Having had our nice, once-blue carpeting slowly destroyed by four cats with delicate stomachs and a drooling dog, I am now a lifelong fan of woods and laminates. We prolonged the ultimate destruction pretty well, but there came a point when even a good steam cleaning didn't salvage things. We chose wood floors and never looked back. Hardwoods should be called easy-woods. With a little TLC, hardwood floor care creates a long-lasting thing of beauty.

A gentle cleaner can go a long way to adding shine to your floor. The hallmark of a good cleaner is that it loosens up dirt and leaves the finish untouched (or even shinier). Too much water will damage the wood as well – you don't want to soak the wood.

A slightly damp microfiber mop is great for trapping dust and pet hair as it cleans. Vacuuming gets the hair from between the boards – just use an attachment made for wooden floors, because a beater bar can damage your finish.

Spills should be wiped up promptly, before they warp the wood.

After all that work cleaning your floor, it would be a shame to let it be scratched. There are many steps to prevent this. You can use floor protectors on your furniture to keep it from scratching the floor. Trim your pet's nails too. My Lab mix acts like I'm the Spanish Inquisition when I pick up the nail clippers, but it's worth it to keep our bamboo floors looking nice.

Human feet can track in things too. An outdoor entrance mat encourages people to wipe their feet; an indoor one may save you even more work by prompting someone to take off their shoes. Stilettoes in particular are hard on floors. If the mat is directly on the wood floor, it should be breathable and NOT rubber-backed, which can trap dirt, moisture and stain the wood.

Finally, those inevitable black scuff marks should be buffed up with a slightly damp soft cloth.

We Fight Dirty!™ . . . we fend off scratchy and dull too.