How To Maintain Your Cork Floor

By Author: Vikram Kumar
Total Articles: 9687
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Now that you’ve looked into purchasing a cork floor, you’d like some hints on how to keep it looking great. We’ve got the answers for you. It’s so easy this might be the tipper in your decision.

Cork flooring tiles come in two varieties. Natural or pre-finished with a vinyl top-coat.

Natural means that no top-coat or polyurethane has been pre-applied to the cork board. That is the left to the discretion of the consumer. You can choose to finish your floor off this with top-coat to preserve its beauty and add even longer life. We recommend this for areas of high traffic. Or you can leave it as is and enjoy the natural beauty of it.

Maintaining a cork floor is simple. A regular maintenance schedule of vacuuming and mopping with a damp cloth will keep it looking good.

Here are the steps involved with maintaining your cork floor

1: Sweep or vacuum the floor to clean off abrasive particles such as sand, little stones or grit that invariably enters the house. This should be done at least once a week.

2: Mop the floor using a damp cloth;be careful that the cloth is not too ...
... damp or soaked. This will just make the floor wet and leave a longer dry time. A slightly damp mop is best as it cleans the floor without straining your back.This should to be done about once a month.

3: A mild soap solution combined with the damp mop will give the surface a slight gloss. Never use harsh cleaners as they can strip the surface of its natural sheen. Also avoid using any kind of cleaners that contain ammonia, oil or any kind of abrasive substances. Best thing to do when you’re not sure, check the manufacturers’ details to determine which is the best cleaning product for your cork floor.

4: For cork floors with a top-coat of polyurethane we suggest that you reapply a new coat or two every 2 to 3 years. This will help keep your floors looking great and add to its resilience.

Installation and maintenance as well as the final result will depend on the products that you choose to use. Higher quality cork will last longer and look better. Better engineered cork will be more resilient. You can even choose the installation system that best suits your needs. Do you want to go with glue-down tiles, that might require a professional installer. Or do you want to try floating floor tiles with their specially designed lock and click system that is easy enough for a D-I-Y amateur. Different manufactures will supply different sizes, styles, colors, even different qualities. The choice is yours.

iCork Flooring is your one stop shop for cork floating flooring and cork tile .