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When you’ve got beautiful flooring, you want to take good care of it, ensuring that it will continue to look great for years to come.

It can be tricky, though, to know which products to use with different materials and if certain methods are better than others. The goal is clean and shiny floors without any buildup or streaks, which can sometimes be harder to achieve than you’d think.

We spoke to Shelley from Heritage Home Hardware in Sault Ste. Marie about how to not only care for your floors but keep them looking fabulous. She shared her do’s and don’ts to help keep your floors immaculate.

Regardless of the kind of floors you have, if you adopt certain habits and put specific things in place you can minimize damage. Shelley recommends, for instance, keeping a doormat at your entryway; it will catch and trap dirt and any small stones that get brought into the house on your shoes, which can scratch or dent most types of flooring.

It’s also a good idea to place runners or carpets over the high-traffic areas of your floors. This will minimize wear and tear—you can replace a runner or a carpet much easier than you can permanent flooring. Use furniture pads to prevent scratches and dents, and furniture glides to avoid scuff marks when moving furniture.

Keep in mind that high heels and hard rubber soles can also damage your floors, so you might want to institute a shoe-free policy in your home.

It’s really important to stick to a regular cleaning schedule. Use your calendar to keep track of how often you need to sweep, vacuum and deep-clean your floors. The more you stick to a routine, the easier the job will be as there won’t be nearly as much work to do.

While it can be tempting to put this off, be sure to tackle any stains that occur as soon as you can and wipe up any spills. The faster you act, the easier they will be to treat.

If you have vinyl flooring anywhere in your home, regardless of which specific type (traditional vinyl, SPC vinyl or peel and stick vinyl), the methods for care and cleaning are all pretty similar. Of course, if you received any specific maintenance instructions from the manufacturer, be sure to follow those as well.

These are Shelley’s additional tips:

Alternatively, you could add a few drops of baby oil to your vinegar cleaning solution, which will add shine to your floor 

The care and cleaning methods are similar for hardwood, engineered hardwood and laminate flooring. One exception, however, is the cleaners recommended for engineered hardwood.

Again, it’s recommended that you first consult the specific cleaning instructions provided by the manufacturer.

Many like to use steam mops because they are great for deep cleaning and sanitizing your floors. They work especially well on tiled bathroom and kitchen floors, but they can’t be used on any hardwood or laminate floor. They are generally safe for sealed hardwood floors, as this material can withstand the heat and moisture; you’ll also get a lovely streak-free finish.

Where shouldn’t you use a steam mop? On unsealed hardwood floors, engineered hardwood floors and laminate floors. You will damage the floors as these materials simply can’t take the added heat and moisture.

The recommendation for tile floors is similar: start by sweeping and vacuuming before you begin actual cleaning. Below are some material-specific tips.

Porcelain Start by washing the tiles with hot water. Next, clean the porcelain using a bristle brush and good tile & grout cleaner; you could also use a solution of vinegar and water. It’s not recommended to use bleach or ammonia as they can damage the porcelain. After cleaning, rinse off the tiles with hot water and dry the floor thoroughly with a clean towel.

Ceramic Clean your ceramic tile floors with a good quality tile & grout cleaner; you can apply it with a flat mop. Shelley doesn’t recommend that you use a sponge, as it can push dirty water into your grout. As an alternative, you could try using warm water with just a few drops of liquid dish soap. Wash and dry one section of the floor at a time. How frequently? Wash your bathroom tiles weekly and your kitchen tiles biweekly.

Stone If you have slate tile floors, you can clean them with a mixture of warm water and a mild detergent or dish soap. It’s best to avoid any cleaners that contain lemon, vinegar or other acidic substances when cleaning any type of stone tile floors. Clean marble floors with hot water and a marble-specific cleaner. If you have granite floors, use hot water and a granite-specific cleaner. You can apply cleaners with a soft cloth or a sponge, and buff them dry with a clean cloth afterward.

It’s true that keeping your floors clean takes a bit of work, but it’s well worth it. Not only will your newly cleaned floors be free of germs and bacteria, they will look great and last longer. Learn more about the assortment of floor cleaners that’s available and find the right one for you.

For more suggestions on how to get your flooring sparkling, visit Heritage Home Hardware or call 705-759-5101.