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Cleaning laminate floors…the real truth
Laminate flooring can provide a great flooring for your home and prove to be a cost effective and viable option for your new home and project. Laminate flooring is generally known to be a cost effective beautiful flooring type that can look very natural and also have easy DIY installation for those who like to work on their own projects rather than using a professional service for the job. Laminate flooring can be easy to upkeep if you in fact know the good upkeep procedures and methods that work and are effective. Laminate flooring may seem like an easy choice but before you think you can upkeep and maintain this floor with any type of cleaning procedure you should be very careful and research how exactly to clean and upkeep this flooring type.
It is important to note that not all types of cleaners are good for this flooring type and they should be researched and chosen very carefully and with extreme discretion. You may think initially that you can use an old fashioned mopping procedure with your brand new shining new laminate floor but this is definitely untrue to the fullest extent! It is true that many different procedures and products can be used on your new laminate flooring but definitely not all.
What you never want to use to clean a laminate floor
There are some cleaning methods, procedures and products that you will definitely want to ward against and we will suggest some of those methods, products and procedures here to help you in the cleaning endeavor of your laminate floor. Laminate floors are indeed a beautiful and cost effective flooring option that has the ultimate potential to be easily maintained and cleaned but like we stated earlier, be careful and definitely do not think that you can use any type of old fashioned floor cleaning method or even come up with your own method. You should use tried and tested cleaning methods and products for your laminate floor that have proven to be successful and effective. This will ensure that you maintain the floor properly over the years and decrease the potential for damaging and having to replace parts of your floor or the whole floor entirely due to poor cleaning procedures and incorrect product usage.
Here are some tried and true tips for your floor
When attempting to clean your laminate floor you should never use or even consider using a wet mop procedure. This is an old fashioned method of cleaning that works on some floor surfaces but it definitely does not work effectively on laminate floors. In fact this type of mopping method can actually damage your laminate floors due to an oversaturation of product and water on the laminate floor.
Another cleaning procedure that you will definitely not want to use is a steam mop. There is too much moisture in this method and it is ineffective for cleaning your laminate floors and keeping them in tip top shape over time and in the present time. A little tip that will help you in the upkeep and cleaning of your beautiful, prized laminate flooring is to deal with spills and accidents right when they happen. One of the ways you can do this is by cleaning up spills immediately with a damp and not oversaturated cloth. Apply the damp cloth directly on the area of the spill and Voila! You have dealt with the little spill and don’t need to over clean the area with other cleaning methods that prove to be ineffective. Cleaning up spills right away will also ensure that there is no extreme damage done to the floor’s surface or even below the surface due to the moisture seeping into the laminate floor.
Let’s say the unfortunate circumstance happens that you spill items such as oil, paint, markers, lipstick, ink or tar on your floors. There’s no need to panic there is a home based method that will always work like a charm if performed correctly after the spill ha taken place. You can simply apply a little bit of acetone nail polish remover on a cloth and apply the cloth to the area that needs to be cleaned and this will usually work for these types of spills.
An Important point you will always want to remember when cleaning your laminate floors
Little be known your laminate floors actually have wood products in them and are made of recycled wood so you will want to be extra careful with your care on this type of floor. You will always want to make sure not to use too much moisture when cleaning these floors because as we know moisture can seep deeply into wood surface sand cause damage in the short and long run. With that being said you will never want to use a lot of water or moisture in your cleaning and you will want to choose your cleaning products carefully so you will choose one that doesn’t have the potential to damage the floor.
How can I be sure I am using the right cleaning product for my laminate floors?
Choosing the right cleaning product for your shining and beautiful laminate floors can be as simple as reading the labels carefully on cleaning products. If you want to be sure the cleaner is safe and effective for your floor you can always choose from one of the man y laminate floor cleaners on the market that are designed specifically and only for laminate flooring. This is a best bet considering you have the potential to make a mistake and use a general floor cleaner that you believe will work but in fact it is the wrong cleaner for the floor. This would be an unfortunate circumstance. You cannot use all general floor cleaners or even general wood cleaners on laminate flooring even considering that laminate floors in fact have wood in them. There are great cleaners on the market designed specifically for laminate flooring and you will want to choose these products. And remember don’t use too much water when cleaning your floor and always remember wood and water don’t mix.
Although mopping is simple and easy you will want to use a product such as dry swiffer with cleaning product or the ever trusting and reliable Swiffer wet jet made specifically for laminate flooring. An important warning is also do not ever clean the floor with soap, detergent or other types of products similar to these. If this is done it can severely warp or damage the floor causing it to need to be replaced. You will also want to ward against steel cleaners or other abrasive cleaners or even chlorinated type cleaners. You may also think that buffing your laminate floor will be great and make it shine like never before but this is absolutely not true. You will never want to buff your floor as this can cause damage to the floor as well. Polishing machines are also out of the question as they can do more damage than good. Stick with a simple dry mop, swiffer Wet Jet and simple laminate floor cleaning solutions for your laminate floor cleaning.