We have just defined, with the help of Webster's New World Dictionary, what it takes to care for a Kährs floor - EASY MAINTENANCE. Essentially, keeping up a Kährs floor is not difficult. The steps are simple, painless and take only a fraction of the time it takes to care for wood floors that require waxing (on a regular basis) and sanding and refinishing (on a periodic basis).
Because of Kährs' computer-applied, UV acrylic urethane finish, you won't need to spend a great deal of time caring for the floor. We've taken care of that for you. But in order to preserve its beauty and durability for years to come and to ensure coverage under Kährs Lifetime Residential Warranty, you should follow these guidelines.
Common Sense Care & Maintenance
Immediately: Blot up spills or spots with a lightly damp (well-wrung) cloth.
Frequently: Vacuum or sweep your floor daily to prevent dirt, dust and grit from scratching or dulling its finish. Keep mats by doorways to prevent grit from getting into the room.
Periodically: To help extend the life of a Kährs floor and to remove all cloudy residue or dulling dirt-film layers, clean it regularly with Kährs Wood Cleaner. Complete instructions can be found on the label of each bottle of cleaner.
Kährs Wood Cleaner is specially formulated to clean no-wax wood finishes like Kährs' factory finish. It's a cleaner, not a polish, and it contains no waxes or oils. However, since it removes the dulling residue that builds up on the surface of the floor and dries clear with no streaking, it appears to enhance the shine.
Easy & Safe to use in your home!
- Non-toxic vapor
- Non-flammable
- Highly transparent
- Extremely effective
Floor Care Tips
While Kährs floors are tough, they aren't indestructible. However, you can generally prevent most problems before they occur with proper care and maintenance, ensuring your new floor retains its natural beauty, strength and durability.
Do:
- Support furniture and heavy appliances with wide-bearing, non-staining glides or casters.
- Moving appliances and furniture into place by sliding them slowly over the floor on a clean piece of carpet (turned upside-down), or on masonite with the smooth side down.
- Place a quality door mat at the entrance of your home to help protect your floor from abrasive dust and grit and to help save unnecessary clean-up tasks.
- Maintain normal interior humidity levels (Kährs requires a relative humidity range of 45-60%.
Relative humidity should never fall below 30% or exceed 60%).
- Place area rugs in high - or concentrated - traffic areas to make long-term maintenance easier and less expensive.
Don't:
- Do not use wax conditioners, oilsoaps, or acrylic wax.
- Do not use steel wool on the floor.
- Do not use soap or detergents on the floor and never pour water directly onto the floor.
- Do not use ammonia-based cleaners.
- Do not use vinegar on the floor.
Added Protection
Once your floor is installed, nothing is more discouraging than discovering dents or scratches that you could have easily prevented. Because wood is a product of nature, it can be dented or scratched by sharp appliances and heavy loads on furniture legs. Some furniture manufacturers place small-bearing metal or plastic domes, or hard rollers on furniture legs that can cause damage to a Kährs, or any, wood floor.
Combat this potentially-damaging problem by using wide-bearing and non-staining glides and casters and by placing Kährs Floor Protectors beneath the feet of all furniture legs.
We offer both Steel Shank Floor Protectors for wooden legs and bases and Peel-and-Stick Floor Protectors (95% wool felt) for metal or plastic legs and bases. Both provide maximum protection against scratches and dents commonly caused by furniture and appliances.
Minor Touch-ups
No matter how carefully you treat your floor, accidents do happen. Dropped packages and equipment and other things can dent or scratch any wood floor, regardless of how hard it is. Kährs has designed easy-to-use, user-friendly Touch-Up Kits so you can make minor repairs. We offer kits to match each flooring color.
Each kit contains a filler stick and touch-up marker. Both simple and inexpensive, Kährs Touch-Up-Kits can be the perfect remedy when you need to repair minor flooring blemishes.
It's rare and extremely unfortunate, but if you damage your floor too extensively to repair by yourself, contact your floor covering dealer and ask for a professional to repair your floor.
Occasional Floor Care: Recoating Your Floor
Kährs floors can be refinished without removing the factory finish. As a floor ages, normal wear and tear will cause a floor to lose its shine. This is natural-it happens to all wood floors! To restore the luster and extend the wear layer of the Kährs wood floor recoat with a water based urethane coating.
Recoating should be done when necessary. Don't wait until the finish has worn off. Call your professional flooring contractor for recommendations as soon as you see a wear pattern developing.
Note: To achieve a uniform look coat the worn traffic areas first followed with a coat over the entire floor.
Recommended Finishes: Bona Kemi (Pacific Strong, Pacific Ultra, Mega). Call Kährs Technical Line (1-888-TEK-KAHR) for other compatible floor finishes.
Radiant-Heating Systems: Additional Care
Kährs floors are engineered to withstand the rigors of radiant-heating systems. If your Kährs floor has been installed over a radiant-heated subfloor (water-filled tubes run throught the concrete or sleeper subfloor and are heated by a radiator), it is imperative that you follow these guidelines:
- Upon completion of the installation, solwly raise the temperature to its desired operating level (over a period of one week, beginning two days after installation).
- Never allow the surface temperature of your Kährs floor to exceed 81 F (27 C).
- It is especially important that you maintain proper humidity levels (45-60%) in the interior of your home at all times during the year. Run humidifiers and fans as necessary to maintain normal humidity variations.
