Floor Care 101 by Joanne Liebeler (NAPSA)—Pity your poor floors. They’re trod upon, stomped on and usually neglected. A clean, glossy floor can actually improve the appearance of an entire room. Fortunately, maintaining and revitalizing your floors doesn’t have to be a monumental task for time-starved homeowners. Here are some tips to keep yourfloors looking great: HardwoodFloors According to the Hardwood Information Center, hardwood flooring can add as much as $10,000 to the resale value of a home—so it pays to take care of hardwood flooring. You can do that by using a little common sense aroundthe house. Try not to wear high heels or boots on your hardwood floors and be sure to clean up spills as soon as they happen. If you have hardwood in the kitchen, it’s a good idea to keep area rugs in front of the sink and other areas where the floors tend to get wet. To care for hardwoodfloors, use a product such as the Orange Glo Hardwood Floor Care System. The Orange Glo system cleans, shines and protects against scratches, wear and tear on your hardwood floors. The Cleaner cleans floors without leaving a residue, while the Refinisher restores shine and leaves a protective coat. Other Hard Surface Floors Laminate flooring has been growing in popularity and more than 70 percent of Americans have at least some vinyl flooring in their homes. If you’re like most people, you have a numberof dif- Home improvement iQ exper Joanne Liebeler says there are some quick waysto revitalize the floors in a home. ferent hard flooring surfaces in your house. For these types of floors, it is important to keep them clean, but you can also add a protective shine to boost their appearance. A product like Orange Glo’s Laminate, Vinyl & Linoleum RevitaShine adds a protective shine layer to dull floors. Regardless of how you care for your floors, keep one final point in mind: Floors are often the focal point of a room, yet they take the most abuse. Your floors deserve better and treating them well could payoff in a numberof ways. For more information, visit www.cleanshineprotect.com. For 15 years, Ms. Liebeler has shown do-it-yourselfers how to fix, design and improve their homes through television shows such as TLC’s “Home Savvy” and PBS’ “Hometime.” She’s built a reputation as a hands-on, do-it-yourself host.
