Proper Care of Laminate Flooring

It's easy to understand why so many homeowners choose laminate flooring. Not only is it durable and beautiful, but it is affordable as well. It doesn't stain or hold in smells like carpet does, and doesn't require special care like hardwood and engineered floating wood does. Of course, even laminate requires the right type of care and protection to look beautiful and last.

Preventing Damage to Laminate Flooring

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One of the best ways to protect your laminate and prevent damage is to use felt pads on the bottom of your furniture. These protective pads can be purchased from local shopping centers such as Wal-Mart, and prevent your furniture from wearing through the prefinished protective coating on your laminate.

Furniture isn't the only thing that can scratch your laminate. Dirt, grit, sand and other organic materials tracked in on shoes and from pets can also damage your laminate flooring. A foolproof method of keeping these things off your floors is to ask everyone to take their shoes off at the door.

Of course, that isn't a realistic option for many of us, especially if we have children! If this sounds like you, then your second best option is to use rugs at each door to catch a decent amount of dirt before it gets tracked in. It can also be helpful to sweep daily, to prevent dirt and grit from getting ground into your laminate.

Proper Care of Laminate Flooring

The best way to clean laminate is to use laminate flooring cleaners. These are generally sprayed onto the floor, and then dry mopped or steam mopped.Sold by both name brand cleaning companies as well as generic brands, either type is fine for caring for laminate, because they are all designed for laminate.

You can also dry mop with plain water and one or two drops of dish soap, as well as with Windex, but avoid abrasive cleaners and soaps. Instead of a dry mop or a rag,you can use a steam mop, because they don't leave water standing on the floor. Avoid using waxy cleaners such as Pledge, because they make laminate slick as ice.

Before cleaning, be sure to sweep or use your hardwood vacuum attachment to get as much dirt up as possible.

Proper Care of Laminate Flooring

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