How To Clean Carpet, Vinyl, Tile, Wood, and Laminate Floors
Maintaining the quality of your flooring
New flooring can transform your home into a showplace. You probably spent hours deciding which flooring option best suited your family’s personal style and activity level. With some basic maintenance and care, one of the most striking features of your home can give you years of durable wear.
Laminate Floor Cleaning
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Laminate Floor Cleaning
The protective layer on laminate flooring is durable and offers a lasting shine. Not only do you not need to wax or polish your laminate flooring, you should not wax or polish your laminate flooring. Doing so could result in a permanently cloudy finish. The same is true with soap-based detergents or mop and shine-type products. Skip those as well as abrasive cleaners and steel wool. The best way to care for laminate flooring is to regularly sweep with a soft-bristled broom or vacuum with a soft brush attachment. Wipe up spills before they dry or harden if possible. To moisten dried on food or other material, spray a solution of one part white vinegar to four parts distilled water directly on the stain and immediately wipe up with a soft cloth. Liquid is not a friend of laminate flooring. For more information about caring for laminate flooring http://www.superiorhomeflooring.com/how-to-clean-laminate-floors.html
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Wood Floor Cleaning
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Wood Floor Cleaning
Wide planks or thin planks; rich stained tones or unstained wood in all its natural beauty; sanded smooth or distressed; newly sawn or reclaimed from a centuries-old home – regardless of the details, wood floors are one of the loveliest features you can have in a home. Wood floors are durable – sometimes the only thing salvageable in an old home is the floorboards – but it’s important to treat them with the respect they deserve. Like all flooring options, preventive care is the best way to maintain wood floors. Removal of dirt, grit and sand by regular sweeping with a soft-bristled broom or vacuuming with a soft brush attachment is almost the only care wood floors require. Water should only be used sparingly on wood floors (use a soft, barely damp cloth or soft mop), even those with a protective finish, because wood swells which can lead to damage. Oil soaps and ammonia-based cleaners should never be used on wood floors. But what’s probably the greatest household threat to wood floors? Animal urine. Even if you are present when Fido has his accident on a wood floor, you almost can’t act quickly enough. Puddled urine can quickly soak between floorboards or into the smallest crack or scratch in wood. Some urine damage can only be repaired by stripping and sanding an entire room (spot repair will result in uneven color and finish) so prevention is absolutely your best defense when it comes to animals and wood floors.
For more information about caring for wood floors http://www.superiorhomeflooring.com/how-to-clean-wood-floors.html |
Carpet Cleaning
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Carpet Cleaning
Carpeting is usually installed because it adds a sense of warmth and luxury to a home. Carpeting feels good on your bare feet and your bare hands, but the best way to extend the life of carpeting is to not touch it. Wear socks or rubber soled “indoor only” shoes on carpeting and consider wiping pets’ feet when they come in from outdoors. Frequent vacuuming (even daily is not too often) will eliminate dirt and dust from your carpeting before it has a chance to settle too far into carpet fibers. Put together a spot cleaning kit with items like a bottle of club soda; a squeeze bottle with water and a few drop of liquid detergent; a spray bottle with a solution of 50 percent water, 50 percent white vinegar; and white paper towels and old white cotton towels or pillowcases. That combination of tools will help with almost any stain. Use the soak-blot-soak-blot method with each stain. Generously soak the stain and firmly press paper towels, cotton towels or old pillowcases on top of the stain to absorb as much liquid as possible. Repeat until the stain is removed. Whatever you do, don’t rub stains – that usually only makes them worse. For more information about caring for carpeting http://www.superiorhomeflooring.com/carpet-cleaning.html |
Tile & Grout Cleaning
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Tile & Stone Cleaning
Tile floors are practical in warmer climates and a stately feature in any home. Regular sweeping with a soft-bristled broom or vacuuming with a soft brush attachment to eliminate dirt, grit and sand is the basic care tile floors need. Mopping or spot cleaning with clear water will ensure that tile and grout won’t discolor. Cleaning products with ammonia, bleach, abrasives or unknown chemicals should never be used on tile floors because they can discolor and even damage the tile and/or grout. With tile floors, it’s usually the grout, not the tiles themselves, that needs a more thorough cleaning. Use only a grout cleaner recommended by the grout manufacturer. For more information about caring for tile floors http://www.superiorhomeflooring.com/tile-and-grout-cleaning.html |
Vinyl Floor Cleaning
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Vinyl Floor Cleaning
Vinyl flooring is literally in a category of its own and that category is called resilient flooring. Not surprisingly, vinyl flooring is the choice for busy families because of its durability and wide variety of styles. As long-wearing as vinyl flooring is, it still prefers gentle cleaning efforts. Regular sweeping with a soft-bristled broom or vacuuming with a soft brush attachment eliminates the tiny bits of dirt, sand and grit that could damage the flooring. Mopping with clear warm water followed by a rinse with fresh water are usually all that’s needed to keep vinyl flooring clean. For extra cleaning power on dried spills or hairspray build up, you can add an ounce of liquid detergent (dish soap or shampoo), vinegar or ammonia to a gallon of water. Don’t use detergents, abrasives or mop and shine products on vinyl flooring. For more information about caring for vinyl flooring http://www.superiorhomeflooring.com/how-to-clean-vinyl-flooring.html
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