How to maintain your finish
This maintenance guide is appropriate for the following floor types:
- Solvent based Polyurethane finish
- Synteko Classic finish
- Water based finish
- Oil Modified or Tung oil seal finish
- Factory pre-finished engineered or floating or laminate floor
General Points
No matter what kind of floor you have, or what type of finish used, there are certain steps that must be taken to maintain the beauty of the timber floor. Regular or daily maintenance requires little more than sweeping with a soft bristle broom, or vacuuming with a soft floor attachment. The floor surface should be cleaned regularly with a timber floor cleaning product recommended by Synteko (view the finish product guide).
Synteko recommends the following timeline to ensure proper curing:
| Walk on floors after | 24 hours |
| Replacing furniture on floors | 2-3 days |
| Coverings on floor | 1 –2 weeks |
| Washing floor | 4-6 weeks |
Synteko also recommends that newly finished floor surfaces, even though they dry fast, take at least 60-90 days to cure. Therefore treating you newly coated floor finish with a little love and care in the early stages will minimize premature scratching and scuff marks. Ventilating the floor areas immediately after the floor coating has tacked-off will facilitate curing and assist in reducing premature scratching and scuff marks.
Below is a list of general steps that can be taken to prolong the life of the timber floor finish with minimal effort.
- Every floor must be dust mopped as often as possible to remove grit and dust from the surface. Walking on dusty or dirty floors is the fastest way to damage, scratch and wear through a surface floor finish.
- Use Glitsa’s untreated mop with Dust Pad on your floor regularly. This will keep the sand and grit off of your floor that may cause premature wear.
- Have very good door mats at all external doorways
- Do not use sheet vinyl or tile floor care products on wood floors. Self-polishing acrylic waxes cause wood to become slippery and appear dull quickly.
- Use throw rugs inside doorways to trap and help prevent grit, dirt and other debris from being tracked onto your wood floors. This will minimise scratching and general wear and tear.
- Do not wet-mop a timber floor. Standing water can dull the finish, damage the wood and leave a discolouring residue and white spots. Wipe up spills immediately with a slightly dampened towel.
- Do not wash your newly coated floor for approximately six weeks, allowing ample time for the floor finish to cure and harden.
- Do not over-wax a wood floor with acrylic maintenance sealers. Avoid wax build up under furniture and other light traffic areas by applying wax in these spots every other rejuvenation session.
- Fit Safeglides felt floor protector pads under the legs of furniture to prevent scuffing and scratching (view products).
- Avoid walking on your timber floors with cleats, sports shoes and high heels. A 60kg woman walking in high heels has an impact of 900kg sq. cm. An exposed heel nail can exert up to 3,500kg sq/cm. This kind of impact can dent any floor surface.
- When moving any furniture, do not slide or drag any item on your timber floor. It is best to pick up and move the furniture to protect the wooden floor surface.
- For timber flooring in the kitchen, place an area rug in front of the kitchen sink.
- Use a humidifier throughout the winter months to keep wood movement and shrinkage to a minimum.
- Avoid placing rugs on finished surfaces for seven days.
Choosing the right maintenance product for your hardwood timber floor is important to maintaining its beauty and protecting its finish.
Cleaning surface finish floors
When necessary, mop your timber floor with a dry or damp mop (not soaking wet) using a solution of Synteko Super Clean diluted in warm water. Marks from rubber heels, shoe polish, lipstick, ink, hot cooking fat etc. should be removed immediately with Synteko Remover.
Avoid scrubbing with a coarse brush or strong detergents as this could permanently mark the surface finish. Wash floor surface periodically every 7-14 days. Do not over-wash the timber floor.
Preventive maintenance
Preventive Maintenance may be the most important factor in determining the longevity of your wood floor finish.
- Place walk off mats in entry ways and near sink areas to minimize the amount of dirt and water that comes in contact with your timber floor.
- Check your chair legs and other pieces of furniture and attach Safeglides Felt Floor Protectors to all furniture that will come in contact with your wood floor.
- Keep high heel shoes in good repair. Heels that have lost their protective cap can cause little indentations in any floor surface, even concrete!
- Keep pet claws trimmed.
- Do not over-water plants. Soil, fertilizers, and plant foods may have chemicals in them that could damage your floor finish.
- Soft rubber (shoe soles, toy wheels, etc.) will leave scuff marks on the floor. Most of these marks can be rubbed out, but should be avoided if possible.
Rejuvenation
Periodic use of Synteko Newshine applied thinly in high traffic areas will help protect the floor. Synteko Newshine can also be used to eliminate light scratch marks.
Touch-up maintenance
Glitsa Gold Seal Touch-Up Aerosol cans (available in matte and satin finish) are the ideal touch-up products for small areas with light scratches and worn patches. Glitsa touch-up Aerosols are intended to rejuvenate the surface appearance of small worn areas of less than a square meter. For larger areas or areas with excessive wear, consult a professional.Only use this product on Synteko Classic and solvent polyurethane finishes.
Recoating
In order to restore the sheen of the floor finish to its original lustre and hide surface wear and tear (surface scratches), recoat the floor periodically with the original surface finish. The frequency of re-coating will depend on the amount of traffic and protective maintenance over the floor surface.