In the midst of Halloween’s festivities, there’s a haunting concern that homeowners face – damage to floors. From rotting pumpkins to scratches and dents from dancing shoes, the experts at Factory Direct Flooring have pulled together their essential tips and tricks to safeguard floors this autumn.
- Decorating with real pumpkins? Watch out for mould
Pumpkins are a quintessential part of Halloween decor, and there’s nothing that quite rivals the real thing – but beware of rot and mould which could transfer to your floor. Real wood flooring is particularly susceptible to this. While new real wood floors are kiln-dried for long periods to get rid of parasites like woodworm, rotting pumpkins can create mouldy or damp conditions, which is attractive to woodworm.
- If you’re keen to decorate with pumpkins in advance of October 31st, you’re better off leaving them intact. That’s because uncarved pumpkins will keep for around one month at room temperature, while carved pumpkins will only last 3-7 days before they start to rot.
- Carved or uncarved, you can delay rot by wiping or spraying pumpkins with vinegar and water before arranging them.
- To prevent mould transferring from your pumpkin to your floor, place them on a mat or a boot tray, instead of directly on the surface.
- Lighting candles or a log burner? How to clean up wax spills and protect against heat damage
Flickering candlelight adds an eerie ambience, but can lead to wax spills and ‘jumping’ embers. Invest in a fire screen or hearth pad to catch hot embers popping out of the fireplace, but if the worst happens, Paul Hambidge, Managing Director at Factory Direct Flooring, advises: “For real wood floors, you can usually sand and repair any planks that have been burnt. Nearly all other floor types, however, will need to be replaced. Most other floor types are click systems, so it’s easy enough to replace damaged sections rather than the whole floor. Always try to keep hold of spare flooring for tackling accidents like this.”
Meanwhile, the process for removing wax spills from your floor depends on the type of floor you have. There are two ways you can remove wax from wood floors, and that’s either with heat or by chilling:
- Heat: Place a brown paper bag over the wax stain, then iron over the top on a very low setting. The paper bag should soak up the wax.
- Chill: Solidify the wax using an ice block before scraping off the dry wax, but be very careful not to scratch your floor in the process. Use something dull, like a butter knife.
For carpets, start with the same chilling technique to get most of the wax off. But because of the carpet’s fibres, some wax may remain. At this point, use the heating technique, then clean, dry, and vacuum.
- Hand-crafting your Halloween decorations? What to do if you get glue on your floor
Homemade Halloween decorations add a personal touch to your spooky setup, but accidental glue spills can happen, especially when younger crafters are involved. Here’s how to safely remove glue from your floor:
- Gently scrape glue using a knife, but be very careful not to scratch your floor in the process.
- Lightly dab the glue stain with an acetone nail varnish remover, then clean away the acetone with a damp cloth.
If you used superglue, you may need to apply a purpose-made glue remover.
- Apple bobbing? Watch out for water
Avoid apple bobbing in rooms with real wood, engineered wood, or laminate flooring, because the water could cause the floorboards to warp and swell.
Paul says: “Water damage is one of the worst for an engineered or solid wooden floor. Often, the only repair option is to renew your floors. To minimise the cost of a complete renewal, try replacing only the boards that are affected, though keep in mind that the colour may be slightly different from your original boards. Meanwhile, laminate flooring can withstand moisture more than solid wood flooring, but it’s best to avoid excessive levels of water. That’s because laminate’s inner core is made of high-density fibreboard. If you can, choose to do apple bobbing in a room with a vinyl or LVT floor, outside, or in the sink.”
- Throwing a party? Ask stiletto-wearing guests to leave their shoes at the door
High heels are the bane of real wood flooring because they can easily cause scratches and dents. You can apply a protective layer of wax to real wood floors, which helps it withstand wear and tear, but if the worst should happen, there are a few things you can do to fix scratches:
“For real wood floors, use a permanent marker or a stain marker that matches your floor. Simply apply it to a cotton bud or microfibre cloth and rub it in,” says Paul. “Solid wood can be sanded down quite easily and refinished if you have deep scratches, but if it’s a serious dent, you’ll need to consider replacing the whole board.”
If you have a laminate floor that gets scratched, rub over the scratch with a wax pencil designed for laminate, before wiping away excess wax with a soft cloth. Meanwhile, if you have a vinyl floor with minor rips or tears from high heels, fix it by following this process:
- Start by cleaning up any debris or dirt and wash with warm water.
- Open the window to ventilate the room before applying vinyl flooring adhesive with a putty knife to the back of the vinyl edge of the rip.
- Press the vinyl firmly to the floor, and place something heavy on top to hold it in place while it dries.
To help you prevent any lasting damage this autumn, Factory Direct Flooring has more care and maintenance tips for different flooring types.
