Installing laminate flooring comes with several advantages over hardwood flooring in your home. This flooring, which is made of synthetic flooring materials, imitates hardwood floors, and, at the same time, provides you with a cheap and lasting floor.
The natural-looking colors of a laminate floor can make your hdxsome augmented. However, to maintain the beauty and shine of your laminate floors, you’ll need the right cleaning solution.
How to Get Laminate Floors to Shine?
You can decide to use a steam mop as the first choice of shining your floor, but this can make your floor lose its adhesiveness.
Well, below are ways how to get laminate floors to shine.
1. Sweep or Vacuum the Floor
Dust and dirt can cause a scratch on your floor, not to mention make your floor look dirty. Therefore, ensure your floor is swept and looks clean at least once a week or more if you have kids and pets or an active house. Use the hard floor attachment when you vacuum.
Don’t know what vacuum is best for laminate floors?
2. Mop your Floor Regularly Using the Right Cleaner
After you vacuum your floor, ensure you wash your floor at least once a week. Spray the cleaner directly into the floor then use a microfiber mop to wipe it. Use homemade solutions or commercial cleaner, particularly made for laminate. However, avoid using cleaners containing soaps, harsh chemicals, or oil to prevent dullness.
3. Use Floor Mats at Doorways
Floor mats are designed to catch dirt, moisture, dust and mud, and other particles that can be drawn outside the house. They are also good for welcoming guests. Using mats at the door and other entrances help keep your floor tidy and reduces regular sweeping and mopping.
4. Polish Laminate Flooring
A laminate floor polish helps reduce scuffs and makes the floor shine while making sure the floor finish is well protected. Therefore, to make the laminate floor shine, sweep the floor using a vacuum cleaner hard floor supplement to get rid of the dirt and dust and use laminate cleaner methods to mop the floor.
Use a mixture of oil, vinegar, and water in a spray bottle and shake it well before using it. Spray the mixture into the floor and begin cleaning from the furthest corner of the room. You should also ensure you don’t overdo it.
Use a microfiber cloth to rub the solution into the floor in a circular motion. Keep on working on each section till you move backward out of the room.
5. Clean the Floor Using Vinegar
Floor cleaners bought from the store contain chemicals that dull the floor and leave and leave stretches on the floor. A laminate floor should be properly taken care of to make it shine, dissimilar to a hardwood floor that can be waxed.
Fill the bucket with vinegar and water after eliminating the pet hair, dirt, and dust by dry cleaning. The smell of vinegar can be hard to tolerate, and therefore, to mask the odor, add some drops of essential oil.
Wring out all excess water from the cleaning solution using a sponge mop. After that, clean the floor at a time in small sections using the damp mop. Start cleaning from the furthest corner of the room towards the entryway.
Ensure you wring and rinse the mop whenever it gets dirty. You may pour out excessively dirty cleaner and replace it with a new one if the floor contains a lot of grime. Remove the water solution and the vinegar and then refill the bucket with clean water.
Use clean water to repeat the cleaning process. Wipe the Floor dry using a microfiber cloth and do it in a circular motion. This process will polish the floor and bring back its gleam.
Tips for Keeping Laminate Floors Shine
1. Wipeout water spills
When water spills combine with laminate, it can be disastrous. Therefore, ensure that whenever water spills out, you wipe it out clean and dry the floor.
2. Avoid using things that promote a shine
These might cause waxy build-up that can be challenging to remove.
3. Avoid fine smelly cleaner
These smelly cleaners leave the floor dull and soapy filtrate.
4. Do not use too much vinegar
Vinegar is acidic, hence not the best cleaning solution for your laminate surface. However, many people prefer to use a little bit of vinegar and plenty of hot water to remove pet grime. Excessive use of vinegar can remove the protective cover on your floors.
5. Avoid traditional mop wetting
Traditional mop wetting is not a good idea when you intend to keep your laminate floor shine. Therefore, it is no.
6. Keep the high-heel shoes off the laminate Floor
Avoid using high heels shoes on your laminate floor to maintain its shine and durability.
7. Shave your pet’s nails
Your pet can scrape off the protective seal of your laminate when barking or just walking, and this can allow the intrusion of water during cleaning.
Therefore, ensure your pet’s nails are trimmed. Additionally, make sure you place furniture pads under all the tables, and chair legs for the same reason as this also offers maximum protection to your laminate floor.
What Makes My Laminate Floor Dull?
Well, that is a question you sometimes ask yourself and fail to get the correct answer. Your laminate floor can be made dull by the following factors:
- Use of excess wrong cleaners
- Use of excess water on your floor
- Sunlight
- Substandard tools and poor cleaning methods
- Plants and pets
1. Excess Use of  Wrong Cleaners
Using any cleaner without having prior knowledge about it can do more damage to your laminate floor, leaving them dull. Moreover, excess use of any cleaner, including the right ones, leads to cleaner build-up leaving behind a sticky floor even after mopping.
Therefore, before using your cleaner on a laminate floor, check with your glass or test first on a hidden area. It’s usually tempting to use more cleaners and soap cleaners on your floor, and it will only leave your floor more messed up rather than clean.
Regularly sweeping or vacuum cleaning your laminate floor helps get rid of dirt and dust particles that could’ve left your floor looking dull. Therefore, a microfiber or dust mop could assist in getting the job done.
2. Use of Too Much Water on Your Floor
Damp mopping is not a great method of cleaning a laminate floor. Excess water seeps into the joints of the floorings and fractures between laminate boards, causing swelling as well as buckling and even mist on the wood floor. Therefore, they will damage your floor in worst-case scenarios.
3. Sunlight
Sunlight rays flash daily on the laminate floor almost regularly. This can lead to fading or discoloration of the laminate floor fragment. Therefore, whenever you notice sun rays, protect your floor from direct sunlight by using curtains.
4. Substandard Tools and Poor Cleaning Methods
Using the wrong tools in cleaning can also have a big impact on making your laminate floor dull. Therefore, when cleaning your laminate floor, you need to ensure that you use the correct vacuum cleaners, mops, and steam cleaners.
You should also bear in mind that wood floors, steam cleaners, rag mops, and vacuum cleaners don’t go hand in hand with water hence will damage your floor when used with roller brushes. Therefore, be cautious when selecting tools for cleaning your laminate floor to ensure your floor doesn’t get dull and streak.
Moreover, ensure your furniture pads are intact and wear-free to avoid scuff and gauges that usually make your laminate floor dull.
5. Plants and Pets
Water pots filled to their maximum can cause leaks and destruction to your laminate floor. Therefore, you need to be extra careful if you have potted plants on your laminate floor.
Additionally, pet foods and dishes can leave your laminate floor with scratches if you have pets. In extensive cases, they may lead to buckling and warping of your laminate floor. Therefore, consider using pads to ensure the safety of your laminate floor from plant pots and damages caused by pets.
Can I Wax Laminate Floors to Make It Shine?
Laminate flooring is different from hardwood flooring. Yes, they are both made from wood, but their maintenance is different. This begs the question if it’s a good idea to use wax on laminate flooring.
Wax can’t be used on laminate flooring.
Using wax on laminate flooring doesn’t make it shine, unlike hardwood. Furthermore, it can lead to dirt build-up and essentially do the contrary of what it does to hardwood. Therefore, wax makes your laminate floor dull and cloudy instead of making it shiny.
Therefore, to clean your laminate floor, stick with vinegar and water, and a laminate floor cleaner. Be careful of laminate flooring cleaners, though. Ensure your cleaning supplies don’t contain the wax as an ingredient by reading the back label.
