Simple dusting or dry mopping helps remove grit that may get walked in
Wet cleaning with a damp mop and mild soap removes stains, grease and grime
Vacuuming is the best solution for removing fine grit and dirt that can damage the floor surface
Your new bespoke Rafe Olsen floor has to treated as a living entity. Maybe, even as part of the family! Ok, probably not, but you get the idea. A proper cleaning and maintenance plan will see the life of your floor enhanced and elongated.
The most important aspect is to maintain the surface integrity of the flooring. Particularly from heavy particles like grits and walked in stones. A few simple steps can go a long way towards keeping your Rafe Olsen floor looking the best. Follow some, or all, of the advice below.
Ideally a daily dry mopping routine should be established to keep your bespoke Rafe Olsen floor looking its best. The quickest way to remove light dust and debris is to use a specific wood floor mop. The multiple cord strands capture fine particles as the head is pushed around the flooring. Dry mopping should be combined with vacuuming twice a week. Vacuuming will remover larger particles that are too heavy for the mop to remove.
Any dirt or soiling that is visibly wet on the surface should be removed straight away with a clean damp cloth before drying the area with a towel. Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to catch spills and leaks when they happen. Once soluble dirt has dried, it can still be removed by the same process of a damp cloth followed by drying but it is good practice to wet clean your wood floor periodically to remove any stains or grease that has built up over a period of time. We recommend using the Rubio Soap as the mild detergent in your wet cleaning regime. Its gentle cleaning action ensures that the top surface of your floor remains unaffected. It’s important not to place too much water on your floor during cleaning and particularly critical that the floor is not left with standing water on it. If possible, drying the floor boards after a wet clean is helpful to the longevity of your floor.
A few small steps can make a considerable difference to the life span of your bespoke wood flooring. Despite using the very best materials, there is little we can do to stop the natural ageing process, but you can slow it down considerably.
The main agitators in the quest to age your floor are grit and general dust/dirt. What tends to happen is debris is brought on to the floor from outside either on the soles of shoes or the feet of pets. This in itself isn’t a major concern but the problems occur when the debris begins to get walked in to the floor surface (particularly with shoes on). Once the abrasive action of grit starts to work away at the surface, the more it’s walked on the worse the problem becomes. Eventually the sanding affect will remove the oil top coat and expose the raw surface of the timber.
It isn’t all doom and gloom though. There are simple steps you can take to reduce the impact of abrasive wearing. Installation of a good quality matt next to all external doors is in excellent starting point. Anything that removes a proportion of the debris on shoes or animal paws as they walk on the floor is a positive for your floor’s longevity. Asking people to remove their shoes when walking on the floor goes a long way to help reduce wear, too. The action of bare feet or socked feet on the floor (even with debris present) gives a vastly reduced wear coefficient compared to those wearing solid soled shoes.
Finally, if you cannot limit the amount of debris being brought on to your floor, try and dry mop or vacuum it away as regularly as possible. These simple things really will make a considerable difference to how well your floor wears.
Even with the most careful of use and regimented cleaning regime, there will come a time when your Rafe Olsen floor will either need refinishing or repairing in some way. The beauty of hardwood engineered flooring is the top surface can be repaired and refinished without too much difficulty. Repairing dints or scratches that expose the unfinished floor beneath the oil can be sanded and repaired using the same top coat (we supply you with a small bottle of stain in case of mishaps). Wholescale refinishing is much more involved than patching up repairs. Generally, refinishing will require the floor to be sanded all the way back to its unfinished state. From there, a new top coat can be applied to give your floor a new lease of life. It is possible to refinish your flooring in smaller patches but attaining the same even colour or finish throughout is extremely difficult.
For more information on care, maintenance and repairs please call or email us.
