Earth Friendly Bamboo Wood Flooring

Bamboo has risen on popularity over recent years and is available through most retailers and installers. Bamboo flooring is installed the same way hard wood floors would be and there is a variety of colors to choose from. When installing your new bamboo floors be sure that your installer is also using an environmentally safe glue, with no VOC preferably or low VOC as second choice. You may also be able to select an eco friendly stain if you can't seem to find the right color for your room. When shopping around for your bamboo flooring you want to look for bamboo that has not been treated with formaldehyde (yes, they actually treat some bamboo with this!) and is VOC free. As for price, bamboo ranges from $2.99 to $6 on average, whereas Oak hardwood floors would be about the same price ranging from $3.99 to $6 on average. For the same price you could have an eco-friendly floor in no time! Plus it makes a great conversation piece as they have some nice finished available for the bamboo flooring.

First, there will be no difference in care of your floors, you would treat bamboo the same way you would treat any other hardwood floor. Bamboo should be dusted and dirt and grit should be quickly cleaned up so that it doesn't scratch your floor. A damp mop is also a quick way to clean your floor, though you need to make sure that the mop is just damp and not sopping wet as that will leave water marks on the floor. A bonus to bamboo floors-you never wax them! High heels should never be worn on hardwood floors or bamboo floors because they can scratch the floor! You should also make sure to keep your pets toe nails trimmed as they can also leave scratches behind. If you have any doubts, here's a guide that will tell you how to clean bamboo floors and some maintenance tips.

Now for a little on the background behind this multi-purpose grass known as bamboo. Bamboo has been used for many things ranging from wood floors, kitchen utensils, clothes, food and shelter in some areas. The most popular use of bamboo of course is food for Pandas! But don't worry, by getting a bamboo floor you aren't taking away from the Pandas, there is plenty of bamboo to go round due to the fact that it is a very fast growing and sturdy plant. This also makes it perfect for floors, as it can take the place of hardwood floors which use trees, some of which take over 60 years to grow to maturity. Being one of the fastest growing plants in the world, bamboo on the average takes 3-6 years to be fully grown, and once the patch of land has been cleared it can be replanted and harvested in another 3-6 years. Bamboo can be grown without any pesticides or chemicals which makes it very eco-friendly. It can also be grown in a variety of climates which also allows customers to buy bamboo which is grown closer to them, reducing the environmental impact of shipping hardwood.

The author of this page is dedicated to going green, and provides information on green living and recycling through the pages here on Squidoo. She also sells earth friendly products like reusable paper towels, reusable bamboo utensils, and organic perfume on her website, TheGreenerEarth.com. Visit today to browse the full list of products!