Maintenance
Wood and laminate floor maintenance
- Sweep, dust mop or vacuum your floor routinely, this is the most important step. Loose dirt and grit can scratch the surface of your floor.
- Thoroughly clean the heavy traffic areas (kitchen) twice as often as other areas
- While most food spills will not harm the surface, it is advisable to promptly wipe up with a dry cloth or paper towels. The spills should then be cleaned with a recommended cleaner.
- Never clean your wood floor with products such as soaps, detergents, or oil soap. Make sure the cleaner is formulated to maintain the beauty of hardwood floors with out leaving a soap film residue.
- Place area rugs or mats at doorways and in front of the sink. This will help you to catch dirt and water. Never use rubber or plastic backed products as it may damage the floor. Solid cotton is highly recommended.
- Never use sheet vinyl or tile floor products on wood floors.
- Spike heels cleats and work shoes can be damaging to wood floors. Even women of average build with spike heels on can exert 2000 PSI when she takes a step.
- Humidity control is highly recommended. To reduce excessive shrinkage in the winter a humidifier is recommended, air conditioning or dehumidifier is recommended for the summer.
- To move furniture properly across a wood floor, it should be picked up.
- Narrow guides and certain types of casters can damage hardwood floors. It’s recommended to change to wide type casters to help prevent damage.
- Fabric protectors are a must for furniture legs. This will help prevent scratching and dents.
- Most finishes should not be waxed. Please ask a professional or manufacturer.
- Try to keep potted plants off your floor. This will help prevent condensation build up that can damage your floor.
- Keep pet nails trimmed regularly and try to keep animal play on your wood floors to a minimum.
- While most finishes are very durable, there may be a time to recoat your floor. When choosing a finish for your wood floor, remember to ask if the finish can be recoated in years to come.
- Use as little water as possible. Go back over the area with a dry towel to make sure water does not sit on the surface.
Some of the recommended cleaners available in your area: SQUEAKY, MINWAX, BRUCE, HARCO, DURA SEAL, BONA.
How should I clean my hardwood floor?
The most important thing to do is to first vacuum and dust mop regularly, and as often as necessary. For some families and most businesses, this may mean every day.
Don’t damp mop on a weekly schedule, damp mop only as needed, i.e., when the floor is dirty. Even then, cleaning on a spot basis will suffice. Often the maid service will want to do this weekly, but that will cause the finish to wear faster.
Waxed and sealed floors.
On a seal and wax finish, you should sweep or vacuum up all grit, dirt and dust, then buff to renew the shine. When the shine cannot be renewed, then you must re-wax the floor. With this type of finish you might only need to re-wax small high-traffic areas. In any case, do not use water on a waxed floor.
Be sure to follow the finish manufacturer’s advice on your floor. As a rule, do not use ammonia-based cleaners, they tend to dull modern finishes. We do not advocate any particular cleaning product. The finish manufacturers are the best source for that information.
THE BEST WAY TO MAINTAIN YOUR HARDWOOD FLOOR IS TO KEEP THE DIRT AND GRIT OFF!
If you have problems with your wood floor please contact us!
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