How to Clean Nordikka Flooring — Aftercare and Maintenance Guide

Nordikka flooring is designed to be low-maintenance, but the routine you follow in the first few weeks after installation and in day-to-day use makes a real difference to how the floor looks in five or ten years’ time. This guide applies to every Nordikka range — Nordikka Living, Nordikka Original, Nordikka Select, the new Nordikka Naturals, Nordikka Click SPC, Tromso Herringbone LVT and Bodo Herringbone SPC. Day-to-day cleaning is the same across all ranges. The only practical difference is that heavier-specification ranges (Nordikka Naturals at 0.7mm, Original and Select at 0.55mm) are slightly more forgiving of the occasional missed spill than the lighter-specification Nordikka Living.

Daily and Weekly Cleaning

The single most important thing you can do for a Nordikka floor is to keep grit off it. Fine dirt particles act like sandpaper underfoot and are the main cause of gradual surface dulling on any LVT floor, regardless of wear layer thickness. Sweeping or vacuuming every few days is the single highest-value habit you can develop.

For vacuuming, use a hard-floor vacuum without a rotating beater bar — beater bars designed for carpet will scuff an LVT surface. A soft-bristle broom is a perfectly good alternative for day-to-day use.

Weekly mopping uses a pH-neutral, fragrance-free LVT cleaner with a well-wrung damp mop. We recommend Dr. Schutz LVT cleaner as the default choice — it is pH-neutral, widely available and leaves no residue. The mop should be damp, not wet — the floor should not be visibly puddled after mopping.

What Not to Use on Nordikka Flooring

Certain products and methods cause the majority of avoidable damage to LVT floors. Avoid all of the following:

• Steam cleaners — the combination of heat and forced moisture can compromise the adhesive bond on gluedown installations and will void the Nordikka warranty.
• Abrasive pads and steel wool — these will cut into the wear layer and permanently damage the surface.
• Wax polishes — Nordikka does not need polishing. Wax creates a film that attracts dirt and eventually makes the floor look worse, not better.
• Harsh chemicals — never use undiluted bleach, ammonia or strong solvents. These will damage the wear layer and can discolour the decorative film beneath.
• Washing-up liquid — this is not designed for floor cleaning and leaves a residue that attracts dirt.
• Over-saturation with water — never allow standing water on any LVT floor, particularly on gluedown installations where it can compromise the adhesive bond at plank edges.

Handling Spills and Stains

Wipe spills as soon as they happen. This prevents staining, and on gluedown formats prevents any risk of adhesive weakening at the plank joints. For most everyday spills, a pH-neutral LVT cleaner and a soft cloth will lift the residue. For specific problem substances:

• Ink, paint, permanent markers: isopropyl alcohol on a clean cloth, applied gently.
• Grease and oil: mild detergent solution, followed by a clean-water wipe to remove residue.
• Red wine, coffee and similar: pH-neutral LVT cleaner as soon as possible; the longer these sit, the harder they are to lift.

Always test any cleaning approach on an inconspicuous area of the floor — under a rug edge, inside a cupboard — before applying it to a visible patch. This is especially true for stronger solvents like isopropyl alcohol.

Protecting Your Floor from Damage

A 0.3mm wear layer on Nordikka Living, a 0.55mm wear layer on Original and Select, and a 0.7mm wear layer on Nordikka Naturals are all tough surfaces — but none of them are indestructible. A few habits make a significant difference to how the floor wears:

• Lift furniture, don’t drag it — drag marks from heavy furniture are one of the most common avoidable damage patterns on LVT.
• Fit felt pads to all furniture legs — and replace them when they wear out or pick up grit. A felt pad with an embedded stone is worse than no pad at all.
• Use castor cups under heavy items — pianos, large cabinets, office chairs with castors.
• Place mats at external entrances and along high-traffic hallways — most of the grit that reaches an LVT floor comes in on footwear.
• Avoid rubber-backed mats — the chemicals in rubber backings can leach into LVT and cause permanent staining. Use cotton, jute, felt, or breathable synthetic-backed alternatives instead.

Environmental Conditions

Maintain the room temperature between 18°C and 27°C — ideally 20°C to 22°C — with relative humidity between 35% and 65%. Large swings in either temperature or humidity will stress click joints and adhesive bonds over time, even on heavier-specification ranges like Nordikka Naturals.

In rooms with extensive south-facing glazing, use blinds or UV-filtering window films — particularly during the first weeks after installation. Direct solar gain through glass can drive the localised surface temperature well above the room average and cause early movement before the adhesive has fully cured.

Pet and Footwear Considerations

Trim pet nails monthly — long nails are a common cause of fine surface scratching on LVT floors. The 0.7mm wear layer on Nordikka Naturals is measurably more forgiving of this than lighter-specification ranges, but no wear layer is immune to a large dog with untrimmed nails running across it daily.

Avoid high heels, stilettos, cleats, studded shoes and similar indoor. Concentrated point loads from small-tipped heels can leave permanent indentation marks. Encourage soft-soled indoor footwear — slippers, trainers, flat-soled shoes — and the floor will look better for longer.

Post-Installation Guidelines: The First Few Weeks

Gluedown installations (Living, Original, Select gluedown, Nordikka Naturals, Tromso Herringbone LVT) need 24 to 48 hours of adhesive cure before the floor is mopped or loaded with heavy furniture. Walking on the floor during this period is fine; wet cleaning and heavy static loads are not.

Click SPC formats (Nordikka Click SPC, Select click, Bodo Herringbone SPC) are walkable immediately after installation but still benefit from 24 hours of stable conditions before the room is returned to full use. Place door mats at every entrance immediately after installation — not a week later.

Protecting Your Warranty

Nordikka warranties are generous, but they are conditional on the floor being installed and maintained correctly. Keep the following together from day one:

• Purchase invoice and installation date.
• Three spare planks from the installation batch (five spare for Bodo Herringbone SPC, given the increased cut count in a herringbone installation).
• Moisture test readings from the installation — relevant for gluedown claims.
• A note of the cleaning products used.

The following will void Nordikka warranty coverage: steam cleaning; use of undiluted harsh chemicals including bleach or ammonia; wax polishes; and rubber-backed mats. Follow the official Nordikka installation method (see our Nordikka LVT gluedown installation guide for gluedown formats or the Nordikka Click SPC installation guide for click formats, and the Bodo herringbone fitting guide for Bodo specifically), and use only recommended cleaning products.

A Note on Nordikka Naturals Specifically

The 0.7mm commercial-grade wear layer on Nordikka Naturals gives the floor a real margin of safety over lighter-specification LVT — particularly in busy kitchens, long hallways and multi-room schemes where the floor is under heavier daily pressure. But it still benefits from exactly the same routine as every other range: no steam mops, no wax polishes, no rubber-backed mats and a pH-neutral LVT cleaner used sparingly.

The wear layer is what protects the decorative film beneath. Treating it correctly — even on a range that doesn’t strictly need babying — is what extends the floor’s visual life by years rather than months.

Further Reading

For a detailed breakdown of every Nordikka range by specification and application, see our Nordikka flooring ranges explained guide. For a full product assessment, see our Nordikka flooring review; if you’re comparing Nordikka against premium alternatives, our Nordikka vs Amtico vs Karndean comparison covers the key differences. For herringbone specifically, our Nordikka herringbone flooring guide compares Tromso, Bodo and Nordikka Naturals herringbone. And to buy, see where to buy Nordikka flooring or browse the full Nordikka flooring collection.

To see Nordikka at full scale before you buy, visit our Altrincham showroom — every range in the Nordikka collection is on display at full plank scale, 24/7 on a smart-lock system.