When it comes to keeping your floors squeaky clean and shiny, no one technique or product fits all. Different types of flooring require different cleanings solutions and methods of TLC to maintain their look and benefit from their durability. While a sloppy, wet mop is great for your tiles, it would cause significant damage to hardwood floors. Therefore, knowing the right technique to clean your floors is essential to retain their look and ensure they last for a good many years.
Another major component to consider is disinfection. Your floors host the most bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens than any other area in the home. After all, people bring in numerous little monsters with their shoes as they walk in. With the COVID-19 pandemic leaving us all highly concerned about our exposure to viruses, people turn to high-strength bleach and ammonia-based cleaning solutions to disinfect their floors and other surfaces. It may get the job done, but is cleaning with ammonia and bleach causing damage to your hardwood floors? Let’s find out below!
Using the Right Cleaning Solutions for Hardwood Floors
The best cleaning solution for your flooring mostly depends on the porosity of your floors. If you have plastic-type floorings like vinyl or linoleum, it is considered the least porous flooring available. On the other hand, the most porous floors include hardwood flooring, engineered wood, or hardwood with special finishing.
For non-porous floors, you can use any bleach or ammonia-based cleaning solution effectively. Just make sure the product isn’t too harsh and dilute it with some water if necessary.
However, if you have porous hardwood floors, it is best to avoid products that contain bleach. You should also steer clear of steam cleaners. Here’s why.
· Bleach and Ammonia-based Products
Bleach and products with ammonia are notorious for being quite harsh on any surface. That is why cleaning specialists from Grout Experts always recommend diluting them before use. However, if you have hardwood floors, it is best to throw out these cleaning solutions immediately. They will cause extreme damage to your porous floors, and before you know it, you will be left with a huge floor repairs bill!
Think of what bleach does to your hair or clothes. It strips off color and often causes them to feel dried out. It will have the same effect on your floors, damaging the wood and the finish by discoloring it and seeping deep into the material. This applies to products that have isopropyl alcohol as well. While they won’t bleach off color, they will still cause tremendous damage to the floors.
· Steam Cleaners
Using steam cleaners or even a hot water mop to clean your hardwood floors will cause the water vapor to seep into the wood pores. This will create damage to the internal material and destroy the finishing. The water can even cause your wood to rot and warp.
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