Easy Floor Care with Holloway House
- , by Trudy Chuoke Trudy Chuoke
Wood, laminate, and tile floors are so popular right now. Homeowners have turned their noses up to carpet feeling like they are not easy to keep clean, and for people with mobility issues they are hard to navigate. And carpet definitely has a 5-10 life, and a wood floor can last until the kids inherit the house. Wood floors look beautiful for years as long as you take care of them. Let me show you how easy it is.
Dirt, dust, and grime are the real enemies of wood and laminate surfaces. I have wood laminate and like to clean in a 1,2, 3 method. First, I will dust the floor. I like to use an 18” dust mop by Libman but there are many. Bona has a microfiber pad pack that includes a nice dust pad and 2 cleaning pads. I just make sure I remove all dust before I even start using a cleaner. Once I feel like I have the floors dust free, I use Holloway House Multi Surface Floor Cleaner (it’s the blue bottle) to remove any small particles of dust that have escaped my dry surface cleaning. I like using Holloway House Cleaner because it’s completely neutral and doesn’t even require rinsing. I also like the clean fragrance. And it doesn’t dull the finish on my floors. Holloway House Cleaner comes in a squirt bottle that I apply directly to the floor and then use my microfiber mop head to clean. I use a Holloway House mop, that I bought several years ago. They make several mop heads that have a blue stripe for the cleaner and a green strip for the floor finish. That’s the only thing that is important- only use the blue mop head for cleaning. Once I clean, I rinse the pad in my sink removing all the cleaner and leave it out to air dry. You never want to use the cleaner mop head for applying the Holloway House Floor Finish. Once the floor is clean and dust free, I apply the protective floor finish by Holloway House. It comes in two finishes, a high gloss, and a soft luster.
If you have older floor with a lot of surface scratches, use the original floor finish. It’s a higher gloss which has the ability to disguise and hide any imperfections on the floor. I had a much older parquet wood floor in a previous home. It was beautiful and I was so proud, however there were so many surface scratches on the wood that took away from the beauty and warmth of the floor. On those old floors, I put on five coats of Quick Shine Floor Finish that deepened the color of the wood and with that many coats, I was really protecting the floor from any further damage. But if you just want to apply one coat, your floor will shine. The floor finish also comes in a squirt bottle, and you apply it to the floor and move it with your microfiber mop head. I like to go in one direction. And you can tell exactly where you have applied the finish because the floor will immediately start shining. Let the finish dry completely before you walk on the surface, it will take about 20 minutes. Rinse out your floor finish mop head and let air dry.
So, what is Quick Shine Floor Finish? Well, it’s not a wax, it’s a polymer finish and never has to be stripped off. When your floor is not as shiny as you want, you just apply another coat. It melts into the previous coat and never shows any lap marks.
I mentioned that there are two finishes in the floor finish, high gloss, and a soft luster. On newer floors like mine, you might like Hardwood Floor Luster. It comes in a brown bottle. I use it on my laminate floors to provide a soft glow and to add protection.
Holloway House is not just for wood. It looks beautiful on Saltillo tile, terrazzo, ceramic, sealed concrete, sealed flagstone, and any flooring that’s sealed that has lost its shine.
Happy Fourth of July! I am so grateful to be an American citizen, I’m one of those who tears up at singing the national anthem. And so, we are closed this fourth to celebrate this wonderful holiday of independence. Long may she wave!