Bz Gyotoku

Posts Tagged ‘Grit’

Whatever thing you posses, you must take good care of it. It could be your clothes, jewels, accessories, books or the parts of your house. When we are mentioning about taking care of house stuffs, first thing that crosses our mind is cleaning. Floor is one of the most essential parts of our house and it gets dirty very quickly as people keep coming in and going out by walking on the floor. Especially, if the floor is made up of stone, the dirt gets stuck very easily. Hence proper cleaning procedure is to be adopted to clean your stone made floor. If you live in Tampa, you will find several companies that offer diverse floor cleaning tools. It is not the fact that, such products are available in Tampa only; you can find them in almost any part of the globe. But, the market of Tampa floor cleaning and Tampa stone cleaning is quite opportunistic.

If your home flooring is done with natural stones, you have to take very good care of it. It takes quite a good investment to develop such flooring and without proper maintenance such investment will go in vein. You definitely won’t let that happen. With proper stone cleaning techniques, you can enjoy new like flooring for many years. Now, the question is how you can keep your stone floor in such a good condition? Here are some vital advises that will help you in proper maintenance of your floor.

Your main concern must be fighting dirt, sand and grit. These things do the maximum damage to the stone floors, especially if natural stones are used in the construction. These particles are rough and hence cause damage to the luster and sheen of the floor. The basic tip for keeping the dirt away is using dry dust broom and mop on a regular basis. Dust must be frequently mopped and a vacuum cleaner is a good solution in this regard. However, you have to be careful to use a good vacuum cleaner so that it leaves no scratch or mark after cleaning the floor. The reason why vacuum cleaners are handy because, these tools come with several attachments and such attachments can reach delicate corners where it is not possible to clean with mere hands and broom.

You can also put area rugs or walk off mats on the entrance of your home, where the maximum dust and dirt assembles. If you put such mats over your stone floor then the loose dirt will be prevented from reaching the stone floor. However, placing a mat does not end your responsibility; you have to clean the mat or rug regularly to keep dirt out of the stone surface.

Regular mopping not only cleans your stone floor, but also makes it look gorgeous. Use a good cleaner that is not rough on the stones to clean your floor. Regular cleaning, mopping or uses of mats are very common ways to maintain stone floors in a good condition. If you take care of these simple things, you will enjoy your stone floor for long years.

Indoor flooring, whether it is slate, stone, wood or vinyl, usually has a great appearance and, depending on cost, offers varying levels of durability and varying designs. Keeping these floors looking good is a challenge, an important one as if not carefully maintained these floors can quickly become stained and dulled over time and with use. Slate and stone and vinyl flooring are two good examples of this and the maintenance of these types of flooring is particularly important. Vinyl, at first glance, appears low maintenance as spillages can be wiped, and the floor is durable. However, spillages can infiltrate the vinyl at the joint and for this reason a sealer is usually applied to proof it.

Slate and stone are obviously durable surfaces, but the grout usually needs some sort of sealant to maintain its aspect, and once again stop filtration and staining. Grout is the material used to fill the gaps along the edges of tiles, and to seal them. Grout is quite a porous substance, as it is composed of a mixture of cement, sand and water – making the need for a sealer paramount. Slate and stone often gains its attractive appearance from a floor polish.

General maintenance such as mopping and cleaning on a daily basis can help protect your floor, but general wear and tear, such as the moving of heavy furniture, spillages not cleaned immediately and walk in grit and particles can mark or scratch a floor. Once this happens, any sealant or polish can be marked or scratched leaving an area where bacteria and soiling can accumulate, dulling the floor’s appearance and causing it to lose its previous charm.

Unfortunately when this happens, general cleaning and maintenance ceases to be effective and a professional floor sealer and floor restoration company will need to be consulted. Such a company specializes in stripping the previous sealer and cleaning the floor to restore it to its previous state. At this point a new sealer is applied to give it added protection.

In the case of slate, it is possible that no sealant was originally applied, and in this case a sealant is recommended as stone stains very easily. A water based impregnator/sealer that is silicone free and non toxic is recommended, and as stated, a professional floor sealer and restoration company will be able to advise you on the best sealer for your floor.

There is a wide variety of stone floor and they are commonly found in both domestic and commercial settings – and are chosen for a variety of reasons. The choice of stone floor may be as a result of a mix of design shape and colour (aesthetic reasons), the fact that it scores highly in terms of cost durability or a host of other reasons. There is often a perception that durability translates to a floor that will look good for many years to come and that it is subsequently a ‘low maintenance’ floor when in fact the opposite can be true.

There are many types of stone and a variety of finishes, but the most common is a smooth yet slightly rough and natural finish which looks wonderful and also possesses a slip resistant quality which can be useful in an area where spillages are common such as wash rooms and kitchens. However such a surface can stain surprisingly easily as a result of spillages, and the grout can also stain very easily, as it is a relatively porous substance.

The key to keeping a floor looking good is actually regular cleaning and maintenance, and without this there is no way that a floor can be kept looking good – but it is important to clean and maintain the floor correctly. Common steps include avoiding surface scratches and abrasions, so regular sweeping and vacuuming and placing doormats at entrances all help avoid grit and dirt, usually walked in on the soles of shoes, scratching and damaging the surface. Floors should be regularly mopped with warm water and then dried to keep the floor clean.

Incorrect cleaning or corner cutting can lead to a build-up of grime and bacteria which can cause staining over time. By the time a stain becomes noticeable, layer upon layer of bacteria may have built up to the point where regular cleaning efforts cease to be effective, and in this case you may be forced to contact a stone floor cleaning company to restore your floor to its original condition.

Another way to protect your floor is to apply a good quality commercial sealant which will provide an extra layer of surface protection and reduce the chances of spillages causing surface staining – it should, in effect, aid cleaning efforts. It is important that sealants are applied to both the tile surface and the grout (there are special grout sealants which should be used) and that the type of sealer is appropriate for the surface of the stone. An example of this would be to avoid a wax based sealant on a floor where the slip resistant quality of the stone is an important factor, as this will be reduced.

A great first line of defense in stopping dirt from tracking into your home is the good old “walk off mat to area rug” one two punch. A sizeable percentage of the dirt in your house walks in on the bottom of people’s feet. By placing a combination of a coarse walk-off mat outside and a wool or cotton area rug inside all entrances to your home you can reduce this “track in” soil considerably.

For the outside mat I would recommend a stiff synthetic mat. These are usually made of a coarse non absorbent synthetic which is good at scraping dry soil off the bottom of the feet on contact. The mat should be large enough to allow both feet to get wiped as you walk into the home. They are available in a variety of colors from your local Home Improvement store. The important thing to keep in mind with your outdoor mat is that it will “load up” fairly quickly with soil and grit. Once it is loaded, it loses its ability to remove dry soil. Shake them, vacuum them or just hose them off at least once a week.

Although your outdoor mat will take care of larger gritty dry soil, your indoor area rug is the key to a solid line of defense. Depending on the room of the house involved, you will want to use either a wool or a cotton rug. If budget allows, I would go with a hand tied wool oriental rug in the main entry. Well made wool orientals are designed to withstand heavy traffic and add beauty to your home as well. Make sure that these rugs are vacuumed on a very regular basis. Gritty soil is the greatest enemy of a wool rug. Coarse soil at the base of the wool pile will grind away at the fiber until it is cut loose. I recommend professional deep cleaning wool rugs in heavy traffic areas no less than every two years.

For the back door or garage entrance, I like to see a small washable cotton rug in place. These soil very quickly because that’s how good they are at removing soil from the bottom of your feet. The best source for these rugs are stores like Bed, Bath & Beyond or Linens & Things. You should be able to wash these yourself in your washing machine. Always wash them two at a time to prevent unbalanced loads.

Remember, one of the best ways to keep your floors and carpets from getting soiled is to make sure that the soil stays outside! Give ‘em the old two punch and knock them to the mat… so to speak.