While dealing with the everyday stresses of family living, floors take the brunt of mishaps and spills. We look at top tips on maintaining and cleaning floors of various finishes without stress. The right approach to cleaning floors often starts with choosing the correct floor finish that meets your requirements.
Laminate
When choosing a laminate floor, ensure it comes with a secure locking system to help block the build-up of dirt and bacteria between joints and to prevent water penetration. This also makes laminate easy to clean and allows it to be installed throughout the home.
Top Tip: Check the specification of your laminate before purchasing. For example, scratch- and water-resistance along with wear protection will ensure that your choice will last daily use.
Parquet
Prevention can sometimes be better than cure. For parquet floors, consider adding coir type doormats inside and outside the house to retain gravel and sand, and remember to add felt pads to furniture to avoid scratches.
Common post-party remedies:
- A lightly damp cloth or sponge will deal with festive beverage spills, coffee, tea and fruit juices
- A damp cloth and a small amount of detergent will help tackle chocolate and spilt wax
- White spirit or methylated spirit will make light work of shoe polish and lipstick.
See also: Top Tips for Successful DIY Decorating
Vinyl
Vinyl floors are often the first choice for young families looking for pattern and colours without the heavy price tag of solid tile and wood.
As with most floors, vinyl benefits from regular cleaning to prevent a build-up of dirt and dust. A quick daily sweep or vacuum will keep the floor looking fabulous, while a damp mop or cloth can be used for spot and stain removal.
Top Tip: Look out for protective PU layers for extra resistance to scratches and stains.
Natural Flooring
If your new year’s resolution is to invest in sustainable home decor, then choosing the right products to clean your natural floor is paramount. Cork and natural fibres can be maintained with regular vacuuming and protecting them from heavy furniture by using cushion pads or non-staining glides or casters.
Often natural flooring companies provide cleaning kits to help you tackle the most common spills and mishaps, so it’s worth investing in one before the inevitable accident happens.
Carpet
Don’t waste your white wine trying to fix a red wine problem.
Abingdon Flooring has long been at the forefront of creating stain-resistant and bleach-cleanable floors and has two suggestions for tackling wine mishaps.
Method One:
Use methylated spirit on a piece of cotton wool around the edges of the stain and gradually working inwards, blotting with absorbent tissue or kitchen roll to remove excessive moisture. If this hasn’t completely tackled the spill the first time, repeat until it’s no longer visible before using a soap solution on cotton wool to dampen the area again before drying with a hair dryer to help prevent watermarking.
Method Two:
Another method is to soak up as much of the liquid as possible using absorbent cloths, tissues or kitchen roll. If the stain persists, re-wet using a solution of tepid water and non-biological washing powder on a sponge or cotton wool. As with method one, drying with a hair dryer will help prevent leaving any unsightly watermarks.
Follow these tips and you’ll never have to worry about maintenance and cleaning floors again.
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