Wood Flooring, Cabinets & Furniture Care
The term wood today refers to various types of materials including Solid Wood, Engineered Wood, Laminate and imitation wood.
- Solid wood is one piece of real wood cut to size.
- Engineered wood consists of several layers of wood like in plywood with the top layer being the quality finished wood.
- Laminate is a synthetic material that looks like wood glued on top of a fiber board type of material.
- Imitation would be a completely man made material made to resemble the look and possibly texture of wood. The wood veneer surface is often a printed vinyl, paper or plastic.
Given the different type surfaces that are referred to as “wood,” it is not surprising that questions can arise.
In each case, however the vast majority of these materials have a top coat finish on them that provides the gloss, semi-gloss, satin or matte finish we have selected or prefer in our piece. These surface treatments are what we are actually interacting with when we are cleaning. These coatings are typically a urethane, acrylic, enamel or other man made coating designed to help prolong the look and durability of the wood. As such, wood coatings must be designed to clean and maintain these synthetic manmade protective surfaces without doing damage.
The use of polishes and oil soaps only leave a residue on the surface of the synthetic coating. In effect they are applying an oil. Oils may provide a glossy appearance initially, but there very nature is such that they also attract dirt which sticks to this moist sticky surface. The oils also tend to evaporate over time, which is why you find yourself constantly having to re-apply. Great for the product manufacturer and his bank account, but it does little more than provide an initial feel good immediately after application. This is certainly not a “clean” surface free of contaminants and oils. In effect, the act of applying these materials sees us removing trapped surface dust, but re-apply the dust trap once again. This is not a cleaned surface but an oiled one.
Better to remove the oil from the surface of the your protective finish to apply your natural finish to be seen. If the finish is not to your satisfaction, applying the appropriate gloss, semi-gloss or matte finish one time so that you have the look you want to maintain may be your better option over time.
An effective cleaner will remove the surface oils from these surfaces, halting the trapping of dust and debris for a longer “clean.”
MARBLELIFE’s INTERCARE Cleaner line is designed to remove surface oils effectively without leaving any residue, making it effective for use on a variety of surfaces. Sure we developed our cleaners with stone surfaces in mind, but quickly learned that kitchens and baths had a variety of surfaces that could benefit from our cleaning technology, and that our cleaners needed to be versatile in order to be of greatest assistance to our clients who only wanted to use on product. We learned his lesson in the hotel industry where housekeepers were using glass cleaners on glass which deposited waxes and acids on the neighboring stone, and metal cleaners on fixtures, and oils on wood that could stain their stone. In order to extend the life of the neighboring stone, it became imperative that our cleaners by able to clean glass, wood, metal and yes stone, easily and effectively in order to avoid cross-contamination. Today, MARBLELIFE cleaners do just that. Engineered to remove oils, dirt and debris, without use of acids or depositing waxes, or oils. As such, our cleaners do not cross contaminate surfaces, or seek to create the appearance of a clean surface, but actually clean safely and effectively.
You want a cleaner for your cabinets and floors, MARBLELIFE Intercare cleaner does just that. Then you can address the neighboring surfaces as well. It is so effective you will want to test it out on some of your most difficult surfaces. Try it on that barbeque grill and see what it looked like when it was new. Great on cleaning oily auto surfaces as well. When you have a great product that cleans, versus hides, its amazing how many application it can find.