Guide To Floor Cleaning

October 18th, 2009

If you are looking for the ultimate guide to floor cleaning, you will find out that you could probably write it yourself.  However, if you have flooring that needs to be cleaned, and don’t quite know where to begin, you may want to keep these few tips in mind.  The first tip, is that you need to determine what types of flooring you have inside your house or office that you need to clean.  Next, you have to figure out what types of cleaners you are going to need to use, and avoid, as well as being able to ensure that the shine remains.

There are a few main types of flooring that you are going to need to clean, being hard wood, vinyl, and of course porcelain or ceramic tile floors.  Because these types of floors are so popular, there is no reason why so many people need help cleaning them.  The traffic areas in the home or office will often show wear and tear pretty quickly unless you keep up on the floor  cleaning schedule, but putting the time in to ensure you are cleaning them properly will help you to get the most life out of them.

There are a lot of different types of floor cleaners on the market, and you are going to want to know exactly what type of flooring that you are trying to clean in order to make sure you get the proper cleaning solutions.  Some cleaners that work well on ceramic or porcelain floors will eat away at the glues found on the vinyl flooring.  This means that after a few cleanings, the vinyl floor will begin peeling up, and cost you more money in the long run.  Just pay close attention before you make your purchase, to ensure that you are buying the right cleaner for your floors.

After you have given the floors a good deep clean, you are going to want to keep it’s shine and luster for a long time to come and visit office cleaning supplies The only way to properly do this is by using a buffer to polish the surface of the floors.  It doesn’t matter what type of flooring you have really, there are going to be buffers built for each style.  You need to ensure that you are also using the proper speeds on the buffer in order to keep from destroying the floor rather than actually cleaning.

Different Cleaning Methods For Different Wood Floors

October 18th, 2009

In order to properly clean your wood floors, you are going to first have to determine exactly what type of wood it is that you are dealing with, as well as figuring out the best cleaning solution that you should use to properly maintain the luster and appeal of the flooring.  There are two major types of wood floors, and while they are both considered hardwood, one is a lot easier to maintain than its counterpart, and this means that you save a lot of time and energy when it comes to keeping them clean.

Natural hardwood floors are by far the hardest to keep clean, because you have to be certain that the chemicals you are using to clean them are not going to remove the polish and layer of protection on top of the floors.  This layer is there to protect the soft natural wood from nicks and dings as objects are dropped against it.  This layer also waterproofs the real wood, helping to keep it from warping over time due to moisture, or failing to get all of the liquid off of it in time.  These are not typically worries with all natural hard wood flooring.

However, there is another type of wood flooring that is called manufactured or hard pressed wood floors, and these types of floors will save you a lot of money on both the initial material cost as well as the cost of installation.  This type of wood is built by using sawdust created from cutting the natural wood boards, and then compressed together under extreme pressure using a mixture of both heat and glue to ensure that the sawdust particles adhere together.  Manufactured hardwood flooring has an incredible lifespan, and stands up to most of the harsh cleaners that you will throw at it.

By figuring out exactly what type of wood floors you have, you are going to save yourself a lot of money and frustration by not destroying the finish on them.  Some chemicals that are great for manufactured wood floors will completely eat away the protective layer found on natural wood, whereas the chemicals used for natural wood may not be strong enough to remove the buildup that is found on manufactured wood floors.  These few key differences determine whether you are enjoying your floors, or trying to figure out a way to fix the problem created by using the wrong floor  cleaning solution.

Guide To Cleaning Hardwood Floors

October 18th, 2009

Natural hardwood floors are a lot harder to clean than most types of flooring, especially porcelain and ceramic.  This is simply because of the types of finishes that the manufacturers and installers use to protect the surface of the wood.  The types of wood used for flooring, while called hardwood, is actually quite soft some times, and because of this, requires a heavier finish to protect it from nicks and gouges.  If you aren’t careful though, some of the cleaners that you use will actually remove this protective layer, leaving your hardwood floors vulnerable to damage from every day wear and tear.

The finish that is found on these types of floors is a thick polishing compound that works to both seal the wood, making it completely waterproof, as well as providing a layer of insulation between things hitting the floor, and the soft natural wood found underneath it.  Having these types of floors refinished can be extremely expensive, and for this reason alone, it is highly recommended that you spend the time finding a high quality hardwood floor cleaning solution to ensure that you aren’t going to be destroying the surfaces of your floors.

Once you have found a cleaner that is sufficient to use on your hardwood floors, you are then going to want to try to find a small buffer or polisher that you can use every few months to ensure that your floors maintain the shine that you desire.  These buffers usually run about the same price as a vacuum cleaner, which if you had carpet you would have to purchase.  Investing in a buffer really does increase the overall life of the floors, but to ensure that you get the best use out of it, you actually have to use it.  You can’t allow the buffer to collect dust, or your floors will feel it.

There are a lot of great ways to clean hardwood floors, so as long as you pay attention to what types of cleaners you are using, as well as putting in the time to perform some preventative maintenance, you are going to get to enjoy your floors for a long time to come.  Saving a few pennies up front will cost you a lot of time and frustration, not to mention money when it comes time to replace them again.  You’ll find that having these floors refinished is incredibly expensive.