Cleaning Products And Processes That Are A Threat To Your Wood Floors
While wood floors are highly durable – and not to mention, gorgeous – they can easily be ruined by applying the wrong floor cleaning measures. These include:
– Ammonia
This strong chemical is the go-to solution for many cleaning tasks around the household, especially when dealing with troublesome stains. However, the very nature that makes ammonia-based solutions potent cleaners, is the very same thing that makes them a threat to wood floors. They will chemically break down the finish coats that have been applied – causing that protective finish to weaken and become dull over time. If it gets to the bare wood underneath, it will dissolve the lignin – further reducing the structural integrity of your hardwood floor.
– Vinegar
Another popular feature in blogs about “Home Cleaning Hacks” is vinegar. However, with its acidic nature, it will corrode the protective finish that has been applied, causing the floor to start looking dull, and weakening the protection that is provided. Reducing the lifespan of the floor treatment means that the next round of floor sanding and refinishing will be required much sooner – which ends up increasing the strain on your building maintenance budget.
– Wet mopping
With regards to the amount of water that you can use for wood floors, here less is more. You will get better results and make it a safer mode of floor cleaning when you wring out the mop and use it while damp, as opposed to working with a mop that is soaking wet. Excess moisture ruins the finish, and exposes the wood floor to risks of water damage. This is attributed to the hygroscopic property of the wood, where the wood tissue absorbs the excess moisture from its surrounding – which will be the case when the surface is drenched with water.
Extra tip: Working with floor cleaning tools like spray mops will give you more control over the amount of solution that ends up on the surface. Here, a tiny amount of liquid is misted onto the floor surface at a time, and the microfibre pad underneath does the rest, picking up the dirt and grime particles from the installation. This makes it a far much more effective mode of working compared to the traditional mop and bucket system. Of course, the suitability of this will depend on the size of floor space that you will have to cover, since larger areas will even require powerful machines like autoscrubbers to be used. Whichever the case, simply ensure that the floor is protected from excess water.
– Steam cleaning
With water already being a threat, what about hot water? It just makes things worse. Not only is there the risk of water damage like cupping, but the high temperatures involved can easily lead to the long-term damage of the wood tissue structure. The affected floor boards may end up needing to be replaced – which is not what you intended for when you set out for the floor cleaning.
– Conventional soap & water
This approach poses different problems. For starters, common soap will require too much water to be used for the cleaning – which is a threat to the hardwood floor. Secondly, the soap leaves behind films of residue on the surface. This is essentially a dirt magnet, causing the floor to get soiled at a much faster rate. The surface also becomes dull, with footprints being more visible. Remember that the wood is also sensitive to the pH of the solutions used on it, so if it is not compatible with the particular soapy solution being used, then it becomes a threat to the installation.
Avoid The DIY Hassle And Get Professional Floor Cleaning
Sure, the floor cleaning should be a regular task, even part of the daily building maintenance. However, over time there will be those stubborn spots that build up, and even tough stains that refuse to budge. When a round of deep cleaning is required, you can outsource the task to a professional company, one that has the trained personnel and industrial-grade floor cleaning machinery to carry out the task. Here, they can even freshen up the floor, with additional measures like polishing to bring back the shine to the surface.
With professional floor cleaning, you get the added benefit of minimised downtime in the facility. For instance, in commercial buildings you don’t want your customers and employees being distracted or inconvenienced as they go about their day. The pros give the floor a thorough scrub, and implement drying systems to remove as much moisture as impossible from the surface. This makes the floor dry quickly, and they also put in place measures to avoid slip and fall accidents – including placing the required safety signs around the areas being worked on.
With expert cleaning services, they rarely just stick to one line of service delivery. So, it’s likely that the company you’re interested in hiring also provides additional services like carpet cleaning, window washing, and there are even those that deal with the gutters of the building. For residential cleaning services, companies can include aspects like oven cleaning, where they work on such heavy appliances which can build up loads of greasy residue over time. Getting a multitude of services from the same firm allows you to receive a top-to-bottom clean of your residential or commercial space, revitalising the décor and enhancing the health standards of the premises.
When choosing the company to hire for the cleaning task, it is imperative that you go through past reviews. Here, the goal is to see the feedback left behind by clients who have previously hired their services. Definitely, the more positive reviews, the better. But you should also pay attention to the negative reviews – and particularly how they were addressed. Usually, when a client has complaints, the company follows up to address the issue, and thereafter the aggrieved client updates their review. This will be a pointer to the kind of commitment that the company has to ensuring that the clients are fully satisfied with the kinds of services being offered.
Cleaning Products And Processes That Are A Threat To Your Wood Floors
