LESLIE: Susan in New York finds The Money Pit on WABC. What can we help you with?
SUSAN: Hi, I have a daycare center in my home and when I did the flooring I got foam tiles. And now I’m having a very hard time keeping them clean. They’re just – they’re about a year old and they look very, very dingy.
LESLIE: Are these the foam tiles that look like giant puzzle pieces in fun, bright colors and you snap them together?
SUSAN: Yeah, those are the ones.
TOM: Can you take them up, Susan? Do they come up? Do they like – if they’re puzzle pieces can you take them up and soak them?
SUSAN: Well, yeah. I’ve done that a few times. Like I’ve actually taken them outside and scrubbed them with soap and hosed them down. But the dirt is getting stuck into like little grooves on the tiles.
TOM: Hmm.
SUSAN: And it just looks – it looks terrible. So I’m – you know, I want – I’m pretty much – you know, I just want to get rid of them. And the only thing is like carpet – you know, I need something soft. But at the same time it’s high traffic; they’re eating there; spilling. You know. So, it’s got to be something really durable that’s – you know, that can be just cleaned easily.
LESLIE: Susan, if you want to give it one more try with cleaning why don’t you pick up one of those commercial orange cleansers which are really meant to attack all sorts of grime and grit; like especially fingerprints and like greasy marks like that. It’s worth a shot, especially if you’re sort of at the stage where you’re over them and you’re tired of cleaning. Then …
TOM: The other product that I think works well is Simple Green.
LESLIE: Oh yeah, that’s a good option as a cleanser as well.
TOM: Yep. Very environmentally friendly and safe for the kids, too.
LESLIE: And then if you’re thinking about carpeting or you’re sort of leaning in that direction of soft goods, there’s a company called Flor Carpet Tiles. It’s F-l-o-r. And basically they’re like those puzzle pieces but they’re carpeting. So you just lay them next to one another. They have little sticky tapes on the backside that you would glue them down to the floor. It’s just four little stickers. And then if there’s a damage or an incident or somebody spills you just pick up the one that’s been ruined and put the new one down. They’re reasonably priced. They’ve got a lot of great options; all different kinds of pile heights. They even have fun ones like those maps on the carpets for kids that look like little railroad tracks and airplanes and – and there’s a lot of cute options. So it’s worth checking it out and the prices are really good.
SUSAN: That sounds really great. Yeah, that sounds really great because one of the things that attracted me to the foam was that if something horrible does happen you know you can just really take them off and, you know, take them out of the situation. (chuckling)
LESLIE: Mm-hmm.
SUSAN: So that sounds really – that actually does sound like a good option.
TOM: Yeah, the company’s called Flor. It’s spelled F-l-o-r. Just one “o.”
LESLIE: Mm-hmm.
TOM: And they’re probably available – and they’re available online. What’s their website?
LESLIE: Oh, yeah. It’s Flor.com. F-l-o-r.com. And it’s kind of fun because you can go to their website and you can say, “Hey, customize my own rug” and you put in the dimensions of your room and you say, “I like these five tiles” and they can help you map them out to make a fun pattern. Or you can completely do it on your own. It tells you how many you need. And they range from like $9 a tile up to $25 I think. So there’s something in your price range and they’re very durable.
SUSAN: That sounds really good. OK, thank you so much.
TOM: You’re welcome, Susan. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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