Are light wood floors ok in kitchens? And oiled or lacquered best?

[JessicaCH]

Hi,

I'm deciding between wood and tiles for the kitchen floor, and have been reading threads on here and general info online about whether wood floors are ok in kitchens. I would prefer wood if it's practical, as there will be wood in the hallway and living room. Loads of people say they've had no problems with wood flooring in the kitchen, and that it hasn't got stained, but a few people say it stains, so I'm wondering what makes the difference. One person said that any spills - coffee, tomato sauce, red wine - can be wiped up and don't stain. I'm wondering whether this would only be the case for a dark wood floor, or whether it would also be true for light wood? If I go for wood in the kitchen it would definitely be light wood, as that's what I'm having in the other rooms and I want it to flow through.

The other thing that might make a difference is whether it's oiled or lacquered. From what I've read, lacquered wood floors get scratched more easily. I wonder whether lacquer would also go yellow over time, which I wouldn't be keen on, so I'm leaning towards oiled, but there seem to be different views about whether lacquer or oil finish is more stain resistant. Does anyone have experience of either, please?

Thanks so much for any replies!

We've got wood effect plank shaped tiles as I wanted wood, but cook(And spill) a lot so didn't want to take the risk of wood getting wet/stained. I would have preferred wood, looks-wise but for me it just wasn't practical as I also wanted very pale flooring. We went for very pale tiles and I have the best of both worlds I think. I will try to post a pic

Thank you! Where did you get the tiles?

Pic won't attach for some reason. They were from an independent tile warehouse and are wood effect porcelain. I will try to remember the name of them for you

I've remembered the name. Le Tavole, it's an Italian company. The ones we have are called beige. Don't know why I can't attach the pic!

I have reclaimed oak parquet and it doesn't stain. It's so warm on your feet too even though there's no underfloor heating. We had tiles before and they were freezing.

I have a new light oak engineered wood floor in my kitchen it’s been down since mid summer and we moved in shortly after it was installed , so far it’s proved to be easy to clean and no marks ( couple of scratches that really are my fault that I can account for as not day to day usage ) I clean it every couple of days with disposable cloths as it’s easy this way long and narrow .
Previously I have had solid oak oiled ( not in a kitchen though ) and this did yellow over time , it especially showed colour change when rugs were removed , guess it could have been lightly sanded and re oiled

Pic of tiles

Thanks for the pic and info, Bluesheep - your tiles look lovely!

Speakingtruthfully and Cheerfulcharlie, thanks for your replies. Good to hear that your floors don’t stain! Do they have an oiled/UV oiled or lacquered finish? And do you clean them just with water or a special product? Thank you!