Floor Care During High Traffic Holidays

The holidays are peak season for many businesses and peak season means increased foot traffic. While all those potential customers coming through the doors is great for your bottom-line, it can wreak havoc on your floors. Failure to care for and protect your workplace floors can lead to expensive restoration or replacement costs later on – not so good for your bottom-line. This is where commercial floor cleaning services can help!

This guide is designed to show you how holiday traffic impacts your floors and what steps you can take to minimize damage and extend the life of your company’s flooring.

Winter Weather And Your Floors

If the winter months represent your busiest time of year, the effects of extreme temperatures, rain, snow, ice, and salt present real dangers for your floors. Some of the effects these elements can have on your floors are:

• Water from rain, ice, and melted snow can damage your floor’s finish
• Road salt can leave unsightly white residue behind
• Abrasive salt particles can easily scratch floors in high traffic situations

Floor Care Tips For Different Floor Types

There is no one size fits all when it comes to proper floor care. Different floor types require different approaches to cleaning and care, approaches that a professional floor care company will thoroughly understand and be able to implement for you.

Wood Floors

Wood floors expand and contract in response to temperature and humidity changes. In the cold winter months, wood floors will contract to leave gaps between planks. While this is normal behavior for a wood floor, it presents additional challenges for cleaning the floors. Water, dirt, and salt will often settle in these gaps and can damage the wood and prevent the gaps from closing when the weather warms. It is important that all foreign materials be removed from these gaps to ensure the health of your wood floors.

Thorough cleaning and polishing of your wood floors prior to the winter months can help mitigate the damaging effects of water, ice, dirt and salt and regular professional wood floor cleaning services will ensure that your floors retain their health and beauty throughout the coming year.

Tile Floors

While tile floors fare better under harsh winter conditions and increased foot traffic, they still require proper care and regular maintenance. Different types of tile require different cleaning methods and chemical cleaning products. Some tile floors react poorly to harsh chemicals and abrasive cleaning techniques while others require more rigorous cleaning.

In the winter months and during periods of high traffic the grout between tiles can become discolored and dirty. Regular professional grout cleanings will ensure that your floor’s grout will retain its integrity and color, leaving your floors clean and inviting.

Linoleum Floors

Linoleum is a popular flooring choice because it is inexpensive and generally easy to care for, however, during the winter months excess sand, dirt and salt can threaten your linoleum’s finish. These materials are abrasive and with increased foot traffic can scratch, mar and dull the floor’s finish. During these more challenging seasons, it is important to pay additional attention to your linoleum and step up your floor care program accordingly.

Like all types of flooring, linoleum requires specific cleansers and techniques to ensure proper care. If you are uncertain how to care for vinyl or linoleum floors, contact a professional floor care specialist.

Carpeted Floors

Carpet needs more frequent vacuuming during the winter months due to the elements and increased foot traffic. Wet shoes carrying dirt, salt, and deicing chemicals can quickly cause staining and visible ‘traffic paths’ on your carpet. If this debris is not fully removed with regular vacuuming and deep cleaning, they can break down carpet fibers and decrease the lifespan of your flooring.

Regular vacuuming, spot treatment of spills and stains, and mid and postseason deep cleaning by a commercial carpet cleaning company will help your carpet look great throughout the peak season and beyond. Check to see if the commercial carpet cleaning services near you offer any seasonal carpet cleaning specials this time of year.

The holidays are a busy time of year for you and your floors. Whether you require residential floor cleaning services or commercial floor maintenance, finding a trusted floor care professional near you will help keep your floors up to snuff throughout this busy season.