| While Your Floor Is New
- Use protective mats at all exterior doors to help prevent sand, grit and moisture from entering your home. Clean or replace as needed.
- Use area rugs to accent your hardwood floor and to help protect your new floor from heavy concentrated foot traffic. If you have installed wood in your kitchen, place throw rugs in front of the sink, stove, and dishwasher to catch spills and splashes.
- Install proper floor protectors. Floor protectors or furniture glides allow chairs to move easily over the floor. Wood floors can be subject to permanent indentations and possible scratching by excessive loads from small bearing surfaces. Furniture that will be moved often should have floor protectors made of carpet or felt (not rubber of plastic.) Clean protectors on a regular basis to remove any embedded grit.
How Much Care Do Wood Floors Require?
Cleaning and waxing hardwood floors used to be heavy, time consuming work. Today, only simple maintenance is required. Having a schedule for cleaning simplifies floor care. When the household carpets are vacuumed, vacuum or sweep your hardwood floor also. Immediately blot up spills or spots with a damp cloth.
When Is Added Protection Necessary?
New, heavier usage floors, or floors with a dull finish appearance should be recoated with a quality, non-yellowing polyurethane finish.
When Can You Damage Your Floor?
- Water - Wet mopping or excessive water causes grain to rise, wood to expand, crack, splinter and possibly, in extreme cases, discolor.
- Extreme Dryness - Wood flooring, like any other wood product, will be adversely affected by checking, cracking or cupping of the surface - when the humidity level drops below 20% for extended periods of time.
- Oil Soaps - Do not us Murphy's Oil Soap™ , Endust™, Pledge™, Future™, Mop'n Glo™, Brite™ or other waxes or polishes. Such products will harm the long-term performance of your new floor, and may affect its recoatablility later.
- Ammonia Cleaners - Do not us ammonia cleaners or non-recommended cleaners because it will dull or damage your wood floor. Do not use Fantastic™ or Formula 409™.
- High Heel Shoes - Heels that have lost their protective caps or shoes with any sharp exposed nail of stone will exert up to 8,000 lbs per square inch of pressure on a floor. That's enough to damage any type of floor covering!
The Following Steps Are for Proper Carpet Maintenance
- Controlling Soil - Most abrasive, particulate soil accumulates initially within the first few feet of major entries to homes and commercial buildings. Once inside, this soil takes its toll on carpet fiber and on the general appearance of the structure. Every effort should be made to keep this soil accumulation outside by the use of properly selected entry mats. Entry mats that collect and absorb soil and moisture should be placed adjacent to carpeted areas, in entries of homes and businesses and if possible, not on top of the carpet. They must be maintained by periodic vacuuming, shaking, and cleaning.
- Vacuuming Carpet - Routine vacuuming with properly maintained, quality equipment is the single most important step a home or business owner/manager can take to extend the life and appearance of carpet. A top fill, upright vacuum with brush agitation or a canister vacuum with a 'powerhead' incorporating brush agitation should be selected and used with routine frequency.
- Immediate Spotting - Most spots can be removed easily if the excess is lifted or blotted and the area is treated immediately with plain water or with spotters containing mild (pH range of 5-9), dilute cleaning solutions that do not leave residue.
- Cleaning - Installed residential carpet exposed to routine use should be cleaned at least once a year. Carpet that is subject to extreme soiling or heavy use, particularly high traffic areas, or carpet installed in homes by occupied by persons with allergies requires more frequent cleaning. Carpet in low traffic areas such as formal living rooms and dining rooms need less frequent cleaning.
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