How to Clean Laminate Floors Without Streaking
Laminate flooring is a popular flooring option these days because of so many advantages associated with it. It has a high durability, it is inexpensive and can be installed easily. However, when it comes to cleaning of laminate floor, you have to be extra careful. Basically, the planks of laminate flooring is made up of layers of woods and fiber and its surface is sealed with a protective coating that gives an attractive shine to the surface. If you use regular floor cleaner on laminate surface, it can cause damage to this protective sealant. On the other hand, any other cleaning solution that contains soap or ammonia leaves behind streak marks on the floor surface. Because of this the lovely shine of the laminate floor may be lost. For this reason, cleaning laminate flooring without streaking is a challenge.
How to Clean Laminate Floors Without Streaking
In this section, we'll be discussing three different techniques that can help you to keep a laminate floor clean without any streaks. They are as follows:
Method 1
If the laminate floor is exposed to light foot traffic, sweeping and dry mopping are safe and effective methods of cleaning laminate floors. Use a plastic or bristle broom for sweeping off loose dirt and debris from the floor surface. While sweeping, move the broom lightly to avoid any scratches from the sharp edges of large sized granular dust particles. Alternately, you can also use a vacuum cleaner for this purpose as it can finish off the job faster. You should always use a vacuum cleaner without the beater bar for this job. After sweeping the floor, use a dry mop to remove the remaining dust and dirt from the floor. These dry mops consist of a small disposable pad attached to a long plastic stick. It can pick up finer particles of dust that cling to the floor surface. Move the mop gently all over the floor to clean it up. If the pad gets saturated with dust, you can replace it with a new one.
Method 2
When your laminate floor is exposed to heavy foot traffic on a regular basis, wet mopping of the floor is a must. The problem is plain water is slightly alkaline in nature. If you use it for mopping the floor, it often leaves behind white water spots on the floor surface. So you have to neutralize the water by adding some white vinegar to it and thus prevent streaking. Mix one-fourth cup of white vinegar in 2 gallons of warm water to prepare the cleaning solution. The most important tool for wet mopping is a micro fiber mop which is soft and has grooves that can hold the dirt really well. Dip the mop into the solution, wring out excess water from it and wash the laminate floor with it. Once you have cleaned up the entire floor, leave it untouched for air drying. Walk on it only when it is completely dry. If there is too much of water left behind on the floor, you need to dry it up with a clean and dry towel. This is because if water is allowed to stand on the floor for a long time it can cause damage to its surface.
Method 3
If there are mild stains in a small area of the floor, you may not want to prepare mopping solution to clean it up. Mix up two parts of window cleaner with one part of rubbing alcohol and pour this mixture in a spray bottle. Apply this homemade cleaning agent on the affected spot on the floor and rub a paper towel over it. For some tough stains like that of shoe polish or nail polish, you can use acetone based nail polish remover. However, it is advisable that you perform a patch test on a hidden corner of the floor before using it on the main area.
Tips on Laminate Floor Care
Here, we are sharing with you four useful tips that can help you keep the laminate floor neat and clean:
- Before wet mopping the floor you must sweep the floor once to remove dust and thus make the cleaning job easier for yourself.
- Place area rug on those areas which get maximum foot traffic. Thus you can prevent dirt accumulation in these areas.
- Keep a foot brush outside the entrance of the room. This will control the amount of dirt entering the room to a great extent.
- In case of any accidental liquid spills on the floor surface, wipe it off with a damp, clean cloth immediately. Thus you can prevent any ugly stains on it which are quite difficult to remove.
