Friday, February 12, 2010

Maintaining Wood Floors

I have beautiful wood floors but how do I clean them? What should I use?

Some of the things people have said to use are vinegar, murphy's oil, Mr. Clean, and so on. Should these be used on wood floors? There are a few things to consider when choosing a product to maintain your expensive investment. The first thing to consider is the floor itself. Your wood floor has a in laymans terms a plastic coating on it. Most coatings are affected negatively by acids so that would sorry to say rule out many cleaners like vinegar and Mr. Clean. The next thing to consider is the soil load. Most of the soil that comes into your house or facility is acid based, again we usually don't clean an acid with an acid. That's what makes using vinegar even harder on your floors as now you will have too much acid on the floor and could have premature fading.

So how do you choose the right cleaner? First you want to look for something that is Neutral. A good neutral cleaner will be effective on acid or alkaline soil loads, and not fad your floor prematurely. Second if you are wanting something green look for something that is ECP certified. If this is not available ask for an environmentally preferable cleaner but ask what makes the cleaner environmentally preferable.

Yes finding the right cleaner is not always easy but is sure well worth the time and investment.