Top Tips on Protecting Your Flooring This Christmas

Top Tips on Protecting Your Flooring This Christmas

Christmas is a busy time of year for families and floors. Assuming get-togethers are allowed this year, homes across the UK will be experiencing a much bigger footfall than usual, with friends and relatives coming round to celebrate the festive season and see in the New Year.

Prevention is better than a cure, so here are Xylo Flooring’s top tips for ensuring that any quality wooden flooring (including the engineered variety), as well as vinyl and laminate surfaces, don’t suffer too much damage over the festive period.

Shoes and Footwear

Remember, the ground outside is likely to be wet and muddy – and perhaps even snowy and icy), none of which are likely to be good news for your flooring. So don’t be afraid to set some house rules so that any dirt and grime isn’t as likely to be carried in to your home.

Make sure there are plenty of mats by the doors – and make sure people wipe their feet on them. Inside, lay down plenty of rugs; this will help avoid the problem of cold feet as well as minimising damage to the floor.

Have a shoe rack and insist that everyone uses it and puts on a fresh pair of footwear once they are inside, for example, something flat-soled, like slippers. High heels or stilettos may be a part of the party season, but not great for your floor.

Use Furniture Pads

During the festive period, it is likely that furniture will be moved around a bit to make more room for guests or to play party games. On this note, sofa beds may need to be moved in or out of a room, made into a bed, or switched from a bed to a sofa and vice versa each morning and evening. Also, presents such as toys with sharp edges might find their way under sofas and other furniture, damaging them and the floor when moved.

When shifting any piece of furnitiure you need to make sure the legs don’t scratch any of the surfaces, particularly laminate ones. Furniture pads or coasters will make sure scuff marks aren’t left on surfaces if you do need to move any items of furniture around.

Christmas Tree Care

They can create a mess of their own, in the form of needles which drop regularly. Artificial trees may not have the authentic Christmas feel, but they are eco-friendly.

However, if you do want a real one, give it a good shake before you bring it in; this will remove any loose pines and dirt (particularly if you have done the ‘green’ thing and been growing last year’s in the garden again). Make sure you water it regularly while it’s indoors because this will mean it sheds fewer needles, creating less cleaning in the long run.

Clean Between Christmas and the New Year

It may be a good idea to devote one day, between Christmas and the New Year, to a mid-holiday clean. Get out the dustpan and brush to get rid of any excess grime or tree needles. If you do want to vacuum, use a canister model rather than an upright one, as these usually have special attachments which are ideally suited to hard floors.

Doing this will mean the house looks reasonably clean and tidy ahead of any New Year celebrations and should mean that the big clean-up when the decorations come down will be less of a chore.

Cleaning Products from Xylo Flooring

At Xylo, as well as offering quality wooden, vinyl and laminate flooring options, we also stock a range of OSMO maintenance products. These include various waxes and oils, a wash and care kit, a hand brush, as well as floor protectors for furniture.

These will ensure that your floor is kept in pristine condition, not just over the festive period but all year round. And remember – wood, vinyl and laminate are a lot easier to clean than carpets. It’s much easier to get rid of dust and dirt, as they can’t get embedded like in carpet fibres.

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