One of the reasons that many choose to install laminate flooring is their low-maintenance capabilities. Unlike carpet, if you spill or stain anything on the floor, it’s a relatively simple job of wiping and drying.
Best Laminate Floor Cleaner
- Vorfreude Floor Mop with Integrated Spray
- Vileda Steam Mop
- Vileda 1-2 Spray Floor Cleaning Fluid
- HG Laminate Wash & Shine
- Bona Stone, Tile and Laminate Polish Gloss
But, to get your floors looking immaculate, you need to work a little harder than if you had say, carpet or even tile. Laminate flooring will highlight dust, marks, dirt and grime more than most, so maintenance, whilst relatively easy, needs to be more regular.
Throughout this article, I will be at the best laminate floor cleaner and also look at products that will not only make your life easier when cleaning your laminate floors but also make them look better than ever.
Vorfreude Floor Mop with Integrated Spray
Vorfreude’s Floor Mop is ideal for daily cleaning of your laminate floors. The mop has a refillable bottle in the handle which you can fill with water, detergent or natural cleaning products like diluted vinegar or water and lemon juice. The mop is lightweight and ergonomically designed so all you need to do to moisten the pad is pull a trigger on the handle. It’s easy to assemble and once you’ve put it together, it feels durable and hardwearing.
The manufacturer offers a lifetime guarantee on the mop and you can wash the microfibre cleaning pads up to 1,000 times. Vorfreude has a great eco-friendly policy so the water bottle is BPA free and they encourage the use of this product with natural cleaners. It’s easy to attach and remove the bottle and replacement microfibre pads are readily available.
I used the mop with Vileda floor cleaning fluid and was delighted with the high shine finish that it produced. The mop also works quite well with just plain water if you are not dealing with any heavy duty dirt or staining. You can also use the mop dry for dusting floors.
Vorfreude’s floor mop with integrated spray is available on Amazon with free UK delivery.
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back to menu ↑Vileda Steam Mop
Vileda’s Steam mop is an extremely hygienic choice for cleaning laminate flooring. If you have pets and kids living in the same house and you are concerned about germs and bacteria, this may be exactly what you’ve been looking for.
Although some people worry about using a steam cleaner on laminate flooring, as long as water isn’t left sitting on the floor for prolonged periods of time, it is safe to do so. The Vileda steam mop eliminates 99.9% of bacteria from your floors without any need for detergent. This also means that you are not introducing toxic chemicals into your home which can be a concern for parents in particular.
The Vileda Steam Mop is extremely light, weighing in at only 5.5lbs. This means that it’s very easy to move around your home, especially if you are carrying it up and down stairs. The water capacity is 14 oz which will give you up to 28 minutes of continuous use. If you start to run low on water, the machine vibrates to warn you. Because the water is heated to such a high temperature, almost all the fluid evaporates once you’ve run the steamer over the floor and the microfibre pads can be machine washed and used again and again.
Unlike some other floor steamers I’ve tried in the past, the Vileda microfibre pads stay firmly attached the machine and these do a magnificent job of lifting dirt from the floor. The mop also has 20-foot power cable which is more than adequate.
I loved how quickly the water heated in this steamer. You fill the water reservoir, plug in the machine and in just 15 seconds you’ll see the steam beginning to appear which shows that the mop it is ready to use. The variable settings mean that you can use the mop on all kinds of surfaces, even natural wood and the machine’s swivel head makes it easy to move around furniture.
The steamer also comes with a carpet glider so you can hygienically and safely clean your carpets too. Although of course a steamer will entail a bigger investment than a mop, this product is priced very reasonably.
Vileda’s Steam Mop is currently available on Amazon with free UK delivery.
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back to menu ↑Vileda 1-2 Spray Floor Cleaning Fluid
Vileda’s floor cleaning liquid is designed for use in spray mops like the Vorfreude Floor Mop or Vileda’s own brand spray mop. It is ready for immediate use and you don’t need to dilute the product with water. This liquid is perfect for laminate as well as wood and linoleum and although you don’t dilute the cleaner, you also don’t have to rinse it from your floors which makes cleaning very quick and simple.
The cleaning fluid has a lovely fresh fragrance and doesn’t leave any streaks on your laminate. There’s no sticky residue and because you can pour this into your mop handle directly, it’s extremely convenient.
I used the Vileda spray with the Vorfreude mop and was impressed with how quickly it lifted dust, pet hair and footprints from my laminate flooring. My kitchen floor was dry within minutes and there was a lovely clean fragrance in the room which lasted for hours.
However, although the fact that the product doesn’t need to be diluted is handy, it also means that you won’t get as long from a bottle. It doesn’t really take too long to add water to a product so I do think that concentrates can be better value in the long run and these are also more environmentally friendly because less packaging is used.
All the same, I do really like this product and I think it’s one of the best laminate floor cleaners on the market. I also particularly like the fragrance from this product. It left my kitchen smelling so nice afterwards.
Vileda 1-2 Spray Floor Cleaning Fluid is available on Amazon and priced economically.
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back to menu ↑HG Laminate Wash & Shine
The HG range of cleaning products are known for high performance and this laminate gloss cleaner is no different. If you are using a traditional mop and bucket to clean your floors rather than a spray cleaner, then this is one of the best laminate cleaners you can get your hands on.
The gloss cleaner comes in a one-litre bottle and it is very concentrated so you only need to add half a cup (50ml) to a half bucket of warm water meaning that you should get 20 floor washes from this bottle. The cleaner is specially designed to restore the gloss to floors and I can confirm that it does deliver a sparkling, high-shine finish.
For heavy soiling, you may need to go over the floor more than once but the good news is, there’s no need to rinse off this cleaner. Leave your floors to dry off and you’ll be left with immaculately clean, shiny floors and a pleasant fresh fragrance.
HG Laminate Gloss Cleaner is available on Amazon at a very reasonable price. Some retailers offer discounts if you buy in bulk. You can also buy HG products from a number of homeware and DIY outlets.
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back to menu ↑Bona Stone, Tile and Laminate Polish Gloss
Bona’s Laminate Polish is a high gloss floor polishing fluid which works a treat on laminate as well as a range of other hard surfaces. The polish protects your flooring as well as restoring a high gloss finish so that your laminate floors will look brand new.
This is an occasional use product that I recommend using a couple of times per year to prolong the life of your flooring and protect it from scuffs and scratches. Before polishing, you’ll need to remove furniture and surface area objects from the room. Then thoroughly mop your floor and make sure there is no dust or debris. You should avoid using this on floors that have been recently waxed or oiled as this will prevent the Bona polish from working.
If you use a mop to distribute the product, you can finish a room pretty quickly but do bear in mind that your room will be off-limits for at least a couple of hours. The polish really does give a beautiful finish and my kitchen flooring looked incredible after use.
Although Bona Laminate Polish is a premium price product. A little goes a long way and this bottle should last you a couple of years at least. Bona Stone, Tile and Laminate Polish Gloss is available on Amazon.
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back to menu ↑Buyers’ Guide for Laminate Cleaning Products
Laminate Flooring has become incredibly popular in recent years and as a result, there are hundreds of products out there all promising you the shiniest, most hygienic and long-lasting finish for your floors. When choosing the right product for your laminate floors, think about your own lifestyle. Is your laminate flooring in a high traffic area? Do you have pets and children and how often do you mop?
If you need to mop every day or every other day then practicality dictates that you should choose a mop with machine washable mop heads and cleaners that come in concentrated form so you get longer from every bottle.
If hygiene is a big priority for you and you’d rather steer clear of chemical cleaners, then a steamer may be the answer. Steamers heat water to high temperature within the device and the resulting steam cleans laminate and other surfaces quickly, killing germs and bacteria and drying almost immediately.
If you regularly steam your floor, then water alone is enough. You generally won’t need to use any other detergent products.
Taking Care of your Laminate Flooring
Laminate flooring looks beautiful when it’s regularly cleaned and maintained but without adequate care, it can end up scratched, stained and looking a bit sorry for itself. Although laminate does need maintenance, the good news is that it shouldn’t take up too much of your time.
Sweeping regularly and cleaning it with a damp mop once a week will keep your laminate floors hygienic. Although specialist sprays, soaps and polishes give you high shine and pleasant fragrance, you can also just use a solution of vinegar and water to keep the floor surfaces clean. Avoid using bleach or other harsh chemicals on laminate as these can damage the protective surface of the flooring, making it less resistant to water and prone to staining.
It is very important is to make sure that your floor isn’t damaged by excessive moisture. Wring out your mop head as much as you can when mopping and if your floor looks visibly wet when you’ve finished, use an old towel or rags to dry it off thoroughly. Be careful not to leave a wet mop or wet towels sitting on your laminate flooring for any length of time as the water can penetrate the flooring through any small cracks and leave you with discolouration or even warping.
If you are mopping around chairs or table legs, be sure that water doesn’t pool underneath these as this is a common way for moisture stains to occur. Make sure that the floors are bone dry before replacing things like bins on the floor surface after cleaning. Try to avoid abrasive scrubbing and use a soft mop or microfibre cloth to clean and polish. Always sweep your floor before mopping – something as tiny as a grain of rice could scratch the surface if vigorously rubbed into the floor on a mop head. Be careful when moving furniture and lift rather than drag tables and chairs as these too could cause scratches.
At least twice a year, use a specialist polish such as Bona’s Stone, Tile and Laminate Polish on your flooring to restore the high gloss finish and to protect your floors against scratches and other damage.
With a little TLC, your laminate flooring should last you for many years to come. Enjoy!
