Maintaining your Cork Floors

Cork floors are the easiest floor covering to maintain. Standard maintenance and regular cleaning can easily keep your cork floors beautiful and long lasting. Only some protective measures are required. Here are the suggestions:

• Vacuum and sweep regularly to eliminate fine particles of dirt and grit that act like sandpaper and cause abrasion to the floor.

• Wipe away spills immediately. Damp mop the floor occasionally.

• Place mats and rugs at entrances to prevent dirt and debris being tracked onto the floor from outside. These mats should be breathable. Rubber or non-porous backing on the mats trap moisture and affect the finish of the flooring.

• In the kitchen, use a rug in front of the working areas such as in front of the stove and sink to prevent wear due to regular excessive usage.

• Place potted plants under drip pans to cover water seepage.

• Avoid using sharp or pointed objects with concentrated weight on cork floors such as walking upon the floor while wearing stiletto heels.

• Insert felt pads under furniture legs to prevent scuffs.

• Lift furniture while moving it across the cork floors. Do not drag as it may cause indentation. Also place a clean sheet of plywood or other protective layer on the cork floor while moving furniture.

• Rearrange furniture occasionally to decrease indentation.

Preventive Maintenance and Finish

The most effective way to keep your cork floors intact and beautiful is preventive maintenance. This involves inspecting the floor for excessive finish wear usually found at doorways, in front of the sink and stove and in other high-traffic areas like hallways. The endurance of the floor finish is relative to traffic intensity and floor care. When the floor starts to show a traffic pattern and signs of wear it is time to renew the finish.

Recoat the floor before the finish is worn out, so you don't have to resand your floor. An additional coating of urethane should be applied every year for high commercial traffic (i.e. retails, stores, restaurants, etc.), two to three years for medium traffic (i.e. offices, museums, etc.) and five to seven years for light commercial or residential traffic.

Fading

Being a natural product, cork contains organic pigments. Similarly, just like other wood product, cork floors will fade if exposed directly to sunlight. So keep your blinds or curtains drawn during periods of direct sunlight to prevent the floors from fading. Excessive sun exposure causes cork floors turn a yellow color when fading occurs.