Product Care

Don’t forget to always keep your flooring, no matter what kind, in tip-top shape! Discover some simple and efficient tips for keeping your flooring looking perfect, anytime, any day. For hardwood, carpet, laminate, vinyl and tile, Perfect Flooring has tips to make your floors perfect for you and your family.

If you have any questions regarding our products and services or you’d wish to schedule a free Shop-At-Home appointment, call Perfect Flooring today!

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Product Maintenance

Hardwood

BLURB: Hardwood flooring is an iconic choice for your home, and keeping it well maintained is a big part of making it last. Let Perfect Flooring help you keep your hardwood floors looking perfect from the day it’s installed to the day you move.

Hardwood flooring is a product that can ramp up the style in your home while adding a sense of warmness to your space. With proper care hardwood can last a very long time, and it can always be refinished if you choose to continue to utilize one of America’s most iconic flooring products.

• Place cushioning beneath abrasive furniture to prevent wear and tear
• Rearrange your furniture every once in a while. This helps the floor receive even exposure to sunlight and maintain a balanced color.
• Welcome mats will help maintain the longevity of your floor. The less dirt and moisture tracked in from outside, the better.
• Wipe up all spills as quickly as you can.
• Area rugs can reduce the stress around areas where condensation and moisture is common, such as a kitchen sink, or in high traffic areas.
• Avoid dragging heavy appliances and furniture across your floor. When possible, lift.
• Do not clean your floor using ammonia-based cleaners, as this may damage them.
• Maintain a comfortable and safe temperature in your home. Excessive heat or cold can warp or damage your flooring.
• If you have pets, keep their nails trimmed. Pets who scratch and claw at the floor can create grooves across the surface.

For frustrating sticky substances such as wax, harden the spill with an ice cube and gently scrub away the mess with a plastic scraper. Remember: if you apply too much pressure the finish on your hardwood could rub off, so be gentle!

Carpet

Preventative Maintenance

BLURB: Making your carpet last is important when it comes to getting a long life out of it, so if you follow these preventative tips you can keep your carpet looking new and fresh for years to come.

The most important step in preventative carpet maintenance is vacuum, regularly. This will keep dirt and dust from sinking into your new carpet, and it also reduces matting if you regularly change the direction in which you’re vacuuming.

Depending on how heavily trafficked your carpet is can change the preventative steps you can take to keep it in tip-top shape. For high trafficked areas:

• Vacuum twice a week
• Vacuum lanes of foot traffic daily

For lower trafficked areas, the preventative maintenance isn’t as high demanding. For those areas:

• Vacuum once a week
• Vacuum lanes of traffic twice a week

To prevent excessive wear on your carpet follow these general preventative steps:

• Shield your windows with stylish treatments to protect your carpet’s color from constant direct sunlight
• Prevent pile crushing by occasionally moving heavy furniture
• To absorb moisture and prevent soiling, use mats at the entrance to carpeted areas
• Use floor protectors under your heavy furniture to further prevent pile crushing

Regular Carpet Cleaning

BLURB: Having your carpet professionally cleaned on a regular basis will help it stay in shape for years to come. You can also utilize DIY-style cleaning techniques. Perfect Flooring recommends, however, that you get your carpets professionally cleaned.

Having a professional carpet cleaner come to your home and clean your carpets should happen every 9 to 12 months. Steam cleaning is the best choice when opting for a professional cleaning service.

Although you can rent a steam cleaning machine yourself, it’s always best to let a professional clean your carpets. Depending on the warranty from the manufacturer, most can always recommend opting for professional services versus DIY purely based on errors occurring if you’re not steam cleaner-savvy. Professionals carpet cleaners:

• Already have the correct, high-tech equipment for the job
• Possess the knowledge for what type of carpet you have and how to clean it, depending on the damage or existing condition
• Utilize stain and soil protectors that, if used improperly, can damage your carpet further

If you decide to go DIY, make sure to examine the equipment you choose to rent or buy. Rental steam cleaners can actually further damage your carpet if already defective.

Spots and Spills 101

BLURB: Spots and spills will inevitably plague your carpet, no matter the tone or texture. Always clean spills immediately, but if you’re experiencing a more stubborn stain, try these tips.

Being prepared to clean spills is a necessity, because when you think about it’s bound to happen at some point during your carpet’s life. The number one rule of spill cleaning? DAB, DON’T SCRUB! Let’s face it: no carpet is stain proof. If you’re proactive, though, spot and stain removal can be done in a snap.

• Absorb the spill with towels after running cool water lightly over the towels
• Never, NEVER rub or scrub vigorously
• Start at the spot’s outer edge and work inward
• If you’re using a cleaning product to remove a stain make sure to thoroughly remove it because if left it can cause damage to your carpet
• Rid the spot of all moisture

CARPET TIP: Wool fibers in carpet absorb more water than synthetic, so be sure to remove ALL excess moisture to prevent damaging your carpet.

Laminate

BLURB: Laminate is popular not just for its ability to mimic hardwood, but also for its durability and water resistant design. Although laminate is designed to deal with a lot, you still need to be proactive about regularly cleaning spills and debris.

Don’t let the durability of laminate flooring make you think you don’t need to regularly clean up spills or debris. Although it’s water resistant and perfect for highly trafficked areas, laminate flooring still needs some love to ensure it’s aesthetic beauty will last!

• Always use soap-free cleaners
• Don’t let liquids stand for an extended period—it will damage your flooring
• Steel wool or scouring powders can scratch the surface of your laminate—don’t use them!
• Never wax your laminate, and stay far away from any sort of buffing machine
• Dust and vacuum more frequently in higher trafficked areas
• Find a laminate floor cleaner that’s safe for your flooring
• Do not use excessive water when cleaning your laminate flooring
• Take care of spills right away
• Get rid of loose dirt to prevent smudges and scratches
• Wipe your flooring with a moist cloth
• For sticky spots harden the substance and GENTLY scrape without applying excessive pressure

TILE

BLURB: Tile requires simple maintenance to keep it looking beautiful. Follow these tips to make your tile really stand out without the hassle.

Ceramic and porcelain tile products are durable and relatively easy to clean. For the best looking flooring:

• Avoid steam mops with a high temperature; it can damage ceramic flooring
• Add pads to furniture legs to prevent scratches or cracks
• Utilize mats at the entrances of your tile areas
• Always use detergent and soap-free cleaning products
• Sweep and mop your tile weekly

VINYL

BLURB: Vinyl flooring is another excellent, durable flooring choice, but cleaning and maintaining it on a regular basis will elongate the life of your luxury vinyl!

Luxury vinyl flooring is a durable and awesome flooring product, however you can’t take advantage of this and never clean or maintain it. If you want you vinyl to look new, follow these tips for keeping it clean and in great condition.

• Sweep up loose dirt
• Mop weekly to keep vinyl looking new
• Always avoid cleaning products with ammonia or bleach
• Avoid steam mops as their high temperature can damage your vinyl flooring
• Avoid detergents and soap-based cleaners when cleaning your vinyl flooring
• Make sure furniture legs are smooth
• Never drag furniture across your vinyl flooring—it’ll scuff!
• Place buffers on the legs of all heavy furniture in your home
• For pen ink, permanent marker, nail polish or hair dye—rub area with isopropyl alcohol
• For rust use lemon juice
• For stubborn substances—gum, oil, grease, wax—remove residue with your fingernail, clean spot with vinyl flooring-approved cleaner and rub lightly with isopropyl alcohol