When customers ask for instructions on how to clean their flooring, I hear a variety of solutions from using vinegar water to wax. Because each type of flooring has different maintenance requirements, let’s review the basic instructions to keep your flooring looking its best for years to come.
CARPET:
- Clean Up the Spill: Absorb spilled liquid by blotting with a white rag or paper towel. This is to pull up as much of the liquid spilled on the floor.
- Cleaning Products: Use a certified approved carpet cleaner product that can be purchased at most flooring stores.
- Professional Cleaning: Keep in mind that carpet should be professionally steam- cleaned every two years. This ensures that the fibers stay nice and tight. (What would happen if you didn’t change the oil in your car? In a short amount of time, your vehicle would have to be replaced. Without regular maintenance, the same thing would need to be done with your carpet.
HARDWOOD:
- Dry Dirt Removal: Sweep up all of the dirt or vacuum the floor without a beater bar.
- Wet Dirt Removal: Mop the floor. (Now I’m not saying . . . dunk the mop into the bucket and slosh as much water on the floor as you can and spread it around.)Instead, make sure to ring out the mop so that your only using a minimal amount of water to clean the floor. There is no need to add a lot of chemicals to the floor. The more products you put on the floor, the more time it will take because you have to remove the chemicals from the floor. For high-grease areas, a couple drops of Dawn dish soap or Bona hardwood floor cleaner would do a fine job.
- Recoating: Most hardwoods can be screened and recoated to keep the polyurethane finish built up. Even though the floor has a 35 year warranty does not mean that it’s 35 year no maintenance product. To see what flooring can be rescreened, contact your hardwood provider.
LVT AND SHEET VINYL:
This is one of the easiest floors to maintain.
- Glue Down or Click: Sweep often and mop with normal amounts of water. There is no need to add chemicals for most situations. Plain warm water will do the job for residential areas.
- Refinishing Option: There are no refinishing options for most sheet vinyls or LVTs which means the flooring is very low maintenance. Karndean has a kit to bring back the shine for high traffic areas.
PORCELAIN OR CERAMIC TILE:
- General Cleaning: Sweep often and mop with normal amounts of water. There is no need to add chemicals in most situations. Plain warm water will do the job. Using products to clean the floor can leave residue behind and gives the floor a hazy look.
- Residue Removal: Mop with clean water until all residue is gone.
- Maintenance: Maintenance is a minimal for tile. Sweep and mop. For grout with lifetime sealers, normal mopping is all that’s needed. For other grouts, you would need to have them sealed every few years, depending on the specific product recommendations.
We recommend providing these maintenance tips to all your customers and keep in touch with them over the years to make sure they are caring for their flooring to keep it looking great. By following up with them, you are staying top-of-mind and they will return to you for any future needs.