1. Maintain your studio temperature between 68° and 78° and the relative humidity between 50% and 70% 24-7 if at all possible. Don’t mess with the laws of thermodynamics or Mother Nature.
2. Always dry sweep and wet mop floor prior to performance. Do not flood mop.
3. Mop your floor at least weekly with a neutral degreaser/detergent to clean away dust and dirt which has mixed with perspiration and natural body oils. clean away dust and dirt which has mixed with perspiration and natural body oils.
4. The first time you do anything to a floor, do it in a small area to make sure you do no harm.
5. Be very careful of solvents. They can soften and ultimately dissolve your floor.
6. Be very careful about what you use to clean your floor. Stay away from standard household products. They usually leave a residue that will make your floor slippery. This includes alcohol, bleach, cleansers or other abrasive cleaning products, soda such as cola, and vinegar.
7. Remember rosin is not recommended for vinyl flooring.
8. Use designated cleaning materials and equipment for your floor, including mops, pails, brushes, sponge mops, or whatever.
9. If you are using top tape, remember that top tape deteriorates. Change your tape often. Top tape must be changed every three (3) months depending on the frequency of use. Probably more often.
10. Double-faced tape must be changed every two (2) years. If you don’t change it, you run the risk of having it bond with the vinyl flooring.
11. The longer you wait to address maintenance problems, the harder it will be to deal with them. Vinyl floors will absorb dye and scuff marks making them very difficult to clean. As with any spilling or staining, time is of the essence. Your floor is no different than your favorite shirt or blouse.
12. Do not expose your flooring to direct sunlight, especially between 10 AM and 2 PM. The UV radiation will release the plasticizers that keep your floor flexible. Limit exposure to sunlight using shades or shutters.
13. Always roll out flooring on stage or studio and let it become acclimated for at least 24 hours before affixing it to the floor for any type of semi-permanent or permanent use. Do not tape immediately, especially in cold weather.
14. When rerolling your vinyl floor, leave a 1/16 to 1/32 of an inch gap between rolls and a 1/2 of an inch gap between the outside perimeter of all rolls and the walls. Use vinyl or cloth top tape along seams and perimeter for safety, performance and protection of your vinyl flooring.
15. One last time, if you have just received a shipment of rolls from Stagestep or you are storing rolls, keep them in the vertical position.
16. Make sure the people who have any responsibility for your flooring have read these tips and the entire Maintenance Program section of the pamphlet.
When in doubt or if you have questions, call our technical support line toll-free: 800-523-0960 in the U.S. and Canada or e-mail us at: Stagestep@Stagestep.com