COMMERCIAL WOVEN RESILIENT MAINTENANCE CHECKLIST                                                                                    

Proper care of your resilient floor will help maintain the appearance and performance of your resilient floor by following recommended preventative, routine and wet cleaning guidelines.

Post Construction Cleaning 

• Dry mop floor using a micro fiber mop pad or appropriate floor vacuum to remove dust particulate from the floor.

• Spray neutral pH cleaner, such as Shaw TOTALCARE® Hard Surface Cleaner or Diversey Stride, onto the floor in manageable area (spray mist will dry quickly). Use a micro fiber wet mop pad to mop the floor with cleaner. If pad becomes dirty, be sure to replace the pad with a new micro fiber wet mop pad. Work floor in sections.

• Always rinse the floor with water only by mopping water to remove any remaining residue from the floor.

• In the event where dry wall dust/construction dust is mopped with water only, a residue film will appear on the  floor after drying. Use the process below to remove the film from the floor.

• Avoid using mop and shine products on resilient flooring.

• ​Some disinfectants contain chemicals that can stain, discolor and cause general harm to your flooring product.  Quaternary Ammonium Salts are among those that have been found to be harmful to your flooring when used over time.  Take care to choose pH neutral products only. 

Process to remove construction residue or cloudy film from resilient flooring

• Dry mop floor to remove any construction dust or exterior soil tracked onto the flooring. Use micro fiber  dry mop pad. If micro fiber dry mop pad gets dirty, replace pad with a clean pad.

• Spray neutral pH cleaner, such as Shaw TOTALCARE® Hard Surface Cleaner or Diversey’s Stride, onto the floor in  manageable area (spray mist will dry quickly). Work floor in sections. For Woven flooring, use a cylindrical brush scrubber with  a neutral pH floor cleaner applied to the floor to remove the residue film.

• Using a wet micro fiber mop pad, rinse with water only to remove any remaining residue from the flooring.  When wet mop pad becomes dirty, be sure to replace the pad with a new micro fiber wet mop pad.

Repeat steps #2 and #3, if necessary.
 
When the resilient flooring is cleaned properly, the floor will have the same visual as right out of the box!

PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE

1.Care for newly installed floors

• Avoid heavy traffic for 24 hours.
• Proper furniture protection is required to prevent scratching and scuffing of LVT flooring. It is recommended to  use industrial strength felt protection. These can be purchased from the following websites: www.1877floorguy.com, www.expandedtechnologies.com, www.shifflerequipment.com
• Moving heavy objects requires protective barriers to distribute the weight such as RamBoard or heavy cardboard to prevent damage to the surface of the floor.
• Adhering tape to the surface of your resilient flooring could damage the surface. 
  Do not use tape to secure floor protection directly to the floor during construction or renovation. Instead, adhere tape to the material used to protect the floor and secure it to the base molding along the wall.  A material such as ram board can also be used to protect your flooring.
• Remove adhesive residue with a clean white cloth dampened with odorless mineral spirits or isopropyl alcohol
• Only low moisture or damp mopping is recommended initially, if needed
• Wait 4 days before normal wet cleaning and/or auto scrubbing the floor
• Avoid direct sunlight on LVT flooring as it can cause fading and expansion of vinyl planks. Use window protection
• Surface temperature should not exceed 100F (38C) from sunlight, bed bug treatment, steam mop, etc, and temperatures should not fall below 55F (13C). Exposing product to temperatures outside the recommended range could cause expansion of vinyl planks.
• Walk-off mats should be used at all entrances to absorb soil and moisture. If mats are placed directly on top of the resilient floors, use mats without latex or rubber backings to avoid possible discoloration.

1. Identify and address all sources of soiling.

• Maintain a clean exterior (parking lots and walk ways) where dirt enters the building
• ​Proper mats should have non-staining backing, use PVC backed matting. Use mats at entranceways, transition  areas and special areas such as food service areas/restrooms to confine soil, oil, grease and high moisture areas
• Entrance mats keep soil and moisture outside. Two matting categories are:

  • Soil Removal – used at exterior entrances to remove soil from shoes

  • Absorbent mats – used inside to minimize moisture

  • ​Mats should cover at least 6 footsteps to capture soil transferring from shoes. Additional matting may be  necessary during inclement weather. Include mats in the maintenance program and keep them clean

Routine Maintenance

1.Remove dry soil

• Sweep, vacuum or dust-mop frequently to remove soil particles that can abrade the wear layer.
• ​Dust mop treatments are not recommended since these products can transfer and attract soil
• Do not use vacuums with rotating beater bars on hard surfaces

2.Promptly address spots and spills.

• All spills should be addressed as quickly as possible to avoid staining and slip/fall hazards
• ​Absorb wet spills and if necessary use a neutral pH vinyl cleaner* and rinse with water.
• Isopropyl alcohol or mineral spirits can be used for oil/grease (petroleum-based) and/or scuff marks.
• For matter embedded in the texture of the product, use a brush with medium stiff bristles to scrub.  Follow with a water rinse using a flat microfiber wet mop pad.

3.Remove scuffs.

Cleaning with an auto scrubber or spray buffing with a spray/buff solutions* using a low (175 rpm) machine and  red pad will remove scuff marks. Agitation is the key to remove these marks.

• ​A tennis ball placed on the end of a stick, such as a broom handle, can be used as a tool to remove scuff marks.  This allows you to remove scuffs from a standing position on smaller areas.

Wet Cleaning

• Always pre-vacuum or dry dust mop before wet cleaning
• ​Use neutral pH vinyl cleaner* and follow the manufacturer’s instructions for dilution and use
• Common systems are: Micro fiber wet mop or mop and two-bucket system and Automatic scrubbing with a cylindrical brushes.
• Rinse the floor with clean water. Repeat the rinse process if necessary to remove all haze
• Do not use brown or black pads/brushes. These pads are too aggressive and can damage the floor
• Products containing bleach and steam mops are not recommended