Floor Cleaning Tips

Busy Bee: Floor Cleaning Tips

Floors endure the brunt of our activities, from the pressure of our furniture to the grime on our shoes. Due to their heavy use, floors should be well maintained to keep them clean and looking new. For clean floors that sparkle, many homeowners turn to professional cleaning services. NYC offers a wide range of these types of services. You can also consider some DIY remedies for cleaning floors before turning to a cleaning service. NYC has all the products you will need to keep your hardwood, carpet, vinyl, tile, or linoleum flooring looking great.

Hardwood

Hardwood floors are highly durable, but require regular maintenance and cleaning. Using the wrong cleaner could discolor or stain hardwood floors. Before applying any type of cleaner or product to your hardwood floor, remember to test it in an inconspicuous area to ensure that it will not cause damage. Follow these tips to keep your floors clean and looking great for years to come.

• Sweep hardwood floors often with a fine, soft bristle broom.
• Vacuum twice a week or more to remove sand and dirt. Use a soft brush hose attachment to prevent scratching the floor.
• Ensure that water does not lie on the floor for any amount of time. Clean up wet spills immediately with a soft, dry towel or dry vacuum.
• Use a dry mop to clean polyurethane floors, as excess water from a wet mop can ruin hardwood floors.
• Vacuum runners and area rugs on a regular basis so dirt and sand doesn’t get under the rug and scratch the floor.

Some types of hardwood floors require floor waxing to maintain the floor’s appearance and add shine. Floor waxing is a type of preparation that contains wax, used to polish and preserve floor finishes. There are many floor waxing services available in nearly every city. These floor waxing services are professionals at deep cleaning, buffering, and waxing many types of hardwood floors. Floor waxing services, can be really helpful when you don’t have the time to perform the floor waxing yourself.

Carpet

Maintaining your carpet in between professional cleanings is the best way to keep your floor looking and feeling clean. Dirt is abrasive and if it is not removed from a carpet on a regular basis, it can become ground into the floor, causing high traffic areas to show wear. It’s important to regularly hire a cleaning service. NYC has many to offer homeowners who want to keep their carpets looking like new. These carpet cleaning tips can also help in between cleanings.

• Vacuum carpets at least once per week, or more frequently if the household has young children or pets. This will prevent a build-up of gritty particles.
• Use a crevice tool to clean around the radiators, baseboards, and other hard-to-reach areas around the carpet.
• Vacuum wall-to-wall carpeting in quadrants to ensure that the entire carpet is cleaned thoroughly.
• Go over the carpet several times to ensure that all of the deep dirt is picked up, especially on plush carpets.
• Pay special attention to heavy traffic areas and places where people set their feet. Vacuum these areas in a crisscross pattern several times.
• Apply soil retardants to new or newly cleaned carpets and always follow the manufacturer’s advice on carpet cleaning.
• Put baking soda into the vacuum bag to eliminate odors.

Vinyl

One of the many great features of vinyl flooring is its simplistic maintenance. Vinyl flooring can be well-maintained by sweeping and mopping on a regular basis. This helps to prevent ground-in grit that can cause surface scratching. For vinyl flooring, you can hire a cleaning service. NYC has all the supplies you will need at your local hardware store to clean and maintain vinyl flooring as well. Use these tips to keep your vinyl flooring clean and looking sharp.

• Sweep vinyl flooring with a soft bristle broom regularly to get off dirt before it becomes ground-in.
• Find a product made for no-wax vinyl flooring and follow the instructions on the package. If you have older vinyl that requires waxing, clean it with detergent and warm water.
• Keep moisture off vinyl flooring. Liquids can seep into cracks, edges, and seams and destroy the glue bond that holds the vinyl to the floor.
• Use a damp mop to clean floors to prevent a build-up of soap scum. Consider using one mop for washing and a second mop for rinsing.

Tile

Floor tiles, especially ceramic floor tiles, are glazed with a glass coating. In the gaps between the tiles is a porous sealant called grout. Tiles and grout must be cleaned every so often to prevent a build-up of dirt and debris. With several household cleaners, tile flooring can be cleaned for similar results of floor cleaning services. NYC stores sell chlorine bleach, mildew retardant spray, and other types of products that can help keep tile flooring clean. The following tips can be used to clean tile flooring.

• Remove difficult stains, such as mustard, coffee, blood, and ink with a chlorine bleach and water solution.
• Grease can be removed from tiles with a mixture of water and 10 percent sodium carbonate.
• Get rid of rust stains on unglazed tiles with a mixture of water and 5 percent hydrochloric acid.
• Create a solution of 1/3 cup ammonia, ¼ cup white vinegar, ½ cup baking soda, and 7 cups water. Put the mixture into a spray bottle and clean tiles and grout with a sponge or soft cloth.

Linoleum

Floors covered in linoleum tend to be very practical, especially in homes with young children and pets. They are very easy to clean and are more forgiving than wood and tile when children fall or drop items. If you want your linoleum floor to sparkle, call for cleaning services. NYC has some great ones that offer quality service, and most homeowners find that they can clean linoleum as well.

• Vacuum or dust your linoleum flooring at least once per week or more often if there is heavy traffic.
• Wash the floor at least once per month using a hard floor cleaner made specifically for linoleum floors.
• Use polish to restore the shine of your linoleum floors, but ensure that the product you use is recommended for your floor type.
• Spills and moisture should never be left on linoleum floors to prevent staining. If necessary, clean spots with warm water and ammonia.