Cleaning and Caring for SPC and LVT Flooring

SPC stands for solid polymer core, as the Multilayer Modular Flooring Association defines it, against WPC for a wood plastic composite core; both are core materials for multilayer modular floor panels. The standard for those panels, BS EN 16511:2023, covers multilayer mechanically locked floor coverings with a wear-resistant decorative surface layer, in tiles or planks, for floating installation in domestic and commercial use. The phrase to hold on to is "wear-resistant decorative surface layer": the decor is a print, and the clear layer over it is what takes the traffic. Cleaning is about that layer and nothing beneath it.

The BML floors in the range have a wear layer of 0.3 mm on the 5.2 mm click planks and 0.55 mm on the 6.5 mm wide planks, herringbone blocks and stone-effect tiles. All have a textured surface, are graded commercial, are listed as waterproof, come with the underlay backing attached, and carry a 25-year manufacturer's warranty.

LVTLuxury Rigid Vinyl

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A vinyl floor's declaration carries a use class, 23 for heavy domestic, 31 to 34 for commercial. EN ISO 10582, the standard for heterogeneous PVC floor coverings, includes that classification by intensity of use so that a buyer can see where the floor gives satisfactory service. It does not tie the class to a wear layer thickness in millimetres: the class says where a floor is fit to be used, not how thick its wear layer is. So a floor's grade and its wear layer are two facts, and both are on the datasheet.

For multilayer modular floor coverings the MMFA requires low-moisture cleaning methods and states that pooling of liquid on the floor must be avoided under all circumstances. That is the whole of the rule, and everything below follows from it.

Felt pads under chair and table legs, a mat inside the front door that catches grit before it reaches the floor, and castors or glides on anything that rolls. A textured surface shows a scuff less readily than a smooth gloss one, but it collects grit in the texture, which is why the dry pass comes first. The scratch protection guide covers the same habits for wood.

Care guideHow to Protect Floors from Scratches & Daily Wear

The BML floors arrive with the underlay backing attached, and a second underlay is not part of the specification. The MMFA groups what an underlay does under three headings, levelling small unevenness, protecting the floor from wear beneath and from rising residual moisture, and improving sound, heat insulation and comfort, and the attached backing is the range's answer to all three. Over underfloor heating the floors are listed as compatible; the underlay guide covers the thermal limit that applies to the whole build-up.

How to chooseFlooring Underlay: What It Does and How to Choose

A click floor is a floating floor, and a damaged plank can be lifted and replaced by working back from the nearest wall, which is the reason to keep a spare box from the original order. A leak is a drying job rather than a new floor, provided the water is taken up rather than left, and provided the subfloor beneath is dried before the boards go back. The 25-year warranty has its own conditions on cleaning and installation, and they are the conditions to read first.

How to chooseWhat Is SPC / Rigid Core Vinyl?

ComparisonSPC vs LVT – Which Is Better?

Cost guideLVT and SPC Flooring Cost

Grit, sand and a wet climate are the three things a floor meets at the door, and how much of each depends on where the house stands. Browse by town and region.

DeliveryWhere we deliver

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