Pet Accidents Both pets and small children are prone to "accidents", which means dealing with urine. As it contains uric acid, it can discolor the wood, and also cause it to smell bad.

If you find the accident while it's still fresh, use a paper towel or cloth to wipe it up, and then clean it with a mild detergent and water. Next, soak rubbing alcohol into a cloth and use it to buff the stain out. If you have trouble with the smell, get a commercial product designed to neutralize odor and remove the stain. Don't be surprised if one application isn't enough to get rid of the odor.

If you don't find the stain until it's old (and dried), use sandpaper to get it out, and then refinish the polished wood flooring. If the stain and smell are deeply embedded in the wood, you may have to remove and replace the flooring.

Crayons If you have small children, even if they are well-behaved, they may take it upon themselves to "decorate" the polished hardwood flooring. One way to deal with this: give your kids crayons that are washable. If the crayons are wax-based, use a cloth to rub some toothpaste into the affected spot. Once the "masterpiece" is removed, clean away any leftover toothpaste, and then wipe the floor until it's dry.

In the event there's a clump in the crayons, treat it like gum: put a plastic bag full of ice on the clump to harden it.

Preventative Care As previously mentioned, screwdrivers and hard tools can mar a wood floor, and heavy objects (furniture and the like) can dent and gouge it even worse. By using felt pads under the feet of the furniture, you can stop this from happening. Another thing is sunlight; it has a bleaching affect on many things - hardwood included. So, use blinds and drapes to prevent severe sun exposure to any given location. Depending on where you live, southern and western windows can be especially damaging.

Still, with good maintenance and care, your polished flooring can stay looking as good as new for quite a few years. If you get a water stain, this is really a watermark that has become permanently fixed into the wood. To get rid of that, first try a commercial cleanser; there are a variety of such cleaners available. If that doesn't do it, you'll have to sand the area and then stain it again. The best thing to use is #0000 steel wool or a fine-grade sandpaper, and then rub the stain gently - being sure to stay with the grain as you do - until the stain is removed. After that, buff the area using a clean cloth or add more wax. If that isn't enough, you may have to add some more finish to the affected spot; for that use a varnish brush.