Bamboo Flooring Maintenance

The key to lasting beauty of your bamboo flooring investment is proper maintenance for the life of your bamboo flooring. Educating your customers on the proper maintenance procedures for their floors is an important part of any sale, whether it's a new installation or refinish. Customer's expectations play an important role in determining satisfaction. A properly maintained floor significantly increases the likelihood of a satisfied customer.

Bamboo Flooring

Regardless of how the floor has been finished, there are certain steps that shall be taken to maintain the beauty of the bamboo flooring.

The bambo flooring shall be dust mopped, vacuumed or swept with a soft bristle broom daily, or as often as necessary, to remove grit and dust from the surface. Walking on a dusty or dirty floor is the quickest way to damage a finish.

Place walk-off mats at all exterior entrances. This will capture much of the harmful dirt before it reaches the Bamboo floor. Shake out, vacuum or wash mats and area rugs frequently.

Floor protector pads should be placed on the bottoms of the legs of furniture. Floor protectors shall be kept clean of grit and periodically replaced. Wheels should have hardened-plastic casters at least 2" in width depending on weight. Narrow or metal casters may dent the flooring.

Keep high heels in good repairs. An unprotected tip will dent a bamboo flooring.

Kitchen floorings experience the most traffic in a home. To prevent premature wear of the floor, place an area rug in front of the sink and stove area. Shake out or vacuum the rugs frequently.

Using a dehumidifier or humidifier to maintain relative humidity in the home at 30-50% will maintain the moisture level in the wood and help minimize cracks between the boards. Continued excessive humidity may cause swelling of the floor. Continued lack of humidity (below 20%) can cause shrinking of the planks and/or cracking of the bamboo strips.

Urethane Finishes

Routine Cleaning

Use a cleaner that will not leave a residue that will inhibit bonding and re-coating. Wax should only be used for commercial applications since it requires periodic buffing beyond what most homeowners are willing to do. Once wax, in any form, has been applied to a bamboo flooring, only wax may be used as a coating over the floor. Urethane and other surface finishes can not be applied over an existing wax finish.

While bamboo flooirng is more resistant to moisture than most woods, never use a wet mop or sponge to clean the floor. When using any wood flooring cleaner that requires mixing with water, follow the mixing directions recisely.

A cloth wetted with water and the squeezed dry may be used to wipe up foodstuffs and other spills, provided the area is buffed dry immediately. Heel or scuff marks and stubborn stains may be removed by lightly rubbing with a cloth and a wood floor cleaner.

Long-term Maintenance

Urethane finishes eventually will show wear patterns from surface scratching. When high surface areas look dull, it is time to re-coat or restore the finish.

Important Advice

We also have done some research and compiled a generic list of common sense recommendations and here they are:

• Carry, do not drag or push furniture across the flooring

• Put felt or rubber pads under each furniture leg

• Lay mats or throw rugs with non-abrasive backing at each doorway

• Also, it would be a good idea to verify with the mat or rug manufacturer that the backing will not chemically react with your floor finish

• Place an area rug in high-traffic areas

• Again, verify that the backing is non-abrasive and will not chemically react with the floor finish

• Do not walk on the floor with spike high heels or athletic cleats

• Keep any pets claws closely trimmed

• Place a drip pan under potted plants, but allow airflow underneath it

• Install curtains, blinds, or window tint to prevent UV faded areas

• Immediately clean food and liquid spills with a slightly dampened cloth, then dry the floor with a soft cloth or towel

• Regularly clean the floor with a dust mop, soft bristled broom, soft bristled vacuum cleaner, or a wood floor mop kit

• If possible, obtain the manufacturer mopping recommendations

• Use only wood floor cleaning products specially formulated for urethane finishes

• If these products are not available, you can mix 1/4 cup of white vinegar with one quart of water as a substitute

• Use a thoroughly wrung soft cloth or sponge, work in small areas at a time, and dry each area with a soft cloth or towel before continuing

• Do not use wax, oil soap, common household cleaners, or any abrasive cleaners

• Restore shine, if required, with an electric buffer and soft, dry pad

• It is highly recommended to seek professional assistance with this type of equipment

Remember: always follow the recommendations of your flooring manufacturer first. Their advice along with some common sense will save you time consuming and costly repairs, and let you enjoy your beautiful new bamboo floor for many years to come.