Owning Our Turf vs. Bad Consumer Advice

A post awhile back on Hardwood Floor's Facebook page got my attention. They regularly post examples of terrible advice for consumers in the mainstream press, and this was one of those Do It Yourself (DIY) newspaper pieces where the writer’s journalistic skills far exceeded their knowledge of wood floors. The article drew criticism from contractors because it focused on short-term gratification and totally ignored the long-term consequences being proposed. The newspaper’s readers heard what they wanted to hear: a quick and easy fix for an annoying problem.

A year ago, a local journalist in Atlanta highlighted an article (shown at right) by a leading consumer magazine claiming homeowners were paying too much for cleaning products. Their money-saving solution was to send homeowners on a scavenger hunt through their cabinets to make their own home brew. DIY was being replace with MIY—Make It Yourself.

The specific concoction they were promoting to clean floors contained ammonia, common house soap and water. I followed their formula and whipped out a quart. I went into my shop and pulled out a wood floor sample. It didn’t have any finish and was fine-sanded. I used tape to create two sections on each sample. I then made six applications of the home brew on the upper half of the sample. On the lower half, I used a cleaner manufactured by a coatings manufacturer. As you can see in the photo below, the discoloration was quick and very noticeable.

The lack of finish on the sample wasn’t an accident. The reality is older wood floors have wear patterns. These wear patterns from foot traffic, furniture, pets, etc., are areas where the original finish has been compromised and liquids are more likely to penetrate and damage the wood. This is especially true in kitchen areas where the traffic is heavier and the frequency of cleaning greater. I felt this was more realistic and representative of the wood floors in the real world than some stylized test in a lab. These are factors often overlooked or ignored by someone in marketing or journalism and invalidates their advice.

I took the results and sent the photos and an explanation to the reporter and editors of the magazine. I told them that their money-saving idea was based on some poor logic and could cost their readers hundreds, if not thousands, in unneeded repairs. I included more photos of floors in private residences I had seen damaged by “home brews,” like the one below.

For me, the nail in the coffin was challenging their basic premise: You save money when you brew your own cleaner. I took the dirtiest areas of my house (my kitchen, breakfast room, rear entry and half bath, approx. 350 sf), cleaned them and tracked the cost of how much cleaner I used. I calculated that I paid less than $1.00 for the liquid wood floor cleaner I recommend to clean the entire area. The reporter thanked me for the information and admitted her surprise at my findings. I never heard back from the editors.

I don’t have a problem with homeowners cleaning their own floors. I think it is a good idea, and I supply all my clients with hardwood floor cleaning kits and my own cleaning instructions. But this article took it to another level: They want total novices going in their kitchens and manufacturing cleaners, and that’s a huge problem. No test results, no test parameters, no nothing—just the blind “trust me” as they ask you to turn your wood floors into a testing grounds. If you want to see how much faith they have in this approach, ask them to put their name on the bottle of cleaner and accept liability if it doesn’t work.

Everyone in our industry needs to challenge these yahoos.

Everyone in our industry needs to challenge these yahoos. In my opinion, anything that detracts from the beauty, durability and practical advantages of wood floors hurts us all, and we cannot let this crowd control the conversation. This is our turf, dammit, and I’m tired of fixing someone else’s stupidity. It’s time we wag our finger in the face of DIY/MIY advocates and say, “Not in our house!”