Cleaning and maintaining hybrid flooring begins before you notice some dirt that needs to be swept up or discolored due to a spill or scuff. If you want to keep your hybrid floor looking good and lasting as long as possible, there are some essential tips for longevity that you will have to follow. Before being expected to do that, you must understand the two basic types of hybrid flooring and what kind of care each of them will need.
- Stone Plastic Composites (SPC) – This type of hybrid flooring is partially made from limestone powder, which makes it much more durable. However, the planks will be harder to make them more durable, which means they will not be as comfortable underfoot. But, on the other hand, that means that they will hold up to traffic better and will not be as prone to knicks and dents.
- Wood Plastic Composites (WPC) – Wood plastic composite hybrid flooring will feel closer to the real thing, but the trade-off for this is that the planks will be softer and less durable. That means they will scratch and dent much easier, such as when moving furniture across it. But, it will be much softer underfoot when walking across it.
The reason it is important to know what type of flooring you have is to know what type of cleaning supplies and equipment you will need. For example, if you have the WPC type of hybrid flooring, you will not want to use any type of abrasives to clean, even if you have a nasty spill that may have the chance of staining.
Of course, even with SPC, you do not want to use a heavy abrasive, so let’s take a look at the basic process of cleaning a hybrid floor. Just keep in mind that you will need to be gentler if you have a WPC floor compared to an SPC floor.
- Daily – Use a soft bristle broom or a vacuum with a soft attachment on the end daily to keep the dirt particles from digging into the hybrid floor’s planks. If you notice any damage, this will be the time to get it fixed.
- Weekly – Once a week (more if you have a home with extremely high traffic), you will want to mop the hybrid floor with a warm water solution (below 70 degrees Fahrenheit). Use a PH-neutral cleaner that is non-acidic or abrasive, and make sure the mop head is non-abrasive. Do not soak the floor; use a damp mop or cloth to clean the planks.
To make sure things go smoothly when you are cleaning, having two different mop buckets is easier. Use one for the clean water and the cleaning solution and the other bucket to rinse the mop head when it is dirty. In this way, you will be able to keep the mop head clean at all times, preventing it from dragging any debris around the floor.
If this ever happens, you may not notice right away, but it could cause small scratches and dents in the surface of the hybrid floor that may boil down to having to replace the planks. Remember, you cannot refinish hybrid flooring, so it is best to take the time to do things correctly the first time rather than finding out later on that you messed up simply because you were in a hurry or didn’t want to get the second bucket out of the garage.
The main point you need to remember when cleaning your hybrid flooring is that even though it is waterproof, there is still a chance that water can get up underneath the layers, so you never want to leave standing water on the planks.
If there is a spill, clean it up immediately. If you can, place some rugs at the room’s entrance so people entering can wipe off any debris, they may have on their shoes. Or better yet, make them take their shoes off before entering so cleaning will be a snap.
