Cleaning Dirt from Hardwood Floor

LESLIE: Barbie in Missouri has a question about flooring. How can we help you?

BARBIE: Hi. I have a hardwood floor in my kitchen that has dirt between the planks, in the cracks.

TOM: OK.

BARBIE: And I wanted to know if I could use a steam cleaner to clean those cracks.

TOM: Hmm.

LESLIE: I wouldn’t …

TOM: I don’t think you want to use steam on a wood floor.

LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Wood floor.

BARBIE: OK.

TOM: And I don’t think steam is going to help you get that dirt out. A very powerful vacuum would and your typical …

LESLIE: With a correct attachment.

TOM: Yeah. I mean your typical residential floor vacuum may not but if you were to use a big, like wet/dry vacuum, that would probably do a lot better job of getting some of that stuff out. What you might have to do is take like a knife and, if it’s got a bit of a gap, sort of draw the knife down there and break it up a little bit; because with everything that gets stuck on a floor, it kind of solidifies that dirt. You may have to loosen it up to get it to lift out.

BARBIE: Yeah, it’s a big kitchen. I was trying to find an easy way.

TOM: Yeah. I don’t think you’re going to be real happy using a steam cleaner. I mean it may not hurt it but I just don’t see how it’s going to help.

LESLIE: I just feel like if you introduce the steam and the moisture and the heat …

TOM: (overlapping voices) And the heat.

LESLIE: … it’s going to just warp and twist and may cause a whole bunch of other problems.

TOM: (overlapping voices) Yeah. Exactly.

BARBIE: Well, I was worried about that but then I watch the infomercials and, like magic, it cleans it all up. (Tom and Leslie chuckle)

TOM: Yeah.

LESLIE: It’s that darn Steam Buggy that …

TOM: You know how long it took them to get that six-second shot that looks magical? (Barbie chuckles) Probably a day or two.

BARBIE: Oh, OK.

TOM: Alright? (chuckles)