How to Clean Laminate Flooring

Laminate flooring is beautiful and easier to care for than expensive hardwood. Here's how to clean laminate flooring for your house cleaning business clients...

It's a floor covering that's durable and practical for a busy family. And with all of its great features (it's strong, economical, comes in a variety of patterns), here is a great feature: clean up is a breeze!

Whether a laminate floor is textured or aged, filthy or brand new, you can follow these easy step-by-step directions for cleaning laminate flooring --and you'll have clean and sparkling floors in no time at all.

How to Clean Laminate Flooring -- Basic Steps

1. Sweep often. Although laminate flooring is durable, any dirt that is left to sit on its surface will act as an abrasive and will dull floors very quickly. It's important to preserve laminate floors by running a broom or vacuum over the surface daily (or often).

2. Use a damp mop. At least once a week, you'll want to give your floors an extra good scrubbing. All that you'll need to clean laminate flooring is a damp mop and some hot water. Run the mop over the entire surface of your floor, taking extra caution so as not to slip on wet areas. (Best banish the family out of the room until this step is complete!) Make sure that you're not using too much water for this step, as it will seep into cracks in the laminate and could potentially warp your floors. For this reason, never dump water onto a floor. Instead, just dampen the mop.

(NOTE: There are millions of laminate floor cleaners on the market, but experts still suggest that warm water is the best cleaner. It leaves no streaks or residue, dries quickly, and is safe for the health of your family).

A similar option would be a floor steamer which also uses simply water to clean your floors. These are also inexpensive and safe for laminate, and they're available at your local hardware store. As always, be sure to read instructions before attempting to use one.

3. Dry your laminate. If there is no breeze in your home, you may wish to speed up the drying process once you've cleaned your laminate. Simply run a dry mop or cloth over the floors to absorb any leftover moisture or liquid. Your laminate floor will sparkle like new again.

How to Clean Laminate Flooring -- Do's and Don'ts

• Lifting furniture is much preferred to dragging it across your beautiful laminate floors. If you can't, use floor protectors when moving furniture across laminate during the cleaning process.
  
• Never use any cleaner that is abrasive. This includes scouring powders or steel scrubbers.
  
• Don't use cleaners that are soap-based, as they tend to leave too much residue and your floor will lose its shine.
  
• NEVER wax or polish laminate. This is not only dangerous, but unnecessary and will require immediate removal.
  
• Laminate flooring cannot be refinished. If you can't get an area as clean as you'd like, it needs to be replaced.

Caring for and cleaning laminate floors takes little more than a mop and water. It's a resilient floor surface that, with regular care and cleaning, will stand up to years of use by your family.

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