Maintaining a laminate floor is an easy process. Unlike most forms of flooring, laminate floors are hard to stain, and hard to damage. Read more for easy ways to clean, care for, and maintain your floor.
One of the biggest reasons for the current popularity of laminate flooring is its durability. Laminate floors were made and designed to last for many years with little supervision and maintenance. However, like all flooring products, it is not invulnerable, and without proper laminate floor care, it will lose its beauty faster than you can expect.
All you need for regular laminate floor maintenance is regular vacuuming and occasional run-throughs with a damp mop. However, to keep laminate floors looking like new long after its purchase date, here are some laminate floor care tips:
(1) Read the warranty and floor care instructions for your flooring carefully. Store these instructions in a safe place so that you can refer to it from time to time if you need it.
(2) Ask for post-installation care instructions. These are important because some flooring brands prohibit you to mop the floor for a certain amount of time, or there may be some important post-installation care instructions.
(3) Never underestimate small rocks, pebbles and dust. Although these agents do not produce visible scratches and may simply be swept or vacuumed, they may produce microscopic scratches which, after a long time, will create dullness. If possible, pick up small pebbles instead of sweeping them around to create less microscopic scratches as they move around the floor. Also, it is a good idea to place dirt-trapping mats and foot brushes on your doorway to catch dirt and pebbles.
(4) Never wet mop your laminate floor, as standing water can create dullness on your laminate flooring. Instead, simply damp mop. For more effective mopping, damp mop your laminate floor using a solution of vinegar and water. Mix two part of vinegar to about three parts of water for a simple cleaning solution. Remember to damp mop only, and if any standing water is created, wipe it immediately!
(5) Never, in any situation, apply wax or acrylic floor finishes.
(6) Put protective rubber pads on all furniture to prevent them from scratching the laminate floor. If they are the type of furniture that should be moved around constantly, rubber wheels or any other non-scratch wheels should be used. Before moving the furniture around, clean their wheels first; any small pebble that gets in between the wheel and the floor may cause scratching.
(7) To remove chewing gum or candle wax, apply ice to the affected area and harden it. After it hardens, carefully and lightly scrape it off.
(8) To remove oil, paint, permanent marker, tar or rubber heel marks, use either neutral cleaners, nail polish removers containing acetone or alcohol on a clean lightly-colored cloth. You may also use cleaners that are recommended by your manufacturer or cleaners that are specifically designed for laminate flooring.
Even with proper laminate floor maintenance, sometimes we cannot truly avoid disasters. If disaster does happen and you need to replace a glue-type laminate floor plank, it is always best to call a professional since replacing glue-type laminate floors without doing damage to the floor is considerably hard. If it is a no-glue laminate floor, you can simply remove the affected plank and replace it with a new one. Of course, prevention is always better than cure, so take good care of that laminate floor and you'll have it looking like new years after it was installed.