CARE & MAINTENANCE
Start with temperature control. Temperatures should be kept between 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit and the relative humidity should be between 35 – 55% at all times.
Use exterior and interior doormats at all entrances to collect dirt and moisture and prevent it from being tracked on to the floor. Area rugs are recommended at all pivot points and within high traffic areas such as kitchen sinks and hallways. Do not use rugs with rubber or vinyl backing. This is to prevent staining and entrapment of moisture. Use only non slip pads recommended for use on wood floors.
Use furniture leg protector pads (felt or indoor outdoor carpet type) under all furniture that is placed on your new floor. Make sure to remove any metal or hard plastic caps that are on the bottom of the legs prior to applying furniture protectors. Make certain to keep them clean and well maintained. Chairs with plastic casters should be replaced with rubber caster wheels. Make sure to keep pets nails trimmed.
Do not roll, or drag heavy objects across your floor. Do not wear shoes having heel taps, spikes, cleats, rocks, gravel or sharp objects protruding from the sole.
Vacuum, sweep or dust mop your floor once a week or more if needed. The vacuum head should be a brush or felt attachment. Do not use a vacuum with a beater bar head. Make sure to vacuum interior doormats and shake debris from exterior doormats regularly.
Spills, pet accidents, or tracked in dirt should be cleaned immediately. The sooner a mess is removed, the easier it is to clean up and prevent tracking. We recommend Basic Coatings Squeaky Clean, Bruce Armstrong wood floor cleaner, Mannington wood floor cleaner or Bona X Hardwood Floor Cleaner for regular cleaning and removing grease and smudges from your floor. Never clean or wet mop with water! Water may permanently damage the floor. Do not use harsh abrasive cleaners, bleach, ammonia or vinegar based cleaners, wax or acrylic polishes, or oil soaps.
When high traffic areas begin to show wear and become delustered (this will be noticed by a white cast and dulling of the shine), it may be time for a fresh coat of finish to be applied to your floor to enhance the longevity and beauty of your investment. Both Basic Coatings and Bona Kemi have systems to recoat your floor with high quality urethane finishes. Contact your flooring retailer for details.
From your left over material, select a piece of flooring approximately 12” long (medium color tone) to use as your scratch touch-up template. Now you are ready to begin the touch-up process.
Taking a sharp object create 5-6 scratches on the surface of your template.
Take your template to your local craft store (Michaels) and go to the section where they keep felt tip markers i.e. Sharpies pens. Match with the color(s) that come closest to the color of your flooring. Note, It may be necessary to use several colors within the same scratch (starting with the lightest color first) in order to achieve the best overall color tone/blend. The variety of shapes and sizes allows the individual applying the stain/color the ability to control the amount of stain being applied to the scratch.
Once you have achieved the desired color tone, you can apply water base polyurethane (which can be purchased at your local Lowes or Home Depot) over the stain using a micro-fine “tipped” artist brush. Note: Typically, it is not necessary to apply polyurethane over scratches that are less than 1/16” wide.
Your main objective when touching up a scratch is to soften the scratches effect to the eye.