Special
Maintenance and cleaning products for floors in vinyl, LVT, and PVC
ABOVE ALL, THE FLOOR HAS TO LOOK NICE A WELL-INFORMED CLIENT CAN GENERATE EXTRA TURNOVER As a parquet floor fitter, you might sometimes forget that work doesn’t stop once you’ve fitted a floor in LVT, PVC, and vinyl. On the contrary, parquet specialists must always be ready to give advice about cleaning and maintaining a newly fitted floor. An attractive floor will only stay in top condition with the appropriate maintenance over time. That plays into the hands of floor fitters because their clients will continue to contact them, if only to buy the correct cleaning and maintenance products.
Finally, one more thing which you really should tell clients is that there are some products on the market which they absolutely must avoid when cleaning a vinyl floor. This ‘black list’ includes scouring powders, brown soap, acetone or solvents, wax or varnish, oil-based products, and steam cleaners! It can also certainly do no harm to point out a number of items which help prevent the need for cleaning and maintenance. These include, for instance, putting a basic door mat by each entrance or applying caps to objects which stand on a vinyl floor.
Most manufacturers advise parquet specialists to give consumers extensive maintenance advice after the sale of a floor. That’s why parquet traders often supply bottles of maintenance product when the floor is delivered. This is literally an example of long-term thinking because clients may return later to place more orders once those products are used up. Obviously, what’s also interesting is that this may also yield subsequent fitting work, since the consumer might well want another new floor later.
At the same time, you should certainly advise clients to fit objects such as heating appliances at a certain height above a vinyl floor. This all comes under the motto: Prevention is always better than cure!
Cleaning and maintenance in practice How do you take care of LVT, PVC, or vinyl floors? These days, you can assume that this really can be fairly simple. After all, the latest generations of these floors have generally had a special surface treatment to make them more resistant to scratches or stains. That means they require relatively little regular cleaning and maintenance. You should certainly tell clients about the various sorts of cleaning. These range from daily sweeping or vacuum cleaning to weekly cleaning with a damp mop and neutral detergent. The latter helps remove dirt and keeps a floor in top condition. Advise clients to use only a minimal amount of water.
Interventions with stains You should certainly stress the fact that it is best for clients to remove stains immediately. They can do this by cleaning the floor in patches with a nylon sponge and a neutral detergent. Stains should be removed from the outside inwards so that they can then be rinsed with clean water and mopped clean. Consumers must beware of oil, vinegar, or lemon juice because those items can cause discolouration. It’s also best to remove ink, tomato juice and sauce, blood stains, and rust at once. Pen and felt pen marks can be removed with some turpentine on a cloth and then rinsing thoroughly.
Applying a protective coat There is a huge choice on the market when it comes to cleaning and maintenance products and lots of producers offer a total range. You will notice here that these products are generally water-based. These products are designed specifically for regular cleaning, intensive cleaning, and even for applying a protective coat. The latter is worthwhile if visible scratches have appeared. By applying a protective coat, clients ‘feed’ their floor and prevent premature wear and tear.
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What’s on the market ? Blanchon Blanchon has various products for cleaning vinyl, LVT, and PVC floors. They offer a full range for glazed, oiled, and polished parquet floors. This range is designed for specialist parquet traders, cleaning companies, and end clients. First of all, there are two metallisers, namely the renovation products Métallisant Satiné (for satin or glossy parquet) and Métallisant Métamat (for matt parquet floors). These metallisers are designed specifically for renovation since they also fill small cracks and freshen up the look of the glazed floors. Furthermore, they also have a detergent, namely Lisabril®. This product is used diluted and complements both metallisers perfectly. Due to its new formula, this product is ideal for large surfaces (e.g. restaurants, public spaces, classrooms, and parquet sports floors). Finally, there is another powerful detergent, namely ‘Décapant Dégraissant’ (new name for the cleaning agent ‘Suractivé’). This product is ideal for preparing the metallisation with no risk of damage to the glazing.
Bona Bona PREMIUM Spray Mop (renewed Spray Mop) is for tile, laminate, PVC, and other hard floors. The Bona Spray Mop has an ergonomic design and is easy to use, and can be set up quickly and refilled with the specially developed Bona Floor Cleaner Cartridge. Cleaning is easy: Spray and wipe. Forget the bucket with mop. With the Bona Spray Mop, you just spray and wipe.
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