Recommended Flooring for Kindergarten, Child Care & Tuition Centre?

Due to high cost of living standards and competition in education in Singapore today, we can see that many working parents are sending their young children to pre-school learning centres such child care centre, kindergartens and even tuition centres. Hence, owners of such institution have a great responsibility to look after their clients’ children by creating a healthy and safe environment for them; selecting the right flooring materials is one of the important things to do.

A clean environment is of utmost importance to prevent common virus from spreading. Principals should always maintain a high level of cleanliness in the premises and monitor the hygiene practices among the teachers and students in the schools.

Recently, some of our commercial clients who are in the pre-school and tuition businesses and even young parents, approaches us for recommendation on the types of flooring that are suitable for their properties. The main priority is to have a good daily hygiene practice in the school and the home, the flooring material chosen must have safe and healthy aspects especially to young children.

Here are the 3 aspects to look at when choosing the suitable flooring for the children:

Health

One thing to take note will be the formaldehyde emission level in flooring. Due to mass production, there is an increase in the number of laminate flooring products which do not comply to the international EN standard for formaldehyde emission.  Laminate or types of flooring that uses adhesives during installation will also have a relatively higher VOC emission than those that uses interlocking click system. Hence the principal will need to choose credible laminate flooring brands that comply with the EN standard as well as have E1 or E0 emission rate for formaldehyde.

One recommended laminate floor products for kindergartens, child care centre and tuition centre will be Parador laminate flooring. This is because of its patented Pro Air system. Pro Air system has an organic substance, call Protectin, which will significantly eliminate unhealthy airborne gases such as formaldehyde and unpleasant smells such as tobacco in the surrounding, neutralizes and convert them into healthy organic compounds. Hence, children and adults can breathe freely and confidently.

Safety

The other thing to take note when choosing flooring for children usage will be the safety aspect. Always make sure that the flooring has non-slip characteristics. Children run about. Make sure that the flooring is highly slip resistant as well as splinter-free. Always make sure the flooring products is tested and proven to have high non-slip properties. The flooring material must also be flame retardent, one of the certificate to look at will be the international CE mark.

Remove Stains Easily

On the other hand, uncleaned saliva, urine stains, faeces on the flooring may causes virus and diseases to spread among the children easily according to a report by Health Promotion Board. Hence the teachers and in-charge of the schools should always maintain top cleanliness by removing these stains immediately. Choosing a flooring that has better stain resistance is often recommended. Good quality flooring will ensure that stubborn stains such as urine and food spills can be easily removed and cleaned with appropriate cleaning solvents. 

In summary, choosing of good quality flooring materials is only one of the ways to maintain the healthy and safe standards in kindergartens, child care centres and tuition centres. The owners of the institution and parents still play a part in creating a hygienic lifestyle and environment for the children.