3 Tips to Keep Your Floor From Wearing Out

This article comes from Angie’s List.

3 Tips to Keep Your Floor From Wearing Out

Whether you have carpet, hardwood or rugs, proper floor care will prevent your floors from prematurely aging or wearing out before their anticipated lifespan.

1. Protect your floor and upholstery from sun damage

Direct sun can damage your hardwood, carpet, rugs and upholstery.

Fabric and carpet colors can fade or change color. Wood can dry out, crack, and warp with intense exposure to the sun. One of the following window coverings can be used to block out the harmful effects of sun exposure:

Shades, blinds and drapes

Any window that allows intense afternoon sun to come in, should also have window coverings that block out the harmful UV rays. Window treatments are similar to applying suntan lotion to your body. You’re blocking out the damaging effects of the sun and keeping the windows looking “like-new” longer.

Window film

If you don’t want window treatments, you can have a film professionally placed on your windows that will block out the UV radiation.

2. Keep your floors clean

Vacuuming or sweeping floors

In order to keep dirt and allergens down to a minimum, the most important step in caring for your carpet, hardwood and rugs is vacuuming thoroughly and frequently, particularly in high-traffic areas. When you vacuum less often, you allow the soil particles to work their way below the surface of the carpet pile, or in between the wood planks. Frequent vacuuming removes these particles from the surface before problems occur.

It’s recommended that rooms with light traffic should have the traffic lanes vacuumed twice weekly, and the entire area should be vacuumed once weekly. In areas with heavy traffic, vacuum the traffic lanes every day, and the entire area twice a week.

Professional floor and carpet cleaning

Professional carpet, rug and upholstery cleaning kill bacteria and can remove deeply trapped pollutants. It also removes stains and dirt, and will extend the lifespan of your carpeting, rugs and upholstery, keeping them looking like new longer, and saving you from having to replace them prematurely. It’s recommended that you have your carpet and rugs professionally cleaned every one to two years, depending on daily use.

3. Rug pads

One way you can prevent your rugs from damage is by using rug pads. These pads increase the lifespan of area rugs.

Large area rugs wear out faster from the bottom up, because they are continually being shifted and rubbed against the flooring beneath it. Over time, this friction, along with dirt that accumulates, weakens the underside fibers. Using a rug pad can help avoid much of this damage.

Providing your floors (and upholstery too) with preventative measures, such as window treatments to prevent sun exposure, rug pads for rugs, frequent vacuuming, and professional care, can keep them in tip top shape for many years to come.

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