Your flooring is one of the first features your guests will
notice, whether it’s the fluffy carpet in your hallway or the gorgeous azure
tiles in your bathroom, so making sure you keep it in good condition at all
times is essential to having a beautiful home. A clean and tidy floor can
transform a room instantly, making your home or business look much more
polished and well-kept.
On the other hand, dirty flooring can distract from the
overall decor or ambience of a room, and make your home look unkempt and
dis-organised. After all, nobody wants to eat in a kitchen with food stains and
dirt from the outdoors scattered across the tiles, or settle down to watch a
film in a living room with muddy carpets.
While vinyl flooring is a particularly easy to clean type of
flooring, it’s still important to make sure you’re taking measures to take care
of it at all times. From preventing damage in the first place to budging
stubborn stains with ease, here are our top tips for caring for vinyl flooring.
Protect your vinyl
wood flooring by enforcing a no-shoe rule
If you have a pristine cream carpet in your hallway or living
room, your guests will likely remove their shoes automatically upon entering
your home. However, if you have vinyl flooring, it’s easy to forget to do this,
assuming your floor can simply be wiped clean if debris from shoes becomes
dislodged.
While this is true to some extent, we still recommend
enforcing a no-shoe rule as much as possible. While vinyl tiles can be wiped
clean much easier than other types of flooring, preventing debris from dirtying
them in the first place is a simple way to prevent scratched tiles, clogged up
seals, and fading patterns.
Additionally, heeled shoes could cause irreversible damage to your flooring by
leaving scratches, chips or dents. Over time, this will tarnish the look and
quality of your flooring, so make sure you remove your shoes as you step into
the house.
Leave a doormat by
your front door
In some situations, you may not want to ask your guests to
remove their shoes. If you’re hosting a party, for instance, you may not want
to kick off the celebrations by requesting that everyone removes their shoes
and walks around barefoot.
Instead, leave a doormat by your front door (and back door if
you have a garden) to encourage friends and family members to wipe their shoes
before entering. This should dry them if it’s been raining outside and get rid
of any debris that may stain or scratch your flooring.
Position soft feet
pads underneath your furniture
When positioning your furniture around your home, it can be
easy to forget about the damage that may be caused as a result of heavy
furnishings and appliances. However, sofas, chests of drawers, games tables and
dining tables can be extremely heavy, and as a result, can damage the flooring.
If you have carpets in the home, any sections flattened by
furniture will most likely regain their shape if the furniture is moved
elsewhere. However, once vinyl flooring is disfigured or dented by furniture,
it’s difficult - if not impossible - to get it back to its original
condition.
To avoid this, put soft furniture feet pads underneath your
desks, drawers, television stands and seating. You can either buy these or make
them yourself out of pieces of pretty fabric. These sit underneath the legs of
your furniture to prevent them from scratching or denting your vinyl floors.
Lift furniture -
don’t pull it
Has the time come to revamp your home? If yes, pay particular
attention to how you move your furniture around. While it may seem easier to
push your sofa to the other side of your living room or drag your bed from one
corner to the other, you’ll thank yourself later if you spend time lifting each
piece of furniture and setting it down carefully.
Dragging or shoving bulky pieces of furniture can cause
serious and irreversible damage to vinyl flooring, and could leave your floor
with very noticeable scrapes and dents. So, next time you want to switch up the
layout of your home, ask a couple of your strongest friends to help you out!
Sweep your floors at
least once a week
Sweeping your floors regularly is a simple yet effective way
to care for your vinyl flooring, so make sure you do this at least once a week.
By sweeping up debris, dust, and any other items lying around, you can minimise
the risk of gravel, twigs, screws or bolts damaging your flooring.
These are all items which can be brought in from the outside
and tread throughout the house, so you’ll want to get rid of them as soon as
possible.
Sweeping with a soft brush is also a kinder alternative than
vacuuming your flooring. While your vacuum should be designed to be wheeled
through the house with ease, hard plastic nozzles are much more likely to cause
damage to your vinyl flooring than a sweeping brush. When you do need to
vacuum, make sure you do so gently and with the correct setting.
Wipe up spillages
immediately
Luckily, vinyl flooring can be wiped clean fairly easily.
This is because vinyl flooring doesn’t absorb liquid and therefore spillages
don’t soak into the tiles. However, it’s still important to mop up spillages as
soon as they’ve happened to prevent your flooring from becoming discoloured or
sticky.
Spilt glasses of wine, cups of coffee or bowls of soup can be
wiped up quickly and easily by simply using a soft cloth and warm water. You
most likely won’t need to use soap unless the stain has dried partially and
become sticky, but if you think soap is necessary for the spillage at hand, opt
for a non-perfumed soap diluted in warm water.
Once you’ve cleaned the area, we recommend patting the
flooring dry with a fresh cloth to soak up any excess moisture. This will allow
you to make sure all residue has disappeared but also take care of any
potential slip hazards.
Don’t use too much
water
Using too much water to clean up spillages could, over time,
result in your vinyl flooring becoming waterlogged. Although vinyl flooring is
non-absorbent, using too much water to clean dirt and spillages may lead to
water finding its way under the tiles.
A moisture build-up can cause the flooring to lift at the
edges, leading to gaps forming by your skirting boards and around appliances,
and can also form bubbles underneath the flooring surface. These bubbles can
become quite noticeable, so you’ll want to take care of these as soon as
possible if they form.
Of course, prevention is always key, so make sure you don’t
leave any pools of moisture to sit for too long, and always dry the affected
area after cleaning it with water.
Only use
vinyl-friendly soaps
If there’s a tough stain or
sticky patch that won’t budge, you may need to purchase a floor-friendly soap
that’ll clean the spillage quickly, without leaving any residue. It’s important
to make sure you don’t choose a soap produced with chemicals that could tarnish
your flooring or dull its colour, so you’ll need to do your research.
The soap you choose will also depend on the type of vinyl flooring you have.
Make sure you read the backs of bottles to see which brand or type of soap is
the most suitable for your type of flooring, and make sure you dilute the
product in warm water. Avoid using acetone, solvents, oil-based soaps or
varnishes on your vinyl to keep it in great condition.
Apply with a soft, non-abrasive cloth, sponge or mop and wipe the stain gently
in a circular motion. Avoid scrubbing your floor, as this could lead to
scratched vinyl or discoloured surfaces.
County Flooring
& Supplies: Luxury vinyl flooring, stylish carpets, safety flooring and
much more for customers in Nottinghamshire
If you’re searching for beautiful flooring supplies
for your home or business in
Nottinghamshire, look no further than County Flooring & Supplies. With over
50 years of experience in supplying and fitting stylish yet functional
flooring, our team of installation experts have the skills, knowledge and resources
to transform homes and businesses.
Whether you’re hoping to revamp your living room with luxury
vinyl tiles, or you’d like to increase the safety of your office with anti-slip
flooring, look no further than County Flooring & Supplies. We’ll take into
account your tastes and requirements to make sure your new flooring meets your
needs exactly.
For more information about our range of
services, or to discuss your next flooring installation, don’t hesitate to
get in touch
with us at County Flooring & Supplies
today.
