FOCUS ON FLOOR FINISHES & AFTERCARE Keep It
Comfortable with Kärcher
From rustic floorboards to modern
designer flooring, Kärcher discusses the cleaning challenges posed by different flooring types and offers tips for maintaining the best look and feel for each.
The current trends for floorcoverings in living areas show homeowners are favouring floors with a natural feel. While the flooring of choice for many homeowners would be as springy as walking along a forest path or as soft as walking on grass, sticky spills or stains mar the experience both visually and under bare feet. But how do you keep each type of floorcovering feeling as new and natural as possible?
The Real Deal or an Effective Alternative
The rediscovered country style is very popular in interiors at the moment; a combination of dark woods with light walls and colourful accessories in a shabby-chic look gives living areas a warm and homely feel. The trends for "Urban Vintage", based on contrasts between old and new, and "Scandinavian Chic", which is taken from the homely wooden style of Scandinavian houses, are still both going strong.
Ideal for the country style is classic solid wood flooring with long, wide boards for an authentic, rustic look. However, not only is it relatively expensive, wood parquet also requires special care. It’s important to know that parquet tends to scratch and, for this reason, coarse dirt should be removed thoroughly with a vacuum cleaner before then being wiped with a damp cloth or mop. In addition, real wood floors – depending on the stress and traffic – should be treated regularly with special care products and polishes to give them a lasting shine. It is important that the selected product is suitable for the particular type of flooring – varnished parquet requires a different product to the oiled version. It usually helps to follow the manufacturer's directions.
‘Design flooring’ is a more affordable and easy-care alternative. Resilient linoleum, vinyl or PVC floorcoverings are available in an authentic wood look and feel and are very robust. These types of design floorcoverings are therefore ideal for families with children or pets. These materials can be cleaned with a vacuum cleaner and damp cloth – other care is normally unnecessary.
24 | Tomorrow’s Retail Floors Long-lasting Laminate
Laminate, with its decorative layer, is available in numerous designs, and is scratch-resistant, cost-effective and easy to lay. However, the normally very smooth artificial resin surface and non-existent footfall sound insulation does not provide the natural walking sensation that is currently popular. On the other hand, laminate is easy to care for: it can cope with vacuum cleaners, brooms and some moisture – making floor cleaners and scrubber dryers the ideal aids. Crumbs and dust, which are easily visible on smooth floors, can be removed quickly and easily with a cordless electric broom.
Instead of using a vacuum cleaner and mop, both solid wood flooring and the synthetic alternative can be cleaned in a single step with the new floor cleaner FC 5 from Kärcher or, for those cleaning large areas of hard flooring frequently, the TradePro BR 400 scrubber dryer. Mopping and vacuuming in just one step ensures rapid results and no more long waits for floors to dry.
www.tomorrowsretailfloors.com
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