how to care for engineered hardwood floors with pets

How to Care for Engineered Hardwood Floors

Of course you love your pets, but you don’t love what they might do to your hardwood floors. Give your engineered hardwoods a little TLC this Valentine’s Day and keep them looking fresh for years to come with these tips.

Protecting Hardwood Floors from Pets

One of the easiest ways to keep your floors in top shape is by placing a door mat at the entrance your pet uses most. This doesn’t just keep your pet from tracking in dirt, but can also help absorb water, which is one of the worst offenders for damaging hardwoods. Consider opting for a microfiber mat over cotton or other materials, which will keep even more of the water from reaching your floors. Or use a microfiber rag or mit you can use to wipe your pets’ paws before you let them in the house.

engineered hardwood flooring care pets

Inside the house, additions like area rugs and rug pads can make a big difference. Not only will they keep dogs from sliding across floors, they can help prevent scratches and are great for noise reduction. Just don’t forget the rug pad! (See our previous post on why rug pads matter. Live in a two-story home? consider adding a rug at the base of the stairs. This will help prevent scratches at one of the most trafficked areas of your home.

Of course, the best way to protect your floors from claws on an ongoing basis is to keep them trimmed.

For cats, store the litter box as far away from your hardwood floors as possible, and get a kitty litter mat. This will help keep litter close to the box instead of in your pets’ paws, where it’s more likely to scratch your hardwoods.

Best Hardwood Flooring for Cats and Dogs

If you’re considering investing in your home by upgrading your floors, but you have cats, dogs or both, don’t worry: Hardwoods floors and pets can co-exist! You just need to keep a few key things in mind when selecting your floors.

First, avoid softer woods that are likely to dent easily—with or without pets. These include woods like pine, fir, cedar and American cherry. Instead, opt for harder wood like Hickory (1820 on the Janka scale), maple (1450) or oak (high 1300s).

engineered hardwood floor care tips and pets

The other thing to keep in mind when choosing a hardwood floor with pets is the design of the floor itself. Distressed styles—those that include intentional brushing or scraping of the surface for a more vintage aesthetic—are more likely to hide scratches from your pets’ claws and look better as time goes on.

Show your pets a little love this Valentine’s Day, too, and don’t just choose a floor that can stand up to scratches and scuffs. Give them one that’s safe for the air they breathe.

Many flooring brands use manufacturing processes that increase formaldehyde in their floors, and the closer you are to the floor, the more that’s going to impact you (looking at you, Fido). With LIFECORE’s innovative, ZERO-ADD® technology, you’ll get engineered hardwoods that contain no added formaldehyde components, which means safer floors for the whole family.

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