Care for your wooden floors
After Care Instructions for your Wooden Floor
Tips:
• A lustrous polished wooden floor won't stay that way for long unless it is looked after. Maintaining that lustre is less troublesome than the ongoing cleaning and maintenance of carpets and most other floor coverings.
• Your hardwood floor does cope with high traffic usage, does not wear unevenly and is cheap to maintain. It can be re-polished if damaged and requires minimal maintenance if looked after.
Prevention:
• Dirt and grit is a timber floor's worst enemy! It doesn't just hide the gleam of polished floorboards; its abrasiveness actually harms floorboards too. Use dirt-trapping mats at each entrance to help prevent sand, dust and grit from being trodden getting inside. Small rugs, or carpet squares just inside the door can also help to remove extra dirt from shoes. Dust daily.
• Strong light, particularly direct sunlight can cause a chemical reaction in wood causing it to change colour (aging or weathering). Move rugs occasionally and use curtains or blinds to protect the floor from direct sunlight.
• High heel shoes, especially worn ones, will dent any hard floor surface, even concrete! Encourage your visitors to take off their high heels on arrival.
• With furniture, it is not so much their weight but movement that damages floorboards. Fit protective pads to the legs of tables and chairs so that they can be moved easily without the risk of scuffing the floor.
• Pubs, nightclubs etc. should be advised to sweep up broken glass at the earliest opportunity as this is a real enemy of timber floors.
Cleaning:
• Keep dirt off the floor. Dust, mop or vacuum regularly & keep doormats clean. (If using a vacuum, make sure that the vacuum doesn't scratch the floorboards.)
• Use only top quality microfiber floor mops and thoroughly wash new mops to remove any lint remaining from the manufacturing process.
• Do not wet mop a timber floor since all floor cleaners are water based. Water can change the moisture balance within timbers and cause floorboards to ridge or buckle so it should be used sparingly and remain on the floor for the shortest time possible.
• Wipe up spills promptly with a dry cloth or dry paper towel. For sticky substances, moisten the cloth slightly. For hard to remove fatty or greasy spills, spot clean using the products recommended below. Sweep with a clean electrostatic sweep mop (vacuuming is fine too, as long as the vacuum cleaner doesn't scratch the floorboards)
• Wash the floors using the correct product for your finish. Pallmann Magic Oil should be cleaned using either Pallmann Clean or Pallmann Magic Oil Care diluted as per the instructions and can be “topped up” using Magic Oil Care applied neat with a microfiber mop. Similarly Pallmann lacquers and other water based urethanes should be cleaned using neutral ph cleaners such as Pallmann Clean, again diluted as recommended.
NB: ON NO ACCOUNT SHOULD YOU USE HOUSEHOLD DETERGENTS, SILICON BASED POLISHES OR WAX ON YOUR FLOOR.
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