The Type Of Broom To Reach For When You Need To Clean Wood Floors

Keeping your floors clean is one of those tasks that seems simple at first, but can quickly become complicated. There are different cleaning methods you should use for each type of flooring material to avoid damaging them. This is because some chemicals can cut through protective coatings, and the wrong cleaning tools can scratch the floors. Wood flooring is one of the more high-maintenance options. If you prefer to use a broom to clean your hardwood floors, you must use a soft, flagged bristle broom to avoid damage.

Hard bristle brooms are abrasive and can easily scratch hardwood floors. This flooring is often finished with polyurethane, which will undergo damage from certain types of wear and tear, like cleaning with these harsh brooms. 

Mattie Sheppard, strategic interior design and cleaning advisor at Real Estate Bees, spoke to Southern Living about the ideal broom for cleaning hardwood floors. "Look for a broom with fine, flagged bristles as they are effective at capturing dust and debris without causing any harm to the hardwood," Sheppard explained. Choosing the right broom will help you avoid expensive flooring repairs.

The flagged bristles that Mattie Sheppard, strategic interior design and cleaning advisor, mentioned are bristles that have bushy ends. If you have ever shopped for a broom, you may have noticed that some include these flagged bristles, and others feature unflagged bristles, which are straight and stiff. Unflagged bristles are harsher, so brooms with this feature should be used to sweep textured flooring that has gaps and spaces, such as tile.

Flagged bristle brooms, on the other hand, are far better for hardwood floors because they are softer and less likely to leave scratches. Their splintered bristles provide a more detailed clean, so brooms with this feature are also great to use to sweep up fine powders, like flour spills in a kitchen. In addition to soft, flagged bristle brooms, you may also use rubber-bristled brooms for hardwood floors. The non-abrasive bristles on these brooms will get the job done without causing damage. Rubber is far softer than the stiff plastic that unflagged bristle brooms are often made out of.

If you are in search of brooms that will not damage your wood floors, Amazon is a great place to start. The website sells a Restaurantware RW Clean broom that includes flagged bristles gentle enough for hardwood floors. If you do purchase this broom, keep in mind that the matching dustpan is sold separately.

You can also snag brooms with rubber bristles from Amazon, such as the Loonpon Rubber Broom. This product is advertised as a pet hair remover, but it can also be used to clean up certain messes on hardwood floors without scratching the surface. However, keep in mind that a flagged bristle broom would be a better fit to sweep up fine powders that would simply slide through the wide gaps between rubber bristles. You can also pick up non-abrasive brooms from home improvement stores like Home Depot. They sell a 15-inch Angle Broom and Step-On Dustpan Set for only about $9.97. This is a great option because the broom and dustpan are included for a single price.