Christmas is nearly here, and we couldn’t be more excited! Christmas is a time to relax, eat delicious food, watch our favourite festive films, and spend some much-needed quality time with our friends and families. With adults having time off from work and children having time off from school, your home will no doubt be considerably busier and more crowded than throughout the rest of the year. We’re here to give you some helpful advice on how to protect your hardwood flooring over the Christmas period.

Be careful with your Christmas tree

One of the most exciting parts of the build-up to Christmas is choosing the perfect tree and spending some time decorating it. While nothing quite beats the look and smell of a real tree, many people will instead opt for an artificial tree for their home. Artificial trees will usually come with a metal or plastic stand, which can scratch your hardwood flooring, so it is a good idea to place a rug or mat underneath your tree to protect your flooring.

If you can’t live without a real tree, there are some precautions you should take to minimise any potential damage. Real trees will need to be kept in a pot, so putting something underneath this to limit the chances of water leaking onto your flooring is advisable. Real Christmas trees are notorious for dropping needles everywhere as well, so choose its positioning carefully. Try to put it in a corner where people won’t be constantly brushing past it and knocking needles off. You should also regularly sweep or vacuum up any loose needles from the floor, to stop people walking on them, dragging them across your floor.

Be wary of increased foot traffic

As we have already mentioned, over Christmas we all enjoy spending some extra time with our friends and families. With this increase in socialising comes an increase in foot traffic in your home, however. Don’t worry though, you don’t have to avoid inviting guests into your home for fear of damaging your floor, just refer back to our top tips on entertaining guests in a home with hardwood flooring.