Our resident expert, Carolyn Forte, Director of the Good Housekeeping Research Institute Home Appliances and Cleaning Products Department, shared these words of warning.

1. Vacuuming with a rotating brush Your vac’s rotating brush can be very abrasive to wood floors. Turn off the brush roll or use a floor brush attachment instead. But make sure you vacuum often — gritty dirt and dust particles can scratch your floor when they sit for too long.

2. Wet-cleaning too often Unless your wood floors get tons of foot traffic, you don’t need to wet-clean them more than every one to two months. Instead, keep your wood floors well-vacuumed (see number one) and spot-clean as needed.

3. Drenching the floor with cleaner Today’s wood flooring finishes are much more resistant to water than ones in the past, but that doesn’t mean you should flood your floors with cleaning solution. When it’s time to wet-clean, tackle small areas at a time with a damp, not wet, mop or cloth and dry them promptly.

http://shine.yahoo.com/at-home/7-ways-39-ruining-wood-floor-173700832.html