Party Proofing Your Floor For Christmas

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Yes, it’s that time of year again when Christmas adverts appear on the tv, children are writing their letters to Santa and people have begun to throw parties, celebrating the festive period with their friends and family.

It truly is the most wonderful time of year … but maybe not for your floors! From the spilled mulled wine to the scratches/dents from high heels, your floor will face a lot of wear and tear over the holidays. So, if you want your floor to survive the festive period then we have a few tips and tricks to help you give your floors that extra bit of TLC!

Rocking Around The Christmas Tree

You can’t beat a real Christmas tree. They’re a beautiful addition to any home over the festive period. However, the needles can be a nightmare when it comes to scratching your floor whether it be solid wood, laminate, or engineered wood flooring.

So, before you bring your lovely new Christmas tree into your home, give it a good shake to get rid of any loose needles and dirt. This will ensure that you’re not bringing in any excess dirt or needles and will make the clean-up process after Christmas a little easier for you too!

Despite shaking off any excess needles prior to bringing the tree into your home, it will still begin to shed again once put up in your home. To prevent any damage to your floors we suggest laying a tree skirt underneath your tree. It will catch any needles that fall off your tree without directly hitting and scratching your floor. A quick vacuum every now and then will get rid of those needles and make your home look clean and tidy. When cleaning up the needles that have fallen on the floor, we suggest that you don’t brush them up, as the combination of bristles from the brush and needles could lead to some scratches. We suggest using a vacuum instead.

Real Christmas trees will also need to be placed in a water bucket or water-filled stand as they need a lot of water to survive. However, be careful to not overfill your water bucket as excess water may seep through. If you let water seep through to your floor, the wood could start to warp and become damaged over the years, so take extra care when completing this part of the process.

Having a real Christmas tree is great, however, it does require a lot of maintenance and if you’re not able to put in the time and effort to take care of both your floor and your tree then it is highly likely your floor will become damaged. Artificial Christmas trees are a fantastic alternative to live trees if you’re wanting to protect your floors during this festive period. Artificial trees are lighter, don’t need water, and don’t shed needles or sap residue. However, an artificial tree may not shed needles, but it will shed leaves and fake snow when you take it out of the box. So, when this happens you can simply hoover up the excess snow and leaves and wipe down with a damp cloth to ensure your floor is clean and tidy and ready for your guests to arrive!

An artificial Christmas tree will also have plastic or metal tree legs to help it stand up properly. These stands run the risk of scratching and denting your floors, so we suggest placing a mat or tree skirt on your floor before putting up your tree to minimize the risk of damage.

Don’t Cry Over Spilled … Egg Nog

We all have that one clumsy family member or friend who ends up spilling their gravy or knocking bits of turkey and stuffing to the floor. So, whilst we advise avoiding any spillages, we are aware that accidents do happen.

So, if someone accidentally spills a drop of gravy or a splash of mulled wine on your floor then don’t panic! Keep a damp mop, cloth, brush, or kitchen roll handy and mop/brush up any spillages as soon as they happen. You won’t want to leave any liquids or food sitting on your floor any longer than a few minutes in case it permanently stains your floor.

Deck The Halls

One of the greatest traditions at Christmas is decorating your home and Christmas tree ready for Christmas day. Baubles and trinkets look lovely … but they can leave a lot of mess!

When you get your decorations out of storage, place a mat or towel over your floor. This will prevent your ornaments and decorations from directly touching your floor, preventing it from getting messy or having glitter sprinkled all over it! However, glitter has an annoying habit of getting absolutely everywhere! So, if your floors are victims of a glitter explosion then don’t panic! There are a couple of things you can do to ensure your floor looks as good as new in no time.

Use a vacuum cleaner or small dustpan and brush to pick up as much of the glitter as you can. Dampen a cloth or rag and thoroughly wipe the surface. Rinse and repeat as many times as you need to.

These two steps should get rid of all of the glitter that has spilled on your floor. However, if there’s still little bits of glitter that simply won't move, an unconventional way to clean them up would be to use a lint roller. Whether you have a smooth or textured floor, a lint roller will pick up the last remnants of glitter leaving your floor looking perfect, once again.

If you have Christmas displays such as a toy trainer running around the bottom of your tree or standing ornaments, then they run the risk of scratching your floors. Place a mat or pads under your ornaments so that they’re not directly touching your floor. This will reduce the risk of your floors becoming scratched or dented.

Dance Like Snow-body’s Watching

After a few drinks, your party guests will start to feel a bit merry and unfortunately bust out those terrible dance moves they save for special occasions. But what do you do when you haven’t got a dancefloor? You make one! However, this normally means a lot of damage to your floor! Luckily for you, there are a few preventative measures you can set in place to stop your floor from becoming damaged.

So, before your guests arrive ensure that you move all furniture out of the way and pre-make your dancefloor so your guests aren’t trying to do it later, as this can cause dents and scratches to your floor. At parties, a lot of guests like to keep their shoes on however, if they’re wanting to dance all over your floor in those beautiful but ridiculously sharp high heels then your floor will become damaged. So, place a ‘no shoe zone’ sign or politely ask your guests to remove their shoes before they step onto the ‘dance floor’. This will minimize the risk of scratches and dents to your floors.

Another important thing to consider is the increased traffic in your home. Hosting parties/Christmas dinner means that you’ll have a lot more people in your home than you normally would. Resulting in a lot more foot traffic. Thankfully, our engineered, solid, laminate, and LVT floors can all withstand a high volume of traffic so it shouldn’t be too much of an issue. However, one thing that you can do to minimize the risk of damage, is to ask your guests to take off their shoes before they come into your home. This will minimize the risk of guests tracking dirt and other contaminants into your home and prevent your floors from becoming scratched or dented.

Sparkle And Shine

It’s always good to be prepared for any accidents or spillages that may happen so here is everything that will need so you can be prepared for any flooring mishaps that may occur. If you follow our cleaning tips then we are confident that your floor will sparkle and shine like the brightest star in the sky!

• Wood Flooring soap/cleaner (Not too much).
• Microfiber cloths for spillages.
• Mop for spillages.
• Vacuum to clean up stray needles, dirt, and glitter from ornaments, tinsel, etc.
• Soapy water to clean LVT and Laminate floors.
• Kitchen Roll to clean up any spillages.
• Brush to clean up any spilled food.
• Lint Roller to get rid of that pesky glitter!
• Dustpan and brush for smaller spillages.

We Wish You A Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year!

Now that your floors have been fully party proofed, we hope that you are able to enjoy the festive period with your friends and family! Remember preparation is key. If you follow our guide, we are confident that you’ll be able to keep your floors in good condition and enjoy the party season without being too much of a Grinch!

From all of us here at Flooring365, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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