There are several steps that must be taken to help maintain cork floor besides regular maintenance.
- If works will take place in the room where the floor is installed, protect with craft paper, plywood or hardboard.
- Place quality walk-off mats at all entrances to collect any dirt, moisture or other abrasive substances that can harm your floor.
- Avoid moisture on the floor. When mopping use a damp, not soaking wet mop and keep liquid off the floor as much as possible. Liquids can make the seams swell or ruin your subfloor.
- Using felt pads floor protectors on chairs and furniture legs are always recommended to reduce scratching or gouging.
- Cork, as a natural material, may tend to fade when exposed to sunlight. Cork and wood, are natural products, color change may be expected when exposed to light over a period of time. Cork will tend to fade while wood tends to mellow or darken. It is important to move area rugs and furnishings to allow for even colour change.
- Use blinds, curtains or other sun screening system to keep direct sunlight off the cork floor on sunny days when possible.
- Keep large animals with long nails off the floor as they can scratch and damage the cork.
- Do not drag furniture across the floor. If you are moving appliances or heavy furniture never slide them across the floor.
- Office roller chairs must comply with EN12529 (Type W1). Use protective office mats under the rolling chairs.
- Never use latex or rubber backed mats as they can permanently stain the floor.
- Never use cleaning products with abrasive ingredients or solvent based, e.g. acetone.
- Never use wire brushes.
- Place area rugs or mats in front of the kitchen appliances and sink to protect your cork floor from a lot of traffic, water spillages, dropping food, grease, and everything else that can cause premature wear of your kitchen floor.
- Ideal and healthy room conditions are 35 - 65 % R.H. at 20°C (68°F).
- When using intensive room heating, the indoor air humidity may drop so low that the floor is prone to dry out. As cork is a natural material, this may cause shrinkage of the tiles that will result in minor gaps in the flooring joints. Use a room humidifier to prevent this.
Cork floors are easy to maintain. You only need a mild detergent and a vacuum cleaner. For daily/weekly maintenance, you can also use a broom handle with a cloth on the end. The removable cloth has a substance with anti-static characteristics, which will clean all the dust and prevent its settling on the floor.
Before wiping the floor with a damp mop, vacuum, broom or sweep the cork floor to remove all loose dirt. This avoids dirt to penetrate on the embossing and joints of the floor.
Use a damp but not soaking wet mop and water to clean general spills. When deep cleaning the floor, use a damp mop with recommend floor cleaners formulated for cork floors.
Oil Soaps and Ammonia Cleaners
There are many products oil soap based or silicone, wax, or ammonia based cleaning products that will damage and dull the finish of your cork floors. Always avoid the use of harsh abrasives and oil or ammonia-based cleaning products.
Only use cleaning products approved by cork floors manufacturer.
You should avoid excessive moisture, so never flood the floor when mopping.
Where a more shiny appearance is desired, apply liquid floor polish.
If using a glue-down installation method, you should wait 24-36 hours after installation of the floor, to allow the flooring adhesive to dry completely before walk on or mop your new flooring This helps to avoid shifting the flooring before it is set in place.
A floating or glue-less installation can be walked on and mopped only with a damp mop immediately.
Once adhesive has dried, you can remove any excess by wiping with a soft cloth and mineral spirits.
If possible, you should lift and place your object into the location you want it. If you cannot do this, lay down a hard surface such as plywood and create a path to the location your fridge or stove will be placed. Please make sure the plywood is thick and large enough to disperse the weight of the object. You may also want to place a moving blanket under the plywood to prevent any scratching.
Yes, Varnishing is as simple, and all our products are low-VOC, water-based and low-odor.
For varnishing we recommend a range of varnishes, which will give pleasant results.
For the correct use follow the instructions on the packaging labels of each product, as well as the information from technical data sheets.
For Glue-down floors, you should wait 24-36 hours after installation of the floor, to allow the flooring adhesive to dry completely.
Refurbishment
The renovation of an old, used floor cannot be recommended if we don't know the history of the floor especially the kind of maintenance products which have been used. If we know all about maintenance products and we can guarantee that all maintenances products are removed completely we can apply one coat of recommended varnishes.
Residues of maintenance products will cause lack of adhesion.
It is recommendable to make an adherence test between the old and new coat, on a small area before the final varnishing.
Do not clean the floor with water or detergent, for about two weeks, after applying the varnish. After this period use the Wicanders® recommended maintenance products.
For the correct use follow the instructions on the packaging labels of each product, as well as the information from technical data sheets.
