Can you steam-clean your hardwood floors? The easy answer to this question is yes, but that may not be the best answer to this question.
Yes, you can steam clean your hardwood floor. But, The Ohio Floor Company does not recommend it. I will explain why.
First adding to much moisture to your hardwood floor can cause damage. Too much moisture will cause hardwood to swell. Expanding wood needs to go somewhere. Since the hardwood floor is nailed and wall-to-wall, it can only go up. This will cause the boards to cup. In extreme cases, the floorboards will lift and your floor will have humps.
If moisture is trapped under the floor, it is hard to dry it out. If it does dry, the cupping and humps may not return to their original places. The only way to completely remove them is to sand the floor flat, and in extreme cases the floor may need replaced.
Another issue with hot moisture on your hardwood floors is damage to the finish. If the moisture does not cause cupping and humping, it may cause your finish to peal or discolor. The discoloring of the finish could make your floor look blotchy. Pealing of finish starts a chain reaction, or “growing” of the problem. A small spot of peeling finish begins.
Before you know it, it "grows." Now, you have large areas of peeling finish. The only way to solve this is to sand off the peeling finish and blotchy spots. To make the floor look its best, it must be entirely resanded.
In summary, you can steam-clean your hardwood floors. It may work well, but the risks outweigh the rewards. The Ohio Floor Company strongly advises against steam-cleaning hardwood floors. Visit our website, ohiofloor.com, for safe, effective hardwood floor cleaning tips.