Cleaning And Maintaining Floors

Floor Types

Slate

Natural and stone, it is quarried and cut to desired size and unfortunately stains owing to drops of oil and grease etc. It is soft, tends to scratch and dust from sand or grit, it is sensitive to acids and can be hard to clean the grouting.

Terazzo

Mixture of cement and two parts marble chips that are ground and polished. It stains easily by rust, grease, oil or different spills. It scratches from abrasives: sand or grit and sensitive to acids, organic and crystallizing salts.

Wood

Natural wood usually birch, beech, maple or oak. Can stain and is damaged by water, grease, abrasives, oil and high alkaline cleaners. It also requires special products and procedures.

Laminate

Versatile, durable, attractive flooring with the appearance of a hardwood floor. Although laminate flooring looks like wood flooring, there is actually no solid wood used in its construction.

Natural products and methods

Many cleaning processes used on other types of flooring can be detrimental to stone. An important characteristic of stone is its adverse reaction to either acidic or alkaline products. Basically, products with a neutral pH value close to seven, or a bit alkaline, won't harm stone flooring.

However, acidic products will etch marble or limestone, attacking the calcium in the stone and causing white stains. Vinegar, tile and grout cleaners and some toilet bowl cleaners fall into this category. Alkaline products, such as bleach, ammonia and glass cleaners, will penetrate and cloud stone.

Floors should be mopped daily, with a natural soap made from animal and vegetable oils, rather than a synthetic detergent. Natural soaps will leave a protective film behind to help repel soiling, whereas detergents will open up the surface, causing the surface to dirty more quickly.

Usual household liquids such as orange juice, nail polish remover, shampoo, and even water can seriously stain certain marbles. Granite is the only one that can resist stains beautifully. Professional installers recommend the use of neutral pH breathable sealers for both marble and granite, once they have been installed. Depending on how much use or foot traffic that the marble or granite is exposed to, these sealers need to be reapplied on a regular basis. If you choose marble for entrance, you might have to have it professionally cleaned and resealed every 12 - 18 months. Marble used in bathrooms and kitchens should be cleaned and resealed every 9 - 12 months.

Like marble, tile and slate should be washed with warm water only. These surfaces require a special preventive maintenance. To ensure that their beauty and integrity will remain untainted for many years, you should apply a quality sealant on a regular basis to slate, tile, and especially the grout. Also, take care to clean up spills immediately to avoid the formation of spots and stains.

Read product cautions and directions, ventilate the room, and wear appropriate protection such as goggles and a respirator mask.

There's no doubt, cleaning grout is the most time-consuming task. Grout is very porous, which means liquid cleaners will hardly work. So you need a lot of patience. First, spray a 50/50 solution of hydrogen peroxide and water directly on the spot. Make sure you soak it good. Let it set 15 minutes, and repeat. If you are working with coloured grout, ignore the preceding instructions. The peroxide, which is bleach, will remove the colour from it.

Wood just doesn't cotton to water all that much. A little water sitting on a sealed and waxed floor can leave a stain in a few minutes. Fortunately, the damage can be reversed. To remove a smoky white haze or a white spot, buff the finish with a soft cotton cloth and a very mild abrasive, such as whitening toothpaste, auto-polishing compound, or tobacco ash mixed with mineral oil, until the stain disappears.

For more homemade cleaners see this family homestead page.