Comments on: How to Clean Laminate Floors

By: Lakeside Sue

Lakeside Sue — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:59:49 +0000

I just had a new floor put in yesterday. It looked great until they cleaned it with BONA. All it did was streak and leave footprints. My husband is using a walker and every move he made left a mark. I got out the old vinegar water, a damp cloth and started scrubbing in the direction of the grain and doing a section about 3 feet wide from one end to the other. I’d wipe it off with a paper towel again in the direction of the grain as I was working my way from one end to the other. Now my floor has its natural
sheen and no streaks or marks. My husband’s shoes and walker do not leave any marks and I’m walking barefoot with no prints. I love my new floor now. Yeah for old fashion Vinegar!

By: Carrie

Carrie — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:21:35 +0000

I finally threw in the towel and hired someone to help me keep my house clean. She tried Bona on my Mannington laminate, which was OK the first few times. The last time, it was like an ice rink in my dining room and kitchen. My son wiped out too many times. I asked her to use something else – too slippery. This time the vinegar and water combo was even worse! She also tried my Pergo spray cleaner and the Mannington spray cleaner, neither of which helped. She is stumped! It’s like the finish is slick now that the floors are wet-cleaned regularly, whereas for the past 3 years, I have been using a Swiffer vac and Mannington spray as needed. Maybe we just aren’t used to clean floors at our house…

By: Glad I'm not alone

Glad I'm not alone — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:57:10 +0000

We just had our 90% of our floors done in laminate. Approx. 2,000 sq. ft. Sure wish I had found this forum before hand. There are more “don’t do’s” than anything. So much for low-maintenance. I’d do anything to have my carpet back!

By: Sandra

Sandra — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 04:20:55 +0000

I only wish that I had read all the comments here before putting laminate throughout my entire house. I thought that with kids and pets, that having laminate would be so much easier to clean than carpet. Boy was I wrong. I had no idea that it would be so hard to keep clean. I’ve tried everything to keep my floors clean, and nothing seems to work, except to not walk on it. Now I have foot prints and stains that seem to be permanent and even after trying to rub them off over and over again, they are still there. Big mistake putting in a dark cherry color too. My cats love to put their paws in their water dish and guess what….they walk on the floor and leave paw prints all over the laminate, which makes me crazy because if you don’t wipe them up immediately, they leave marks that you have to buff off. I’m trying the water and vinegar solution again. Already tried Windex. I guess next I’ll try the vinegar, alcohol and water mixture. Couldn’t hurt. Cleaning this floor every week is driving me crazy, and my family is tired of me being such a maniac about keeping it clean. I only wish the salesperson would have told me the truth about laminate. I would have spent the extra money on something I could have mopped and steamed.

By: maria

maria — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 00:45:00 +0000

I have high gloss laminate hardwood, and they are so hard to keep clean. Many people in the hardware stores suggested using a steam mop. Is that safe to do overtime. The boxes say safe for laminate but Im worried about the heat lifting them with moisture.

By: Tami

Tami — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 03:15:58 +0000

Wow….similar story here….looked great at first but as the weeks went on the footprints drove me nuts. The store sold us Bona WOOD cleaner and my mom, who cleans homes, insisted that’s why…we needed the Bona for Laminate…because duh, it’s a laminate floor. So I went back to the store and the guy acted like I didn’t know what kind of floor I had. I said we just bought it from you 3 months ago…it’s not hardwood…it’s laminate, you know, 1/4 of the price of hardwood…he then says maybe I’m wrong and it’s engineered wood…um, no sir, it’s laminate…please give me the laminate cleaner (it was behind the counter) then he insisted I needed to try the vinegar and water treatment once a month to cut grime and the I need the WOOD cleaner…have mercy….tried the water and vinegar…now it’s footprints and streaky. Moving to alcohol next…we only did one room and the entry, before deciding on doing the whole first floor…it’s not looking promising.

By: Cindy

Cindy — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:23:03 +0000

I had Columbia laminate at my old house, which I absolutely loved. It cleaned up beautifully with the Bruce laminate floor cleaner. At our new house we installed SPI laminate flooring. I hate it. If I could afford to take it out and re-do it I would. I’ve tried every concoction to clean it and nothing seems to work. It’s always dull and streaky looking. I’ve even contacted SPI to ask them how to clean the floor. They told me to use vinegar and water, which is what I’m using. They also told me the color I chose is a known problem and has recently been discontinued. Great. I’d would definitely by laminate again, but only the Columbia brand.

By: Tonia

Tonia — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 16:46:13 +0000

I have laminate flooring in about 50% of my 2000 square foot house and I would NEVER get it again. Hardwood is the only way to go and I wish I had spent the extra and got a floor I could actually take a mop to … this has been a nightmare. I’ve got the streaks and the smeary footprints and the constant worry about water and liquid spilling on the floor. Like a complete idiot, I had the stuff put in my kitchen and in a bathroom. Can anyone claim to be dumber than that … I highly doubt it. I’m going to try the alcohol thing and if that doesn’t work, I may just start drinking alcohol. At least I now see there are many others like me who’ve made the same mistake … I feel a little better having read all these comments.

By: I hate them too!

I hate them too! — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 19:11:11 +0000

I hate the laminate floors also. We installed them in our mobile home instead of carpet.

sure wish we would have purchased the carpet. our cat hates them also. ( he can’t run and play like he did on the carpet at our apartment.) Tried every cleaner and nothing works. Still have the foot prints and they always feel dirty under your feet no matter how much your sweep and do the vinegar and water cleaner. I don’t recommend them for anyone.

By: Glenna

Glenna — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 18:14:25 +0000

If you use a cleaner of water, vinegar and alcohol, what proportions do you use?

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 05:51:50 +0000

There are a lot of opinions on laminates. I find Mr. Clean heavily diluted in very warm water is the only thing that works- the hot water and the alcohol-based cleaner with just a little bit of grease-cut make for a gorgeous floor. The only times I have had a problem is if the dilution isn’t enough.
I need the water for movement on those floors. If the traffic areas are heavy, I go over them with a warm (very wrung out) mop first. Then final clean after that.
Buffing dry works, too.

By: Dana

Dana — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 02:47:21 +0000

I am so tired of scrubbing floors and seeing no reward an hour later. I have a two year old, a five year old and a lab, oh and a husband. So you can guess my laminate floors have high traffic. I tried with laminate floor cleaner and water and vinegar but same result, dull floors. Thanks to all the helpful hints but the one that worked best for me was the water and alcohol. My beautiful floors that we installed ourselves are back!

By: Jo

Jo — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:50:05 +0000

I just had my entire first floor done with high gloss Laminate flooring. Love it but is there anything you can do about the footprints, you can only see at an angle but ugh. I have a dry erase mop will try it on these floors.

By: Becky

Becky — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 04:45:06 +0000

I’d tried everything- the special cleaners for the Mannington brand, Bruce, Bona, etc. Vinegar and water, various other mixtures, Windex, mop dampened with plain water, etc. ALL leave a hazy film that shows tracks and streaks. It’s necessary to vigorously buff off the film (regardless of what you use to clean with) and you can’t really do that with any mop, but on your hands and knees. This was working me to death in our new 1750 sq. ft. retirement home that I made the huge mistake in believing “low maintenance” laminate flooring. I had to go on Prozac. (Well, almost.) But I finally figured it out. I put a microfiber cloth (from the dollar store) on my swiffer. I filled a micro-mister bottle (the one that formerly contained $12 worth of Bona) with 70% rubbing alcohol. Lightly spray a small area and with a few swipes, your floor is clean. The alcohol evaporates quickly, so you can get a clean shine without a film. If you have stubborn spots like something sticky or dog slobber, you may need to saturate the stain a little more and wait briefly before buffing with the mop. This absolutely does not leave any dull film and will not build up. I figured if you can put nail polish remover and other strong chemicals on these floors, alcohol shouldn’t damage them. I also use alcohol on my ceramic tile floor in the bathroom because it dissolves sticky hairspray residue better than anything else. In the past, I’ve used alcohol on vinyl floors in the bathroom as well. Our dealer and installer both said do not use steam mops – you don’t know if too much moisture is getting in the unsealed seams until it’s too late. Do not use Orange Glo. It will make the floors dangerously slick and over time, you’ll get a waxy build-up. And I can’t imagine trying to clean my whole house (muddy dog tracks and kitchen spatters) with a dry Magic Eraser, although they’re great for spot cleaning. Now, if anyone says don’t use alcohol, I’m not going to pay any attention. It’s the ONLY thing that works.

By: PJ

PJ — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 01:00:48 +0000

We installed a high end laminate floor in our living room in July 2009 and have had no problems with. We have hard wood floors in our bedrooms, and to me they are basically the same as far as keeping them clean. We purchased the Bona cleaning system when we purchased he flooring which consists of a microfiber cleaning pad, a polyester dusting mop, and a spray bottle of bona floor cleaner. Just spray and clean. Takes 5 minutes. no footprints, no problems with stains, just a happy customer. You can purchase this stuff online or at dept. stores like Kohl’s. Good luck.

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 22:07:12 +0000

I had read to use a little baby shampoo with a very slightly damp mop and then dry, as needed. It seems to work for me. I use a broom and dry swifter for daily use.

By: Carol

Carol — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 02:48:22 +0000

I have tried everything on my 1000 sq ft of flooring and nothing does it like Melaleuca Sol U-mel.

Clean and shiny like no other product,
smells good too.

By: Chrissy

Chrissy — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 02:01:55 +0000

Use a dry magic eraser. Trust me.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 21:50:51 +0000

Wow!!! I had laminate put in about 4 months ago and I HATE HATE HATE IT!!!!

Just like everyone I have tried everything, water, vinegar, recommended cleaners and they all STINK!!! Why in the world would they sell these floors when they won’t stay clean or free of smudge marks, foot prints. If someone would have told me the TRUTH I would have spent the extra money… Any ideas?

By: Chrissy

Chrissy — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 00:38:04 +0000

Hey! I did an entire Pergo floor that had build up. I never got the impression it would strip the finish. I hope it doesn’t! It works so well. I am actually going to order some melamine which is what a magic eraser is minus the formaldehyde.

It may be gentler. Will let you know!