Home Flooring Guide

So much of what it means to have a clean home for your family and guests to enjoy is part of keeping your floors clean.  Like many aspects of caring for your home, there are some skills and "tricks of the trade" that experienced home makers know about taking good care of their floors.  The principles of maintaining a beautiful floor are the same whether you take care of polished concrete, linoleum, hardwood flooring or cork.

Tips for All Floors

We tend to think that if its on the floor, its dirty.  The fact that the floor is where our feet go allows us to accept that a certain amount of unsanitary "stuff" is down there.  If you keep domestic animals in the home, that principle is even more evident.  But while you may never keep a floor so pristine you could "eat off of it", there are steps that every home maker should include in the weekly cleaning schedule to assure that the floors of your home are clean and basically well maintained including…

·    Sweep flat surface floors such as the kitchen, entry ways and bathroom every day.  A soft mop bristled broom or using the extension arm of your vacuum sweeper all accomplish the same goal which is to get excess dirt, dust and litter off of the floor so it doesn’t get ground underfoot.
·    Vacuum carpeted areas frequently.
·    Mop flat surface floors at least once a week.
·    Clean up spills immediately.
·    Train your family to take off their shoes at the doorway and to take other precautions to keep unnecessary grime and clutter from getting on the floors.

Vinyl Floors

Vinyl floors are probably the most common flooring there is.  Most builders put down linoleum flooring in kitchen and bathrooms unless the buyer customizes what will be installed.  Vinyl is inexpensive, easy to put down and very easy to keep clean.  The entire floor cleaning market that fills the grocery store shelves with products to clean your kitchen and bathroom floors seems to be built around the assumption that you have vinyl floors.

For the most part over the counter products are fine for cleaning your linoleum flooring.  But you can accomplish the same good just mixing the same liquid soap you use to wash dishes in with a bucket of hot water and using that to mop the floor once or twice a week.  That is sufficient to pick up any stains and the hot water sanitizes the floor.

Hardwood Floors

Hardwood floors require a higher level of attention due to the fact that the flooring is a natural substance.  It is best to never use commercial cleansers on your hardwood flooring.  In fact, you should learn from the supplier or the installer of your hardwood floor what specific types of cleaning agents are best for the type of hardwood you have.

Many of the methods you use to take good care of solid hardwood floors apply just as well to cleaning hardwood laminate floors. http://www.home-flooring-guide.net/floor-cleaning/cleaning-laminate-flooring.html.  Never use corrosive cleaning agents such as ammonia or bleach on your hardwood or laminate floors.  Pay attention to the specific needs of the flooring you have in your home because taking care with your hardwood floors will help them last for years.

Other flooring options such as cork floors, bamboo floors, polished concrete floors and ceramic tile floors also have specific restrictions to abide by.  While tile is as tough as a vinyl floor, that shine that makes the tile look great must be protected during cleaning.  For all high quality flooring products, taking care not to let water or solvents get down between the flooring slats or panels is of utmost importance to avoid damage to the flooring from the inside out.  While it is work to make sure your flooring is cared for correctly, it is worth it when the result is a beautiful floor that you can be proud of when visitors come to call.