How to Protect Vinyl Flooring From Everyday Wear and Tear

Vinyl flooring has come a long way from the slightly questionable patterns you might remember from your grandparents kitchen back in the 90’s.

These days, it’s a genuinely stylish option for busy homes, particularly if you want something that looks good without requiring anything too high maintenance.

Whether you’ve got children charging through the hallway, a dog who considers muddy paws a personality trait, or a household where shoes, crumbs and general life happen at speed, durable LVT flooring⁠ can be a particularly practical choice.

But even hard wearing flooring needs a little TLC. Here’s how to keep yours looking its best when real life is putting it to the test…

Get Serious About the Doormat

A decent doormat can save your floor and make for a stylish welcome.

Dirt, grit and tiny bits of debris get carried indoors on shoes and can gradually cause scratches and scuffs as they’re walked across the floor.

Put a mat by your main entrance and encourage everyone to actually use it. If you have a particularly enthusiastic dog, having a washable mat or towel nearby for muddy paws is also a very good idea.

You don’t have to create a strict no shoes allowed household if that’s not practical (though we do try and enforce it in our household with little ones crawling about!). Just reducing the amount of outdoor dirt coming into the room will help.

Deal With Spills Before They Become a Problem

One of the joys of vinyl flooring is that everyday spills don’t need to cause a full-scale household emergency.

However it’s best not to leave them sitting there indefinitely.

Wipe up spills as soon as you notice them, particularly in kitchens and dining areas where you’re more likely to encounter everything from splashed pasta sauce to squashed berries.

Use cleaning products recommended for your particular flooring and avoid anything excessively abrasive that could damage the surface.

The same goes for muddy footprints. They’re much easier to deal with when they’re fresh than after they’ve had several hours to become part of the decor.

Be Careful With Furniture

Furniture has a sneaky way of causing floor damage.

You move a dining chair back and forth approximately 400 times a day and then wonder where that little collection of marks came from.

Felt pads underneath chair and table legs can help reduce friction, while larger pieces of furniture can benefit from suitable protective pads too.

Be especially careful when moving heavy furniture. Don’t drag it across the floor simply because lifting it feels like an unreasonable amount of effort. Get another person to help or use an appropriate method for moving it safely. Your back and your flooring will both appreciate it!

Keep the Cleaning Routine Simple

Vinyl flooring doesn’t need you to spend your Saturday morning on your hands and knees scrubbing every individual plank.

Regular, gentle cleaning is usually a much better approach.

Vacuum or sweep regularly to remove grit and loose dirt, then clean the floor with a suitable product when needed. Follow the care instructions supplied with your particular flooring, as different products can have different requirements.

And don’t go overboard with water.

Vinyl may be wonderfully practical, but that doesn’t mean your floor needs to be introduced to enough water to qualify as a swimming pool.

A damp mop is generally preferable to leaving the surface soaking wet.

Watch Out for the Kitchen

The kitchen is arguably where flooring earns its keep.

Between dropped utensils, food spills, chair legs, shopping bags and the occasional saucepan that has been placed somewhere it absolutely shouldn’t be, there’s plenty going on.

Consider using a washable rug or runner in areas where spills are particularly common, such as beside the sink or cooking area. Just make sure anything you put down is suitable for use on your flooring and won’t create a slipping hazard.

And if you’ve dropped something heavy, check the floor rather than assuming everything is fine. Dealing with a small issue promptly is much easier than ignoring it until it becomes a bigger one.

Give Your Pets a Little Help

We love our pets.

We could perhaps do without their ability to walk mud through the entire house immediately after we’ve cleaned it.

Keeping claws trimmed appropriately can help reduce scratching, while a towel near the door gives you a fighting chance of catching muddy paws before they reach the living room.

If your pet has a favourite sleeping spot, a washable bed or mat can also help protect the flooring beneath it from general wear.

Don’t Forget That Furniture Gets Moved

Your floor might survive years of normal foot traffic only to be put through its paces when you decide to rearrange the living room.

Before moving sofas, cabinets or other heavy pieces, protect the floor and avoid dragging anything across it.

This is particularly important when you’re moving into a new home and suddenly develop the overwhelming urge to rearrange every room within 48 hours. Take your time!

A Little Care Goes a Long Way

The great thing about vinyl flooring is that it is designed for everyday life.

You shouldn’t have to tiptoe around your own home in fear of damaging it. Kids can play, pets can wander around and dinner can occasionally end up on the floor. The trick is simply to stay on top of the small things.

Use doormats, clean up spills, protect furniture legs and give the floor a regular clean with suitable products. These can all make a significant difference to how your flooring looks over time.

And really, that’s what you want from a busy home floor - something that looks lovely on the day it’s installed and continues to look wonderful years after you’ve actually started living on it!

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