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Free Guide — Keep Your Floors Looking New
The difference between a floor that lasts 7 years and a floor that lasts 25+ years is almost always maintenance. Here’s how we tell customers to clean and care for every material we install.
Daily / Weekly: Vacuum at least twice a week in high-traffic areas, once a week elsewhere. Use a vacuum with a height adjustment set to the correct pile height (most carpets want setting 2–3, not the lowest setting). A vacuum with a HEPA filter makes a real difference if anyone in the house has allergies.
Spills: Blot, don’t rub. Work from the outside of the spill toward the center. Use clean white cotton towels so dye doesn’t transfer to the carpet. For water-based spills, plain cold water and a squirt of dish soap works on most fresh stains. For oil-based, start with dry paper towels to absorb, then try a 1:1 white vinegar / water mix.
Never use: ammonia-based cleaners (will strip stain protection), steam mops (too much moisture for carpet backing), hot water on protein stains (will set them), or bleach on non-white carpet.
Professional cleaning: Hot-water extraction (“steam cleaning” in common parlance) every 12–18 months for normal homes, every 6–9 months for pet homes. Most carpet manufacturers require professional cleaning every 18 months to maintain stain warranty.
When to call us: permanent stains, burns, pet damage that’s already set in, ripples or buckling (we re-stretch), or if the carpet looks “dirty” after professional cleaning (could be a fiber-level failure, not a cleaning problem).
Daily: Sweep or dust-mop with a microfiber mop. Vacuum attachment with soft brush also works. Never use a beater-bar vacuum on hardwood — it dents the finish.
Weekly: Use a pH-neutral hardwood cleaner (Bona, Rubio Monocoat Soap, or Mirage Cleaner are our top picks) applied to a microfiber pad. Never wet-mop hardwood — damp is the target, not wet.
Spills: Blot immediately. Any standing water on hardwood for more than about 20 minutes can discolor or warp boards. Pet accidents should be cleaned immediately with a pet-specific enzyme cleaner to prevent lasting odor.
Never use: vinegar (etches the finish), Murphy Oil Soap (leaves residue that builds up), steam mops (will destroy the finish), wax-based cleaners on modern poly-finished hardwood (will cloud the finish).
Maintenance: Every 3–7 years, we can do a “screen and recoat” — lightly scuff the existing finish and re-apply polyurethane. Much cheaper than a full refinish and keeps the floor looking fresh for another decade.
When to call us: scratches that show down to the wood, water damage, dull areas that cleaning won’t fix, board gaps that develop over seasons, or if you’re thinking about changing color (full sand and refinish).
Daily: Dust-mop, microfiber mop, or vacuum with beater bar OFF. Laminate hates grit — it grinds into the wear layer over time.
Weekly: Damp-mop with a laminate-specific cleaner (Bona Laminate or Zep Hardwood & Laminate). Water should be almost invisible on the floor — you never want water to pool in the seams.
Never use: anything labeled “oil” or “wax” (will streak and never come off), steam mops (will destroy the core), bleach (will bleach the pattern layer), or a pressure washer.
When to call us: lifting edges (moisture or install issue), click-lock separation, or individual damaged boards that need swapping.
Daily: Sweep or microfiber mop. LVT shrugs off grit better than laminate or hardwood, but dry-sweeping daily keeps the finish scratch-free longer.
Weekly: Damp mop with plain water or an LVT-specific cleaner (Shaw R2X, Mohawk Floor Care, or COREtec Clean). A little vinegar-and-water (1:4) is fine for LVT — unlike hardwood, LVT can handle it.
Never use: steam mops (will cause delamination in the wear layer), solvents or abrasive cleaners, wax-based floor polishes (no bond to the wear layer — will just streak).
Pet-friendly: LVT and COREtec are the most pet-friendly hard surfaces we install. Scratches are rare, accidents clean easily, and the surface doesn’t hold pet odor.
When to call us: edge lifting, seam separation on glue-down LVT, or to add a new piece into an existing floor pattern.
Daily: Sweep. Mop weekly with pH-neutral cleaner or warm water and a squirt of dish soap.
Never use: solvents, steam, undiluted bleach (will bleach the pattern layer).
For linoleum specifically: a periodic coat of Armstrong linoleum polish keeps the finish bright. Check the manufacturer’s specific care guide if you have Armstrong Marmorette or similar — the polish system is product-specific.
Daily: Vacuum, but NOT with a beater bar on hand-serged or fringed rugs — use an upholstery attachment so the beater bar doesn’t chew up the edge binding or fringe.
Flip every 6 months: rotate 180° so traffic patterns wear evenly.
Sunlight: Rugs fade. Consider a UV-blocking window film if the rug sits in direct sun.
Cleaning: spot-clean spills immediately. Deep clean every 18–24 months — roll up the rug and bring it to us, or we’ll pick it up. Our shop can clean, re-serge, re-bind, or re-fringe in the same visit.
Call us for specific care recommendations based on the product we installed.
