Information on Laminate Floor Cleaners

Laminate flooring is attractive, durable and easy to clean. Manufacturers will generally give you a list of instructions for caring for your new floor, as well as recommendations for using their own particular brand of laminate floor cleaners. These are pretty expensive though so I decided to do some research on what else I could use.

Personally, I don’t spend a lot of my time gazing at my flooring or noticing whether there is a streak or a smudge marring its surface. Free of sand and grit is good enough for me. I sweep when the crumbs catch my eye, and sometimes I spray it with the aerosol recommended by my home improvement store and give it a light mopping with a slightly damp cloth mop.

What if you don't want to spend money on special cleaning products?

Laminate is very durable and after doing some reading on the subject of cleaners, I’ve deduced that there doesn’t seem to be much that you can do wrong.

One of the suggestions was to use Windex. I always have that on hand so I thought I might give that a try next. After sweeping or vacuuming, spray as small or as large of an area as you want, and then use a dry Swiffer or a paper towel/or terry towel attached to your Swiffer mop to clean the area.

Another home recommendation calls for putting ¼ cup of vinegar in 30 to 32 ounces of water in a spray bottle and using that with a damp mop cover. There is no streaking and you are using very little water on the floor.

Another suggestion was a solution of 1/3 white vinegar, 1/3 rubbing alcohol, 1/3 water and 3 drops of dishwashing liquid for a quart total. Pergo suggests just using hot water.

Another recommendation is using a mop with a micro fiber pad. With micro fiber you do not need any cleanser at all.

Basically what I am reading is that you can experiment and then stick with the cleaning products that give you the easiest, cheapest and most satisfactory results. You are not going to kill your laminate floor unless you immerse it in water.



Further reading: The Flooring Handbook: The Complete Guide to Choosing and Installing Floors

 

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