Terms of use of the floorboard and the nuances of caring for it
Parquet board is an amazing material that gives the interior an indescribable naturalness and attractiveness. Children take their first steps on this floor, their beloved pets bask in the sun, and the inhabitants of the house themselves spank in the early morning on the floor. It turns out that the floor is under daily stress, so care for the floorboard should be regular. But here special knowledge is not required, you just need a drop of care.
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General guidelines for parquet care
They laid a beautiful parquet board on the floor? Get ready to take full care of your new coating. If you ignore this issue, thinking, “what’s going to happen to her!”, Soon the parquet board will lose its attractive appearance, dry out, crack, crack and scratch. Fearfully? That's just it, because a lot of money had to be paid for with high-quality material, and if the installation was carried out by people from the outside, then the costs turned out to be significant.
Then you should quickly familiarize yourself with the basic principles of caring for a parquet board so that it is not excruciatingly painful for a damaged floor covering:
- linings for furniture legs;
- mats on casters;
- water repellent compounds.
In order for the care of the parquet board to be as correct as possible, you need to know about the care rules before laying it:
- protect the floor in every way from scratches;
- if a dog lives in the house, after each visit to the street it is necessary to wash his paws. And also do not forget about the timely cutting of the claws of the animal in order to avoid damage on the surface of the parquet board;
- put on the legs of the furniture a kind of "felt boots", that is, felt nozzles. This precaution is most relevant for furniture that often moves around the room;
- Today in the store you can find various care products, for example, polishes, mastics, varnishes, anti-slip products. With their help, the parquet board becomes clean, shiny, a protective film forms on it, which serves as a barrier against scratches and other defects. In addition, manufacturers offer consumers a huge assortment, you can find means to eliminate traces of shoes, chemicals, food pollution;
- as for shoes, you need to try to walk on the parquet board in soft slippers. It is strictly forbidden to walk in street shoes, especially with regard to heels. As a result of such unreasonable actions, chips, dents, cracks will appear on the parquet board;
- after applying the varnish, you should wait 12 hours (do not forget to close the windows, doors) and only after that you can walk on the floor;
- after complete drying, there is no need to rush and immediately start pulling furniture, running, jumping and stomping feet. We'll have to endure for two weeks, observing a sparing mode of operation. And if time does not tolerate directly, the furniture should be moved extremely carefully, and during assembly, put dense material, for example, corrugated cardboard, fiberboard, so as not to accidentally crush and scratch the fresh coating;
Be sure to remove the backing after the assembly is complete, because if you leave it for a long time, a very undesirable darkening will occur in those places that were covered with cardboard.
Daily Cleaning Rules
This is a rather complicated event, requiring special skills, because the wrong cleaning technology will entail damage, and it is not easy to eliminate it.So how to remove the flooring from the floorboard? First of all, cleaning should be carried out with a vacuum cleaner or a well-wrung rag. The main thing to remember an important detail - in no case do not fill the floor with water, as this will lead to swelling and warping.
Before cleaning, it is advisable to inspect the floor for cracks or deep scratches. If they are, it is necessary to eliminate such defects without fail, because decay processes will begin in the places of damage, that is, the floor will become unusable. Slots should be cleaned with a thin wire, then covered with putty made of wood glue, birch or oak sawdust.
An unvarnished parquet board does not need to be washed often, it is better to wipe such a floor with a cloth moistened with cold water and glycerin - the proportions are as follows: one tablespoon per 200 grams of water. As for hot water, according to the recommendations of specialists, a parquet board cannot be washed with it. Of course, the easiest, non-dangerous way to clean it is with a vacuum cleaner. And, yes - if animals live in the house, cleaning will need to be carried out more often.
Making armor against water
Parquet board catastrophically does not like water, we can say that it is afraid of it. And, true, this common truth needs to be known and never forgotten. A large amount of water - death for a parquet board!
But there is one secret weapon that slightly saves the situation. The fact is that there are special tools that repel water, few people know about them, and this miracle remedy is called “polish”. But this does not mean at all that after its application it will be possible to pour water in buckets on the parquet floor. The essence of the process is that a thin protective film forms on the floor, saving the parquet board from a small amount of water and abrasion.
Also, policies are useful when joints are poorly sealed between dice. For example, if a child accidentally spills juice, there is no need to yell at him, accusing him of causing damage: the juice will simply remain on the surface, because the polish will not let him “slip” there. For initial use, you need to buy several bottles of polish at once, because it diverges instantly. It must be bred clearly, observing all the points indicated in the instructions. Re-processing will be needed in a week or two, but the amount of insurance will be significantly reduced. It is also important not to walk on the floor after treatment for about half an hour.
Furniture Rug Flooring
Furniture on wheels negatively affects the parquet floor, and any other too. Take at least a computer chair, which is a headache for flooring: wheels fidgeting in different directions, damage the varnish and lead to cracking.
But, not everything is so sad, the hard work of scientists did not go unnoticed, plastic mats can be found on store shelves. They save the floor from scratches and do not spoil the appearance of the room, because they are transparent, that is, invisible.
Special furniture and felt pads
And here progress is striding by leaps and bounds, however, finding such furniture is quite difficult. What's so special about her? In fact, this is absolutely normal furniture on wheels (chairs, chests of drawers), just the wheels are made of soft rubber that does not leave black marks and scratches. Buying such furniture would be a great option if you want the parquet board to serve for a long time.
Felt pads are an excellent praise. Why? Sometimes it becomes necessary to move furniture, while, often, furniture is dragged along, traces of such irresponsibility and negligence remain on the floor.
To avoid such negative actions, you just need to glue felt pads on the "sole" of the furniture. And you can also buy felted heels and screw them into the legs of sofas, chairs, cabinets.
Scratch Removal Methods
Undoubtedly, scratches are the most common damage that needs good camouflage. Option one - a special wax-based pencil is selected that matches the color scheme of the parquet board. Then it needs to be melted and a softened wax applied to an unsightly scratch. The next step is leveling the surface, removing all wax surplus with a rubber spatula. After that, the surface is polished with a soft cloth.
The second option is a young walnut (suitable only for shallow scratches). First you need to split it, remove the core, rub it with a scratch. The wood in the treated area will darken, the defect will become less noticeable.
The above methods are suitable for removing shallow type scratches, but what to do with others? The use of repair varnish will help here. Before starting the process, the surface is thoroughly cleaned, varnish is applied to it (according to the manufacturer's instructions). Also, deep scratches can be eliminated with the help of a special-purpose putty that always matches the color of the floor. The putty is applied with a rubber spatula, the excess is removed. After drying, the surface is ground with sandpaper, dust is removed, a layer of varnish and wax is applied.
Sanding parquet
If, however, the scratches are not maskable, you will have to use sanding. But there is one caveat, a parquet board cannot be infinitely sanded, a maximum of several times. The specific figure depends on the quality of the manufacturer and the thickness of the top layer. On average, this indicator varies between 5-7 times. Of course, before starting the process, you need to consult a specialist or entrust this matter to the master.
It must be remembered that the humidity in the room needs to be controlled. The optimal parameters are 40-60%. If the humidity is low, the board will dry out, and this will lead to spoilage. It is best to place an aquarium in a room with parquet flooring and forget about humidity forever.
Fighting stains on the floor
If there are stains on the floor that are not amenable to washing with a damp cloth, special means should be used. However, there are still folk methods, the use of which has an excellent effect.
The main types of pollution and cleaning methods:
- traces of shoes (black stripes) - rub the floor with a nylon cloth;
- paint, chewing gum - in this situation, only special products that can be bought at a household chemistry store will help. The instruction plays an important role, since self-activity will lead to serious consequences;
- colored pencil - moisten a piece of cloth in white spirit and wipe the trace of the pencil;
- wax - first you should freeze the wax with a stain of ice, then take a plastic spatula and carefully clean it. Next, you need to put a piece of soft material on the remaining particles and iron it;
- blood - a fresh stain is removed with a rag soaked in cold water, and for dried up, it is necessary to add a small amount of ammonia to the water and moisten the material with the already obtained solution;
- nail polish - wipe with a solution of acetone with water.
An important point - acetone in its pure form is extremely undesirable!
Types of protective coatings - varnish or oil?
A variety of varnishes and oil-wax mixtures are used as protective films.
Option # 1 - Lucky
Varnishes based on synthetic solvents have a pungent odor; people prone to allergies may experience a burning sensation in their eyes, pain. And some wear-resistant modern varnishes need mandatory ultraviolet lighting during fixing.
Before applying varnish, the surface is primed: the pores are filled, the surface is protected from cracking, and the consumption of varnish is reduced. A test layer is best applied in an inconspicuous area.
Option # 2 - oil-wax mixtures
This method is still relevant today. The oil-wax mixture penetrates deep into the tree, fills the pores, gives the parquet board a unique look, while effectively highlighting the uniqueness of the tree species. Modern mixtures do not require too frequent application - it is enough to apply them once a year (of course, with proper care).
How is this process carried out? First, a layer of oil should be applied, then another, but with wax. The composition of the oil-wax mixtures contains Chinese or linseed oil, a drying accelerator, color pigments, natural modifiers. Wax can be plant, animal. As you can see, the components of such compositions are natural, environmentally friendly materials. If there is a need to switch from a wax coating to a varnish, it is first necessary to remove the wax by grinding, because otherwise the varnish will not be fixed.
And lastly, a parquet board painfully reacts to various influences (physical, mechanical). But this does not mean that the floor needs to be covered with a carpet or walkway. So in general the meaning of choosing a parquet board as a floor covering disappears. It is better to protect it from unwanted contacts: do not walk in street shoes, prevent dirt, sand from falling on the floor, do not defile on stilettos and, of course, follow the rules of care. Then the parquet board will delight the eye with its beautiful appearance for a long time.
Yaron 
Andrey Kunitsyn 
Jeanne Light 
Kote
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