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Are you hanging up your stocking on the wall? It’s the time when every Santa has a ball… and if your thoughts are turning to get-togethers, visitors dropping in or full-on parties, then this is the guide for you. While it’s wonderful when people gather round during the festive season, the downside of having a full house can mean your carpets or floors take a battering.
Even if you’re not worrying about extra footfall, there are also potential problems of spills and stains from candle wax, dropped needles from the Christmas tree and scratches or dents from fallen decorations. We’ve come up with some easy-to-follow hints and tips to help you get through the holiday period without too much damage to your floors.
In this guide you’ll find:
Although the holiday season can be a magical time of the year, the weather isn’t usually great. You may be dreaming of a white Christmas, but it’s more likely to be a damp and cold one. There’s a strong possibility of persistent rain, dripping umbrellas indoors, as well as dirt, grit and mud being tracked in from outside. And it’s likely that the house will be warmer than outside and cold draughts could get in when doors or windows are open.
Changeable conditions and fluctuations in temperature may affect your flooring. We’d suggest prevention is better than cure here. Lay down doormats at the entrance of your home and gently encourage everyone to wipe their feet before they come inside. Invest in a boot scraper by the front door if mud is a big problem or an outside mat so that shoes and boots can be taken off first, and the worst of the muck stays outside the home.
Having the heating on for long periods can dry out floors, so it’s important to make sure your atmosphere stays comfortable. You may want to place a bowl of water in a room that gets too dry. As many of us are concerned about heating during the cost of living crisis, this might be an opportunity to turn radiators or heaters down a notch to avoid this problem and reduce energy bills at the same time.
One of the star attractions when you’re decorating for Christmas is the tree. It’s up to you whether you have a real one or not, as both can cause problems with flooring. And the problems they cause vary depending on whether you have a wooden floor or a carpet.
A natural tree can lose its needles which can get trapped between planks or scratch smooth floors so you may need to do more vacuuming than usual. The best way to protect a wooden floor from a Christmas tree is to lay down a mat under the tree to catch as many needles as possible. And if you can, buy a tree with roots. Water it regularly to prevent needle drop, but be careful not to spill any water! You don’t want water rings from the pot or watermarks ruining your wooden or laminate floors. An artificial tree won’t shed needles, but it may come with a stand with sharp edges which could scratch wooden, laminate or vinyl floors.
A non-drop real Christmas tree is a good idea if you have a carpet, but the best defence is to vacuum daily. Needles will probably get stuck in loop pile carpets and will disappear into a plush saxony pile so make sure you’re vacuuming often so they don’t get walked across the room and through the house. Watch out for Christmas tree sap! Dressing your tree with a large Christmas tree skirt that also covers the floor below is a great way to ensure your carpets stay stain-free. A faux Christmas tree is relatively maintenance-free, just be careful that pesky metal stand doesn’t snag your carpet pile.
One of the joys of Christmas is inviting family and friends over to visit. It’s likely your home will be busier than usual. And that extra footfall means there may be more damage to your flooring. You could have dozens of people, potentially wearing dirty shoes or high heels, spilling mince pie crumbs or mulled wine and staining your floor with cranberry sauce.
We’d recommend keeping paper towels or wipes to hand for cleaning up spills or stains immediately. Then consult our care guides on how to remove stains from carpet or smooth flooring, depending on which type of flooring you have and what’s been dropped. It’s up to you to ask your guests to take off their shoes when they enter your home too, although you may want to provide slippers or socks as a hint!
While you’ll only get a Christmas Eve visit from Rudolph and all of the other reindeer if you’re on Santa’s nice list, it’s more likely your guests will bring their pets with them when they arrive. Dogs mean claws, which can scratch smooth floors, or get snagged in fluffy carpets. Protecting your floor with a mat or rug is a good idea, and making sure the pet keeps to one or two rooms can help to limit the opportunity for any damage. Alternatively, you can discover the best flooring for pets in our handy guide.
If you’re planning a party, you’ll probably be thinking about shifting furniture around to accommodate all the dancing and socialising. Be careful when you move heavy tables or chairs as they can scratch the surfaces of floors. You can buy adhesive felt which sticks to the bottom of your furniture. We have a detailed guide on how to protect your flooring when moving furniture so make sure you give it a read before you start rejigging your space. And once the merry making is in full swing, discreetly keep an eye out for any spills, as we mentioned earlier, and deal with them as soon as you possibly can without looking like a party pooper!
When Christmas time is over, the guests have all left, and the decorations have come down, the best way to protect your floor is to maintain it regularly. Please consult our care guides which will show you the best way to keep your laminate, vinyl, luxury vinyl and carpet in their best condition every day of the year. You may need to use a specialist oil to maintain your engineered wood floor or a carpet shampoo occasionally. Just remember a clean floor is a protected floor as it has not accumulated dirt which can damage it, so your everyday broom, (lightly damp) mop, and vacuum are your best friends.
If this guide has got you excited about your Christmas celebrations, why not come down to your local Tapi store and speak with one of our floorologists about replacing your old flooring for something new? You can also book a free home appointment for us to come to you, where we can help you establish what flooring would work best in your space and make your home party central!
Published: 02-12-2024
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