Maintaining hard surface flooring requires more than just sweeping and shining it every time. Once you have installed hard surface flooring in your house, for the first few years, it will gleam and shine and will be the center of attraction for your guests. But over a few years, the shine of the flooring will be lost, even with regular cleaning.
Floor Care and Preventive Maintenance Care
Often the best way is to take measures that prevent any damage and maintain the look and shine of your floorings for years to come.
- Start by putting mats in areas with high traffic. You can place mats in walkways, by the doors, and in rooms people frequently walk upon. Using olefin or polypropylene fiber mats with hard bristles will keep dirt, mud, grime, and clay out of the shoes and the floors. You can also keep separate shoes inside the home to keep the outside dirt away from your floors.
- The legs on the furniture often leave scratch marks on hard surface flooring. To prevent that, you can place protector pads on the legs of the furniture. If the scratches are big and deep, you would need a professional to repair them. Often floor manufacturers have a touch-up kit you can use to cover any minor scratches that already have occurred.
Sweeping and mopping the floors is necessary for maintaining hygiene and good practice to keep your hard surface flooring intact. Every manufacturer has its guidelines for cleaning the floors. Make sure to follow them. Here are the ways you can care for your hard surface floors, depending upon their type.
Solid Hardwood Flooring
To sweep solid hardwood floors daily, use a dry microfiber dust mop or an angled broom. If you use a vacuum, set it on the soft floor nozzle or bare floor setting.
Clean your hardwood floors using a floor cleaner recommended by your manufacturer once every month. In case of spills, immediately clean them with a damp or dry cloth. Liquids will leave a stain on hardwood floors if not cleaned immediately. Ensure to never use a wet mop on hardwood floors. Not only a wet mop will damage the hardwood, but it also voids your manufacturer’s warranty.
Engineered Wood Flooring
Dry mop or sweep an engineered wood floor daily and vacuum clean the floors using the bare floor setting. Never let liquid spills stand on the floor; use a damp or dry cloth to clean them.
Laminate
With the durability of laminate flooring, they are the best flooring for children’s playroom blogs. While they are easier to maintain, even then, not cleaning them properly will lead to scratches on the surface.
Sweep the dust using a dust mop daily and use a recommended cleaning product every once in a while. You can also use a vacuum set at the hard surface setting to clean laminate flooring. Although water-resistant, leaving water spills can result in warping and swelling.
Luxury Vinyl
Luxury vinyl floorings are waterproof, making them the best flooring for children’s playroom. Cleaning these floorings is super easy, and you can use warm water to mop the floors. Use a vinyl floor cleaner now and then, and the floors will shine brighter than ever.
Wrap Up
While looking through the flooring blog for trends in AZ, you will come across several ways you can maintain floorings. Cleaning your hard surface flooring frequently and using some preventive measures will keep your floors looking shiny and new for a long time.