor. After that, with a dry towel or a mop, clean the floor to get rid of all the moisture.

Step 2

The next step is to sand the top layer of your bamboo floor. And for that, you can use a commercial disc floor sander. They are very easy to use and readily available for rent in any local hardware store. You can tell them your purpose, and they can fix you the correct grit sandpaper that is advisable to use. Make sure you follow all the instructions.

Using a sander is very similar to a lawnmower. You’ll just have to walk back and forth, pushing gently and removing the top layer evenly. It’ll be easy to identify the sanded area because once you remove the top layer, the layer under that is slightly darker in colour. And with that, you can easily follow which area you’ve sanded and which area you’ve not. And while sanding, make sure to open your windows and allow ventilation.

Step 3

You might want to clean up all the mess you made while sanding the floor. So with a vacuum or a mop, remove all the dust. Then, look into all of those corners carefully and get rid of the dust entirely so that it doesn’t get into the new coat of polyurethane that you’re going to apply.

Step 4

The next step is applying a new coat of polyurethane to your floor, which you can get from a local hardware store. You can easily apply it with a roller dipped with the solution from a tray by walking back and forth. While starting, start from a corner or the wall opposite the entrance and work your way out.

You’ll have to keep in mind to apply it evenly. And while doing that, keep your windows open, wear your rubber gloves and eye protection glasses. While dealing with edges and corners, you can always use small brushes to cover them thoroughly. It is advisable to use a shed resistant roller so that nothing gets into your new coat.

Step 5

Once you’re done with your first coat, let it dry for 24 hours. Then sand over your first coat again and apply your second coat following the exact above directions. Remember, while sanding, don’t press too hard or else you’ll end up removing the first coat. You can also consider applying 3-4 coats of polyurethane if you need extra protection.

And with this, you’ve made your floors brand new.

Conclusion

Maintaining bamboo floors is quite a tough job. However, with correct preventive measures and the proper methods, it definitely is a piece of cake. For all those wondering how to make your bamboo floors shine, hope that you’ve got all that you need from this article. Go make your floors shine like you always do!
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