Get Your Floor Winter Ready!
With dropping temperatures comes snow and ice tracking indoors on shoes, pets and wheeled equipment onto your home or business flooring. 1877FloorGuy is here to help you through the mess! First, a quality entry doormat that has a leak proof, non-staining backer. Not all doormats list the type of backer, so purchase carefully. 1877floorguy sells a commercial quality doormat with vinyl backing so it won’t stain LVT and it will keep melted ice from leaking through. Maintain your doormat, so it collects the most dirt and moisture at the entry to your home or business, with routine vacuuming and hang it to dry when dampness is excessive -like at the end of a super rainy or snowy day.
Once you have your front, back and side entrance floors covered with an entry area mat, your next step, on weather heavy days, is to keep puddles wiped up throughout the day. Even waterproof LVT floor instructions will tell you to mop up spills. If your floors are hardwood or laminate, it’s even more important to keep them dry so periodically and at the end of the day, check busy doorways for puddles and wipe them up with a clean mop or dry towel. Create an area, off the floor, for wet boots and shoes so they can dry without making a mess on your floor.
When ice melting products are used in your driveway or parking lot, this is when you want to be sure to clean your floor, at the end of the day or as often as needed, because ice melt residue will track indoors. What isn’t captured by the entry door mat, will leave white residue on your floor as it dries and these areas tend to be slippery. Not to worry when you see this, just use an appropriate cleaner for your floor and mop the area with a clean mop. Be sure to launder or rinse the mop that you use so it’s ready for the next stormy day or keep an extra mop or mop pad on hand. Reusing a dirty mop will spread around dirt that can leave haze or slippery residue on your floor.
Routine floor cleaners are typically enough to remove residual ice melt products from your floor as well as any sludge or slurry that leaves dirty stains behind. Depending on the amount of foot traffic that came through your home or business, you may need to repeat mopping more than once for a complete clean.
If you need advice on the right cleaning products to use on your floor, 1877floorguy can help. Shop by flooring manufacturer brand name, floor type, or by floor care product brand. If you don’t know the brand of your LVT, good options are Hilway Direct concentrated floor cleaner, which dilutes with water in a spray bottle or mop bucket for cleaning or ready to use Bona LVT floor cleaner. When you know the manufacturer of your floor -such as Armstrong, Congoleum, or Mannington– 1877floorguy advices customers to use the cleaning products recommended by the flooring brand because they have tested the cleaner to ensure it will work effectively without harming your floor.