Home Surfaces and Finishes Care Register

Who this is for

Each surface in the home, with its maker's own care rules. Worktops, floors, tiles, shower trays and furniture finishes each get a line with the material, the product, what the maker says to use and avoid, and when it was last sealed or oiled.

Households with stone, quartz, wood, laminate or specialist finishes, anyone who shares the cleaning with family, a cleaner or a lodger, and people moving into a home where the previous owner left the care leaflets behind.

What this helps you track

• Every worktop, floor, splashback, shower tray and furniture finish by room
• The material, finish, maker and product name for each one
• The products and methods the maker approves
• The products the maker rules out, so nobody uses them by mistake
• Sealing, oiling or re-treatment as the maker gives it, and when it was last done

How to use it

1. Walk round the home and give each surface a line: the room, what it is, the material and finish, and the maker and product name.
2. Find the care leaflet, the maker's website or the fitter's paperwork, and copy what it says to use and to avoid in its own words.
3. Write any sealing, oiling or re-treatment instruction as the maker gives it, and the date it was last done.
4. Run through the checks before trying any new cleaning product on a surface.
5. Keep the sheet with the leaflets, or share the browser version, which saves in your own browser, with anyone who cleans for you.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Why copy the maker's rules rather than general cleaning advice?

Because surfaces that look alike can need opposite treatment. A cleaner that suits one stone or finish can mark another, so the maker of your particular product is the reliable source for what to use and what to avoid.

What if I cannot find the care leaflet?

Look up the maker and product name on the maker's website, which usually carries care guidance, or ask the fitter or kitchen company. Note where you found the rules so you can find them again.

Does the sheet say how often to seal or oil a surface?

No. Some finishes need re-treating and some never do, and the timing depends on the product. Copy the maker's own wording into the re-treat column and record the date each time it is done.

Who else is it for?

Anyone else who cleans: a partner, older children, a cleaner or a house-sitter. A printed copy inside a kitchen cupboard door stops the wrong spray going on the worktop.