Cleaning floors chicago

Cleaning Hardwood Floors with AB Hardwood and Supplies

     Follow our easy steps on how to clean hardwood floors. Transform your floors from dull and grimy to gleaming, gorgeous and clean with some useful tips  

First Things First—Determine the Finish
   Before you grab a bucket of water and a mop, it's best to find out how your hardwood floor is sealed—if at all. Why? The finish, not the wood type, determines how you clean and care for the floor.

      Surface-sealed floors: Most new wood floors are sealed with urethane, polyurethane or polyacrylic. Surface-sealed floors are stain and water-damage resistant and easiest to care for and clean: Sweep, mop and you're done!

     Penetrating-seal-treated and oil-treated floors: Also common, a penetrating seal or oil finish soaks into the wood grain and hardens. This type of floor must be pampered and protected with liquid or paste wax.
     Lacquered, varnished, shellacked and untreated floors: Although technically surface finishes, lacquers, varnishes and shellacs are not as resistant to moisture, spills and wear as the other sealants mentioned. Treat floors with these finishes and floors with no finish as you would penetrating-seal-treated and oil-treated floors.
Not sure what kind of finish you have? To tell the difference in a pinch, just rub your finger across the floor. If no smudge appears, the floor is surface sealed. If you do create a smudge, the floor has been treated with a penetrating seal, oil finish, shellac, varnish or lacquer, and then waxed.

Don't use oils, waxes or furniture sprays. Oil leaves a residue, furniture spray creates a slippery surface (think ice-skating rink!) and wax takes time to apply and makes recoating (see Tackling Simple Wood Floor Problems) difficult.
Don't use straight ammonia, alkaline products or abrasive cleaners. They'll dull or scratch the finish
Don't rely on water alone or a vinegar and water solution to clean hardwood floors. Mopping with water will result in dingy-looking floors and won't-budge dirt buildup. Vinegar and water is not as effective as soapy water and—some suggest—may dull floors sooner. (Eventual dullness and the need to recoat are inevitable no matter what you use.

In high-traffic areas, like the dining room and kitchen, you should sweep daily, if possible, and mop once or twice a week. Mop less-trafficked areas once a month or once a season.
Mopping Technique
Remember: Water is wood's worst enemy (even on sealed floors!), so use a damp mop rather than a soaking wet one.
Dip the mop into the bucket of prepared cleaning solution, wring it out completely, mop in the direction of the wood grain and repeat. When the water gets dirty, empty the bucket, mix a new batch of cleaning solution and continue mopping.
When finished, go back over the entire surface with clean water to rinse.

Good Luck.
Visit our store at  3100  N  Elston  Street ,Chicago 60618
 
Our website www.abhardwood.com