A beautiful natural Christmas tree brings so much warmth and holiday cheer to a room, not to mention the fact that they can also offer a lovely fragrance. That said, we’ll momentarily set aside holiday decorating to bring you this friendly reminder to protect your hardwood floors before installing your live tree. The last thing you want to see when you take your tree down is damage to your floors that could have been avoided.

A Christmas tree stand mat can help protect your hardwood floors

A tree stand mat is a great item to have, as it can protect your hardwood floors from tree needles, sap from the tree, or scratches from your tree stand. Before bringing in your tree, you should trim about two inches off the bottom with a saw so that it has a fresh base before you put it in its stand with water. Take care not to scratch your floor when you carry it inside. Get someone to help you, if necessary. Water your tree daily, and this will help keep it fresh and result in less shedding of tree needles. How much water can vary, but just as an example larger trees (7 feet tall, for example) might need 3 quarts of water per day.

The best way to clean pine needles

Tree needles fall throughout the holiday season, but often, the majority of needles fall when the tree is being taken down. When taking down your tree, carefully remove and put away your lights and ornaments.

Vacuuming up needles can really create a problem for your vacuum if things get clogged or if vacuum roller brushes get jammed. It can even ruin some machines. An easy way to avoid vacuum trouble is to simply sprinkle a little baking soda on tree needles and then use your Bona Premium Microfiber Mop for Multi-Surface Floors with the Bona Microfiber Sweeping Pad. It’s the perfect tool for picking up pine needles and trapping them away until they can be shaken into the garbage. Plus, your Bona sweeping pad can be machine washed up to 500 times.

Clean your hardwood floors with Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner

Once your tree has been removed, gently sweep up any remaining needles, before you mop. You can use the same Bona Microfiber Mop to clean your floors – just switch from the dusting pad to the Bona Microfiber Cleaning Pad and grab your bottle of Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner.

Or, if you have the Bona Premium Spray Mop for Hardwood Floors, that’s another fantastic way to to get the job done. Check your cleaner cartridge in case it needs to be refilled with Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner. Once it has been filled, just pull the trigger for the perfect amount of cleaner. There’s no need to mix it with any water or rinse after spraying. Just spray and mop, and soon, your floors will be beautifully clean and fresh without any streaks or residue – just shine.