Hardwood floor cleaners, waxes, all-purpose cleaners, and soaps leave a film on the floors and can cloud the laminate surface. Using too much moisture. Dripping mop buckets and steam cleaners used on laminate floors leave too much moisture, which can seep down through the joints in the flooring and cause warping.
Buff Your Laminate Floors for a Brilliant Shine
A soft cleaning cloth attached to a dust mop works well, as does a microfiber mop head. If you don't mind getting on your hands and knees, you can use microfiber cloths and put a little more muscle behind your buffing.
Detergent can also cause a problem when too much has been left on the floor from daily activities like mopping. Over time, the detergent can build up and cause a sticky residue that will not respond to buffing. The detergent will be ground into the floor finish and cause the floor to look hazy.
Use a flashlight, shining the beam at an angle to the planks, to be able to see color changes better. Aside from discoloration in the flooring installation, damage from water can cause planks to become loose. Over time, warping and buckling is an issue as well, due to excess moisture.
You should sweep and mop them regularly. Use a specialty mop to clean them without excess liquid. Though laminate floors are water resistant, if they are soaked in water, they can be damaged. The best way to clean laminate floors is to use products especially made for them.
Don't be afraid to call a professional or use a professional product. Ammonia is a powerful cleaner for sticky stains, black spots, and scuff marks on the floor. You can use one cup of ammonia dissolved in a gallon of water to clear up the haze buildup.
Swiffer is designed not to leave a residue and should provide a great clean on virtually any floor in your home. For best results, make sure the product is suitable for your floor. Do not use Swiffer Wet cloths or the Swiffer WetJet on unfinished, oiled or waxed wooden floors, non-sealed tiles, or carpet.
That's because the chemicals in your floor cleaner leave behind a residue. Not only does this residue make your floors sticky, it can also lead to a cloudy appearance and discoloration on wood floors.
If your laminate flooring has a cloudy appearance, it is likely caused by a film of excess cleaning product. With proper care, restore the shiny laminate floor finish with a few simple steps and prevent the cloudiness and streaking from returning.
Use a microfiber flat mop pad to mop your floor.
Microfiber mops don't even require a bucket to get the job done, and are easy to rinse and wring out in the sink. This makes it easy to avoid using too much water which can end up damaging laminate floors.
Yes, you can use a wet Swiffer or Swiffer WetJet on laminate floors. "The wet Swiffer is best for quickly cleaning small spaces," Forte says.
Residue-free, fast drying, ready-to-use solutions clean every floor type by easily and effectively removing dust, dirt and grime to reveal your floor's natural shine and beauty.
If your floors are already dull because you accidentally used the wrong product, you can buff them right up with a mildly abrasive DIY cleaner of baking soda and white vinegar that is mixed with hot water and then applied with a soft cloth.
Overall, microfiber mops have more pros than Swiffer mops. Microfiber mops can be used as a two-in-one to both sweep and mop at the same time. However, a Swiffer mop can typically only clean after the sweeping has already been done.
Avoid Using Too Much Soap
Soap only lifts dirt and oil into water, making them suspend in water. Therefore, the more soap you use, the more your mop gets saturated with dirt. So, if you do not remove all the soapy water from the floor, the dirt remains, forming streaks on the floor.
FLIP IT UP AND REVERSE IT:
Once you make that first hairy pass on your floors, you can remove the sweeper cloth, shake the loose stuff off and use the other side. Both sides of the Swiffer Sweeper cloth work to attract dust and hair, so why not use both? This trick works on the Swiffer Wet refill pads, too.
Bona cleaners won't dull your floors or leave behind any residue.
As with other materials, vinyl is susceptible to dirt, dust and grime. These substances leave a cloudy film on vinyl.
This specific type of flooring is not compatible with water or humid environments and can be irreversibly damaged, even in short periods. Manufacturer instructions make it very clear that laminate floors should not be placed in rooms with severe temperature or humidity fluctuations, like a bathroom or laundry room.
One of the fastest ways to pinpoint pockets of excess moisture in flooring is to use a flooring moisture meter to test the floor.
The problem with laminate flooring and humidity
Too much humidity can cause floorboards to swell. Laminate is less affected by these changes than solid hardwood floors, but it's still a consideration. When planks expand, the pressure between them increases, and they can buckle or warp.