There are many ways to achieve a shiny laminate flooring. Laminate floors are durable and straightforward to retain, with a lifetime of a few decades. Laminate floors can adorn homes with their natural-looking tones and shine.
You can achieve a shiny laminate flooring by sweeping and vacuuming the floor regularly, as well as cleaning the floor with proper cleaning agents such as baking soda or vinegar. Most importantly, use a microfiber mop.
One of the incredible things about the laminate floor is that it is manufactured to look neat and shiny, but the floors can turn from a shiny laminate floor to a dull one when old. This will require a slight waxing and refinishing to make it a shiny laminate flooring again.
Dirt built up, and residue from the improper cleaning products can grow on laminate and make it dull.
The secret to bringing the shine back is thorough saturating with the proper cleanser and preventing certain products on the floor. You have to quit using certain harsh products on the floor as soon as you can.
Read: Easy Homemade Floor Cleaner
How to Achieve a Shiny Laminate Flooring
Table of Contents
1. Sweep or vacuum your laminate flooring
Slime and dust particles are best wiped out from your laminate floor as soon as possible because they can make laminate surfaces and floors fade when they leave spots and allow residue to buildup.
Since this type of floor is designed to be shiny, dust can leave scrape marks on the shiny laminate texture. The best way to make a dull laminate floor to a shiny laminate floor is by using a vacuum cleaner or mop selected for wood floors.
It is reasonable to prevent any vacuum machine with a roller brush because it can scrape and damage your flooring. You can even make use of a soft broom to clear off dirt and dust particles.
Related: can you paint laminate floor?
2. Clean your laminate flooring with a proper cleaning agent
To maintain a shiny laminate flooring, stay away from cleansers with greases, soaps, or harsh chemicals. You should only use a delegated cleaning product mainly manufactured to polish laminate floors.
To agree on whether you select a suitable cleaning product or not, I suggest that you make the first attempt on an insignificant and hidden area from the eyes.
If the covering is satisfactorily neat and stays intact, then you can use it to clean the entire floor. Check out the cleaning methods and agents to achieve a shiny laminate flooring.
A. Vinegar
Usage of the vinegar and water mixture is one of the best homemade ways. It is cheap and functions sufficiently. Mix half of a cup of water and half of a white vinegar cup in a spray bottle. Sprinkle on a section at a time as you mop it; recall that a lot of water can destroy your laminate flooring.
B. Bona
If you do not have a preference for the idea of using vinegar to make your laminate floor glitter, a cleaner specifically made for this type of flooring like Bona is another favorable option.
This specific product has a neutral PH level that benefits over the vinegar and is safe for polyurethane. Be sure you purchase the Bona Cleaner rather than using the polish or refresher. Those will leave shiny debris, which could probably damage your wood floor.
Read: Best Wax for Laminate floor
C. Rubbing alcohol and vinegar
If you prefer to use rubbing alcohol, you can put it into the water and vinegar solvent. It performs a great job of removing shoe polish, nail gloss, crayons, spills, and inks on the laminate floor—mix; half of a cup each of vinegar, water, and rubbing alcohol.
Warm water is good for your laminate floor than hot water. If performed accurately, it will not leave streaks.
D. Vinegar and oil
Another method to make your laminate flooring shine is the use of vinegar and oil. Mix the water, vinegar, and oil in a spray bottle and give it a good shake. Start from a far corner of the area and sprinkle the cleaning solution onto the floor, ensuring you do not overdo it.
Related: How to make laminate floors less slippery
E. Baking soda
Baking soda is also a suitable cleaning agent to give a shiny laminate floor. It is an alkaline powder and soft cleansing agent that functions well for breaking up slime and grime.
Ingredients to use
- Half of a cup of water
- Half of a cups baking soda
- Two tablespoons white vinegar
- Half of a cup of dishwashing detergent
- Two rags
Mix the ingredients in a plastic bowl or pail. Start at the farthest area in the room and apply the cleaning solution to a floor section using the rag.
Gently clean the floor using a circular action to eliminate slime and grime. Get an additional rag wet with neat water and squeeze as much of the water out as possible. Rub the section with the clean rag to remove all of the residues.
Continue cleaning the floor in this way by moving from section to section until you have reached the entrance. Let the floor dry before stepping on it.
Laminate flooring manufacturers are the best people to ask how to restore a dull laminate flooring to a shiny laminate flooring. You know, you can disregard your warranty when not using their directions.
3. Use a microfiber mop
Rub your laminate floor with a microfiber mop. Make use of a clean, flat-head microfiber mop and clean the entire section of the floor in the particle’s direction. The texture of the floor should look slightly wet, but not excessively damp.
Do not use a sponge or string mop on laminate, as it can leave streaks and leave too much water on the floor.
Work in little sections until the floor is neat. Take a few steps behind and sprinkle the next section of the floor with your cleaner. Rub the section with the microfiber mop. Proceed with spraying and mopping in small areas until the whole floor is clean.
The whole floor has been immediately wiped, leaving it to air dry for up to half an hour. Do not allow anybody to step on the floor while it is still damp, or this could diminish the glitter.
A laminate floor can scrape easily, so do not use scrubbing pads or abrasive cleaners to clean your laminate flooring.
The excellent cleaning material for the bottom is a soft, lint-free textile or microfiber. Abrasive scrubbers to avoid includes steel yarn, scrubbing pads, and mopping sponges.
Read: Best Mop for Laminate Floor
Reasons Why a Shiny Laminate Floor Gets Dull
Using Too Much of Cleaners
Any cleaner’s usage without getting it right may result in many problems on your laminate floor, leaving them looking dull. Also, the overuse of any cleanser, even the proper one, can lead to residues buildup, leaving the floor sticky even after cleaning.
Examine your cleaner first on a secluded area or check with a glass before trying them on your laminate floor. It might be inviting to use more of the cleansers or soap cleaners to clean your floor, but it will make your laminate floor look more messed up than clean it.
Frequent Use of Vacuum Cleaner and Broom
Regular vacuum cleaning or sweeping of your laminate floor can eliminate dirt and dust particles. Still, it can make your laminate have scratches and can not provide a shiny laminate floor. A good microfiber mop or dry dust mop will achieve the work.
You can vacuum or sweep at least once a week to prevent the accumulation of slime and dust on your laminate floor and possible scrapes. But, you can clean up your laminate more frequently if you have an active home with little kids and pets.
Use of Excess Water on Your Laminate Floor
The cleaning of the laminate floor needs wet mopping. However, too much water will leak into the flooring joints and holes between laminate planks, causing buckling, rising, or even dim on the wood floor. In the awful cases, they will cause your laminate floor to warp.
Read: How to repair swollen laminate flooring
Sunlight rays
Sunlight rays leave a streak on the laminate floor in a traditional way every day. This can result in discoloration or fading of the laminate floor section. Use curtains to safeguard your floor when there are high sunlight rays.
Wrong Cleaning Procedures and Agents
Where cleaning might have been done with the right cleaning agent, one may have tried the wrong tools such as mops, a vacuum cleaner with brush attachments, and steam cleaners. A costly cleaning solution does not assure you to leave a shinier floor.
Always recall that water is an enemy of the laminate floor like a rag, mops, steam cleaners, and vacuum cleaners with roller brushes that will damage your floor. Be careful of the tools chosen for cleaning your floor to prevent faded and streak laminate floors.
Potted Plants and Pets
Overfilled water pots may result in leaks and harm to your shiny laminate flooring. Pay more care if you have potted plants on your laminate flooring.
Also, if you own pets, pet food and plates can cause scrapes on your laminate floor. In worst cases, they may cause bending and buckling of your laminate floor. Use pads to retain your floor from plant pots and pet-caused harm.
Related: How to protect floor from potted plants
Maintaining Your Laminate Flooring
1. Wipe up wet spills immediately. Water can damage laminate floors. Once food pours on your laminate floor, gather concrete debris using a towel. Use a cloth to wipe up fluids that end up on the laminate. Quickly clear the spills as the laminates are not a hundred percent water-resistant.
3. Avoid usage of any product that promotes a shine. These cause waxy buildup that is very hard to wipe out.
4. Avoid pine perfumed cleansers. These do not make up a shiny laminate flooring, and these cause soapy debris.
5. Vinegar is widely different. It is acidic, which is not the best for your laminate texture, but several people use a little bit of vinegar and a lot of hot water to cut pet slime. Used in large volume, though, it can remove the protecting seal of your floors.
6. Do not be tempted to use wax and polish on laminate to make shiny laminate flooring. Instead, it will give your laminate flooring a dull look. For dull floors, use laminate floor restoration products rather than trying to use polish to rejuvenate the floor.
7. Traditional wet mopping is improper for laminate flooring.
8. Do not walk heels on laminate flooring. Drop your stiletto heels at your front door. If not, you will probably bring in all the dirt from your shoes into your living room.
9. Cut off pet nails. Pet nails can scrape off the protective coating on your laminate flooring, allowing water to obstruct the cleaning process.
10. To maintain a shiny laminate flooring, put furniture pads under all table and chair legs. If your furniture pads are missing or worn out, it may also leave scuff and gauges that are likely to dull the appearance of your laminate floor.
11. Cleaning your laminate floor with the correct and laminate floor cleaner mixture will go along way in keeping them shiny.
12. Do not attempt to steam clean your laminate floor as steam is too heated and will strip away the shiny texture on your laminate floor.
13. Try making a no-shoes policy to keep the laminate floors neat. Or you can prepare house shoes for your family and visitors to wear.
14. Place foot mats at your doors. Foot mats will not only welcome visitors to your home, but heist to receive dust, dirt, slime, mist, and other particles that may be dragged in from outside.
15. To pick the hard-to-reach dust in the corners of your houses, use a mild-brush attachment on your vacuum.
Related: How to repair swollen laminate flooring
Conclusion
The above procedures are vital to shine laminate wood floors in houses without a hassle.
However, it would be best if you strived to maintain standard hygiene levels and ensure that you have a dust trap rug or rug to prevent getting the dust and residue from the shoes onto the indoor floors.
Be safe to make a wise selection about your cleansers since the floor can retain a covering that traps dirt and dust rapidly. Pay attention to these guidelines and be sure to achieve a shiny laminate flooring.