OVERVIEW on Kitchen Flooring:
The kitchen is one of the most important rooms in your home, and the right choice for kitchen floors is key to the style of the space as well as the maintenance time and your ongoing comfort as you cook for yourself, your family, and friends. Now more than ever, you can choose from a diverse range of kitchen flooring materials. For each aspect of home design and remodeling you can also strive to make choices that are 1) Functional, 2) Stylish, 3) Cost-Effective, and 4) Environmentally Sustainable. These are the four key guiding principles in the GREENandSAVE strategy. You will find that in certain cases, one or two of the criteria take precedent over others. However, as you review the home improvement options that are right for your home, you may be surprised to learn that reaching all four is more achievable than you thought.
Selection Tips: In choosing a kitchen floor material make sure to think through its durability, maintenance needs, and its integration with your kitchen countertops, cabinets, appliances, and the paint color for your walls and ceiling. Your kitchen floor will then work well with your overall kitchen design and ongoing use. The best kitchen flooring solution for an active family is often one that is low-maintenance, while higher maintenance floors work better for quieter lifestyles. To find the right kitchen floor for your home, review the different options in this article section that will give you perspective on the advantages and the disadvantages of each flooring material. From green flooring like cork and bamboo to traditional hardwood, stone, and tile, you have a lot of great options to choose from. Make sure to also consider the advantages of radiant flooring to generate heat that rises up through almost any surface material. Stone or tile has a thermal advantage of storing the radiant heat more than other surfaces. Since gourmet kitchens are increasingly popular and many cooking enthusiasts spend quite a bit of time on their feet, you may want to consider the hardness of the surface. If you love to cook and also want the comfort and energy saving advantages of a radiant floor with a stone or tile finish, you can buy professional chef cushioned mats or area rug underlayment for a few key work areas. Now, you have helped your feet also enjoy the kitchen floor experience.
DETAILS on Vinyl Sheet Kitchen Flooring Maintenance:
Vinyl flooring (or "linoleum" as we once commonly called it) has evolved into one of the easiest floor covering products to maintain. Most vinyl floors are installed in rooms that do require some extra care, such as kitchens, bathrooms and mudrooms. Since items like tomato sauces, hairspray and grit and sand cause some concerns for vinyl floors, proper daily care is required. General daily maintenance requires vacuuming, sweeping and dust mopping. Several generic cleaning solutions are also available to clean vinyl floors. Most major vinyl flooring manufacturers have their own cleaning products with complete instructions. Also, most manufacturers have a two or three-part maintenance package, which includes a cleaner, stripper and refinisher. The cleaners are designed for regular use. Typically, this product is used as weekly cleaner that is diluted and mopped onto the floor. The "stripper" is used once or twice a year, to remove any soapy residue, that slowly builds up over time. The "refinisher" or "dressing" is done rarely, but it does help to restore the original luster to the floor. It is very important that you follow the maintenance schedule of the product you purchase. Ask your retailer or manufacturer on the specifics of maintaining your floor, as your warrantee will likely depend on it. Vinyl flooring can be damaged fairly easily. Care must be taken to use felt, or other types, of chair and furniture pads. These pads will help to prevent damage to your flooring caused by moving furniture. Most manufacturers recommend that chairs with rollers not be used on sheet vinyl flooring. If a floor does get damaged and a small cut is visible, manufacturers suggest using a small amount of seam sealer to close the gap and protect the floor from further damage. The seam sealer is normally used to bond two pieces of vinyl flooring together. The best way to keep your vinyl floor looking its best is to understand its limitations. You must follow the maintenance techniques and schedules of the flooring you purchase. You should also use floor protectors (felt or other) under chairs and other furniture on the flooring. As stated earlier, vinyl flooring is a durable flooring option, however, it can be damaged. With proper care, you will enjoy your vinyl floor for many years to come.
GREEN Considerations:
When it comes to cleaning your kitchen floors look for products that have ingredients that are not hazardous to humans or the earth. Many cleaners are now produced without phosphates, chorine, borates, phenol, ammonia, formaldehyde and nitrates Also look for cleaners that have low or zero volatile organic compounds, the chemicals that produce noxious toxins and air-pollution. Make your home the safest place in the world without sacrificing cleanliness. Finally, help save the environment by looking for concentrated cleaners so that we collectively reduce the shipping and transportation cost of moving heavier products that are pre-hydrated (just add water!). Overall, this new generation of concentrated, toxic-free, and biodegradable cleaning agents save the environment, you family's health, and your money.
Click here to see the range of top choices for environmentally friendly cleaners.
