Cleaning Hard Flooring
Hard-Floors such as Wood, Stone, Ceramic Tiles, Concrete and many more are much easier to maintain and keep clean, as there's no material, fabric or carpet for spills and stains to latch onto. However, care does still need to be taken and you must know what methods of cleaning to take depending on your particular style of flooring:
Make sure that you own or now purchase a pack of Sensitive Proprietary Microfiber Cloths, as these will save your life in most hard-floor circumstances; they are extremely useful, easy to use, will attract dust like a magnet and will eliminate most stains, scuffs and general filth with ease.
Scuff marks and heel marks from dark-bottomed shoes occur regularly on the majority of hard floors, especially laminated wood; remove these marks by sprinkling some bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) over a clean, damp cloth and wiping over the marked-areas.
Clean Ceramic Tiled floors once a week with a mixture of standard detergent and warm water. Mix the two ingredients together in a bucket and then mop the entire floor, lifting all the grubby marks off with ease. Get another bucket, or empty out the one you currently have and rinse off the suds with a fresh bucket of clean water.
Concrete flooring really requires no work at all; simply sweep it on a regular basis and scoop it all up with a dustpan and brush. Use the appropriate attachments on the vacuum cleaner for the corners and to remove larger sections of dirt.
Not unlike concrete floors, Stone floors should be swept regularly, and can also be washed down once or twice a month with a mixture of Washing Powder (1 small cup) and a bucket of warm water. Mix together in the bucket, mop the entire floor clean and allow it to dry naturally.
Mop Cork Tiles with a damp mop - don't over-water the mop, as this could damage the tiles over time - and learn whether or not your cork tiles are coated in a protective wax; if so, then again sweep regularly, and every few month, it would be beneficial to the longevity and appearance of your flooring to reapply the coating with your own layer of wax or polish.
Vinyl floors require regular sweeping and can also be washed with a mixture of detergent and warm water. Mix together in the bucket, mop the entirety of the floor and then leave to naturally dry, as this will aid in the maintaining its healthiness and appearance.
Wooden floors usually come with a wax-coat finish; if this is case for you, then sweep regularly, but don not mop! Moping up wax-coated wood flooring could result in the wood to rot and discolour over time, as the water has a tendency to soak up into all the small cracks, nooks and crannies. To prevent this from occurring, simply wipe up all spills with a damp - not wet - cloth and dry with a clean unused towel to soak up as much of the excess moistness as possible. I'd also advise you to reapply a fresh coat of wax or polish once a month to maintain its quality and appearance; however, over time the constant reapplication of wax or polish will inevitably accumulate and appear thick and unattractive, so this must be dealt with accordingly. Make sure that you have an old, yet clean rag, and douse it in White Spirit. Remove the build up of polish by wiping over the entire floor, wait for it to naturally dry and then reapply a new, fresh layer of wax or polish for a brilliant shine.
