Protecting Your Floors This Holiday Season!

It’s official: the holiday season has arrived! This means it’s about time to start detangling your Christmas lights, picking out the perfect pine tree, and garnishing your home with festive holiday decor.

While decorating your home is typically a joyful way to spend time with family and get into the Christmas spirit, you may find yourself saying, “Be careful, don’t scratch the floor!” If you are looking for worry-free ways to decorate this holiday season while still ensuring floor protection, you’ve come to the right place. We are here to give you all the tips and tricks to protect your floors while putting up your Christmas tree this year.

Prep Your Designated Tree Space

Typically, as the focal point of your Christmas decor, your Christmas tree needs a space where it can truly shine. Pick a place in your house that is easy to access under and around your tree and the tree stand. This will make cleaning and maintenance much easier.

Once you have your perfect spot, you’ll want to sweep, vacuum, and clean the floor thoroughly before positioning the tree stand. An initial cleaning prevents any dirt or dust from getting caught underneath furniture and potentially causing damage to your floors.

Next, double-check that your stand is stable and secure; this way, you don’t have to worry about any movement causing scratches. Prepping your tree space is the best way to protect your flooring and set you up for success, whether it’s in your dining room or your living room.

Now you can buy all sorts of mats, trays, and skirts that protect your flooring and your floor's finish and top coat from spilled water, paint, dirt, dust, or fallen needles while still looking festive.

Be sure to use a protective covering under your tree for all the debris, water and sap

Use a Sturdy Tree Stand and Debris-Catching Tree Skirt

Christmas tree skirts have come a long way since the hand-stitched one wrapped around your grandmother’s tree. Now you can buy all sorts of mats, trays, and skirts that protect your flooring and your floor’s finish and top coat from spilled water, paint, dirt, dust, or fallen needles while still looking festive.

Whichever floor protection product you decide on, make sure you’re limiting the potential for water damage and excess moisture. Stands can be overfilled, or water can get knocked out onto your flooring quite easily. If you cannot wipe up spills right away, water may seep into absorbent materials that can trap the water on your flooring for an extended period of time.

Even if your flooring is water-resistant or waterproof, it’s still a good idea to not let the liquid sit for an extended period of time to prevent permanent damage to the surface and protect your floors. Be sure to test your tree stand or skirt to ensure it can withstand spills and properly protect your flooring, especially in high-traffic areas.

Finding that optimal space for the Christmas tree

Optimal space for the tree

Prep the Tree Outdoors

Before you bring your tree inside, whack the trunk straight down on the ground, preferably on the pavement or concrete, a few times. This will help any loose needles fall out before they make their way into your house and onto your flooring, greatly reducing your chances of finding leftover needles in the middle of June.

Once you give the tree a good thump, be sure to wrap it up before pulling it through the front door to protect your floor from any damage or scuffs. Even with proper prep, it’s likely there will still be stray pieces of pine needles on the surface of your floors.

In this case, use a quick sweep or vacuum to remove trash before it has the chance to hide in your interior hallways, stairs, mud room, or anywhere else during the transportation process of your tree.

Minimize Debris with Garbage Bags

Large garbage bags, tarps, or blankets come in handy when moving your tree in and out of your house. They are lightweight and are the perfect tool to prevent loose needles from scattering all over your furniture and flooring in transit, thus keeping things cleaner in the process.

When you’re ready to bring your tree into the house, place one heavy-duty garbage bag around the base of the tree and pull it up to cover as many branches as possible for temporary floor protection. You can also place a trash bag over the top of the tree if one bag isn’t large enough. Just be sure to remove the top bag before you stand your tree upright, or all the needles it catches will fall out onto your flooring.

Whether you use trash bags, a large tarp, or bulky sheets, you can minimize dirt or dust on surfaces and make initial cleanup a breeze, all while you protect your floors.

Keep Your Floors Scratch-Free with Proper Christmas Tree Maintenance

The first step to making your tree durable and long-lasting is to keep it hydrated. This helps it retain its needles throughout the month of December. Just take care to avoid overfilling or spilling water out of your tree stand, as this has the potential to cause water damage and stains to your protective floor.

Plus, it might be a good idea to use slip-resistant felt pads on the bottom of the legs of your tree, as felt pads can help prevent potential damage to your floor with ease. Additionally, try to sweep and vacuum around your tree as often as you can. This will stop any needles from being stepped on and dragged across your floor. Some fallout is expected, but if you commit to a regular tree maintenance schedule, your home will look and feel like Christmas without any wear and tear on your beautiful floors!

We have the felt pads available for purchase in our Renovation Flooring design showroom! These pads should be used under all furniture to keep your floors safe and to preserve them for years to come.