Is Real Wood Flooring Child Friendly?

It’s no secret that kids love to spend time on the floor. Whether your little ones are just learning to crawl, or already running around causing mischief, your flooring is a potential playground that’s full of adventure and exploration.

Hold on though – how do you know that your flooring is child friendly?

child-friendly flooring

Any parent would agree that child safety is of the upmost importance. However, child friendly flooring also needs to be durable, easy to clean, and low maintenance if it’s going to stand up to the stresses and strains of your children.

Whilst some flooring materials may appear more child friendly than others, there are some choices that often leave parents a little bit puzzled. This tends to be the case with real wood flooring.

The truth is, solid and engineered wood floors offer a wide range of child-friendly benefits which often get overlooked. If you’re not quite sure where to look, then don’t worry, you’re not alone!

Thankfully, this guide will point you in the right direction. Here’s why we think that real wood flooring is a child friendly choice.

Health benefits

One of the biggest advantages of real wood flooring is that it is completely natural.

Other materials such as carpet and LVT are full of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which can be hazardous to your children, and to the environment. Thankfully, this isn’t the case with wood flooring.

In fact, real wood flooring actually improves the air quality within your home, and doesn’t trap dust, debris, and other harmful allergens within the board. This is great news if you find your children having playtime on your floor!

playroom floor options

It isn’t as hard as you think

Some parents are put off by real wood flooring, thinking that it may be too hard for children to play on.

Accidents are inevitable in any family home, so it’s only natural that you’ll want to minimise as much harm as possible, but the truth is, wood flooring isn’t as hard as you might first think!

Wood is actually a natural shock absorber, and proves far softer than tiles or LVT.

When combined with a thick, high quality underlay, wood flooring is even better at pacifying any nasty falls and bumps, and, in most cases, shouldn’t hurt your children one bit.

Easy to clean

Whilst it is true that carpets and other fabrics are a softer option, they are much higher maintenance.

Any parent will tell you that kids are prone to spillages, no matter what their age. This is bad news for carpets, which will absorb fluids and become more difficult to clean. This can cost you time, and in worse cases, money too!

As wood flooring is harder and has a flat surface, most spillages will rest above the surface, and can be rectified with a quick once over with a mop or cloth. This is a valuable asset if your kids are on the clumsy side! There are loads of tips online about how best you can begin cleaning hardwood floors.

keeping your home germ free

Can be sanded

Although spillages are easy to fix, what about more serious damages such as scratches and indentation? With other flooring materials, this is a very real problem.

Luckily, wood flooring can be sanded and refinished, removing the need for arduous and costly reinstallation.

Whilst this shouldn’t be necessary for at least 10 years, being able to sand away damages is an excellent safety net, and proves completely unique to real wood flooring.

Remember: keep moisture low

Alongside a wealth of benefits, wood flooring does have one drawback when it comes to being child friendly.

In more extreme cases, wood can warp and buckle in the presence of high levels of moisture. This may be a problem if you’ve had persistent problems with water in the past.

However, as long as your real wood flooring is fitted in the correct area, this shouldn’t be a problem.

The occasional spillage won’t prove harmful. Just remember to dry your flooring ASAP!

95 comments

  1. Interesting read Charlotte. We fit various types of flooring in homes all across London and many of our customers have families and are always looking for child-friendly alternatives of carpet and LVT flooring. We’ll make sure to talk to them about real wood flooring next time! Thank you for sharing.

    1. I think the most interesting part is the safety where children are concerned as there is an assumption they aren’t safe…so much safer than tiled floors!

  2. Most homeowners dream of having wooden flooring in their homes. The warmth at your feet, the natural sheen of wood and the vibrant colors of natural wood allure most people who naturally gravitate to it eventually. Of course, few other types of flooring material can match the natural beauty and majesty of wooden flooring.

  3. Wood floors not only add a touch of elegance to your home, but also a bit of warmth. Many homeowners believe that having hardwood floors even makes the space look bigger.

  4. Wood floors are easier to clean than carpets. The reasons for this are fairly obvious. A simple brush or light vacuum keeps your wooden floors looking great. If dogs or children have dragged mud through the house a damp mop removes this muck with ease. Carpet owners at this stage would be screaming.

  5. Wood is the easiest floor to clean, requiring far less chemicals.
    Whenever someone says, “I think tile or carpet might be easier to clean,” I point to my wood floor cleaning tools. With only a swivel mop and sometimes a non-aerosol spray, I can clean my wood floor in less than half the time it takes to vacuum, scrub or shampoo other floor coverings. Wood doesn’t trap dust and fumes like carpet and doesn’t grow mold in the grout like tile. Best yet, fewer chemicals are needed.

  6. Choosing hardwood floors increases the value of your property. It is a great long-term investment and can actually become a strong resale argument, exceeding the initial installation cost of the floors. It also enables a faster sale and brings higher prices at the time of resale.

  7. Choosing hardwood floors increases the value of your property. It is a great long-term investment and can actually become a strong resale argument, exceeding the initial installation cost of the floors. It also enables a faster sale and brings higher prices at the time of resale.

  8. One of the advantages of a wood floor is that it is more stable than solid wood flooring. This is because it is made of three layers of wood at 90 degree angles to each other to reduce movement in the wood.

  9. Since wood is a natural material, it is susceptible to water damage. Failure to dry your floors immediately will result in discoloration, raised edges, and buckling. All these consequences of water damage lead to an early replacement. Be sure to get in touch with a water damage restoration specialist if your wooden floors get soaked in flood water.

  10. Consider how the flooring will be installed. Some flooring can be floated, which means installation without glue or fasteners. No glue means no harmful fumes and no fasteners means you can often save money by installing the flooring yourself.

  11. Is has a simple maintenance, with wood, your flooring will be easy to clean. Dusting, mopping and drying are what it takes to keep your home looking its best. As long as you avoid moisture and water, you’ll find your floors keep on looking great.

  12. Real wood flooring are not 100% waterproof or stain resistant. Home with kids and pets should choose rigid core waterproof flooring. Since it’s 100% waterproof, it is very easy to clean and maintain if anything is spilled over the floor. Plus, it’s environmental friendly flooring too! Doesn’t trap any allergens as well. keeping the home environment healthy!

    You can check the designs here: https://www.wood4floors.co.uk/product-category/rigid-core-waterproof-planks/

  13. Thank you for breaking this down so well. A wood floor is one of the most common choices due to its benefits like curb appeal, safety, easy to maintain and clean.
    I also found an article that covers some additional points on the carpet and wooden flooring.
    (Here is the link: https://ltflooring.co.uk/blog/carpet-vs-wood-floor/)
    Sorry for the link but I thought it might be useful.

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