How to Protect Your resilient Floor
Preventing Scratching, Scuffing, Gouge & Mar Issues
Luxury Vinyl Tile is a plastic and will scratch if proper preventative maintenance is not used. Many furniture protectors have plastic chair glides or protectors, this type of protection will scratch LVT flooring. A good rule of thumb, use soft protection on hard flooring. Shaw recommends using heavy duty felt protectors for furniture. Do not use felt protection that can be purchased retail as these protectors will easily fall off. There are three recommended websites where proper felt protectors can be ordered:
www.1877floorguy.com, www.expandedtechnologies.com, www.allglides.com
Three Keys to Protecting Your Floor
To protect your floor from common surface issues remember the three key factors of protecting hard surfaces: Furniture Rests, Walk-Off Mats and Cleaning & Maintenance.
- Proper furniture rests and protection
- The contact area should be large enough to distribute the load evenly, without damaging the floor.
- The contact area should be smooth, flat to provide full contact, and free of small protrusions, irregularities, roughness, depressions, mold lines, embedded dirt, grit, etc.
- All edges should be slightly rounded to prevent damage if briefly turned on edge.
- Furniture protection should be made of heavy duty felt. Resources for retro-fitting existing furniture can be found at www.1877floorguy.com or www.expandedtechnologies.com or www.allglides.com.
- Furniture protection should be manufactured from non-staining materials.
- Furniture protection should be properly maintained. Worn, damaged, or missing furniture rests should be replaced.
- Furniture, appliances, equipment, and other objects should be properly leveled so that all rests are fully and firmly on the floor at all times.
- Walk-off mats at all main entries with proper maintenance.
Proper mats should have non-staining backing with PVC backed matting. A two-mat system works best.
- Soil Removal – used at exterior entrances to remove soil from shoes
- Absorbent mats – used inside to minimize moisture
- Overall proper flooring maintenance performed on a regular basis. This will help remove debris from the floor to prevent scratching and abrading the surface. Using the proper pH neutral cleaner will prevent a sticky or dulling residue that can be left behind when using higher pH cleaners.
A Guide to Cleaning, Repairing and Replacing
Understanding how to protect your floor will ensure longevity in the life of your product but it is also important to understand when a floor simply needs to be cleaned, repaired or replaced.
Terms to Know
Scratch
To score or mark the surface with a sharp object. This can be cleaned or repaired depending on the severity.
Abrasion Scratching
Wearing, grinding, or rubbing away by friction. This can be cleaned or repaired depending on the severity.
Light Scratch
Visible damage to the surface that is fixable when utilizing repair or cleaning techniques. This can be cleaned or repaired depending on the severity.
Deep Scratch
Penetration of the surface that damages the product beyond the ability to clean or repair the material. This might need to be replaced depending on the severity.
Gouge
A groove or cavity in the flooring surface accompanied by material removal and penetration below the immediate flooring surface. This should be replaced.
| Light Scratch, Repaired |
Before  |
After  |
Scuff
Transfer of material onto the surface of the flooring from shoes or other objects. This can be cleaned.
| Scuff, Cleaned |
Before  |
After  |
Mar
Visual change to the surface of the product that is not a scratch or scuff and is not removable through cleaning efforts. This might need to be replaced depending on the severity.
Stain
Chemical or reagent that visual discolors the surface of the product that is not easily cleaned. This might need to be replaced depending on the severity.
Surface Dulling
Defined as a change in gloss. This can be cleaned or repaired depending on the severity.
Color Change
Discoloration of the product. This might need to be replaced depending on the severity.
| Mar, Repaired |
Before  |
After  |