Just wondering what is the best way to clean laminate flooring ? I know you're not supposed to over -wet it but can anyone recommend anything (preferably avoiding the down on your knees method :) ) I'm considering the Vileda disposable cloths but not sure how expensive they might prove, long term.

Any advice much appreciated.

Joyce

Dettol floor wipes rule! ;)

I use a good old mop and flash or something similar as it takes away the grease and keeps it as much as possible, slip free !

Use the dettol wipes in between, to mop up accidents, blood and poo and slobber mainly!!

Oh yes and baby sick ! :)

Lucy

I use the Dettol Easy Mop with Anti-Bacterial floor cleaner, works really well and dries fast too! Great for removing dirty doggie prints :-)

You can buy something called a "SWIFFER" - basically a pole that you wrap either antistatic cloths around the base of, or moist floor wipes . I buy the wipes from the likes of Home and Bargain and similair discount stores to save a few pennies as they can work out expensive but the swiffer avoids over wetting and bending down on hands and knees . Think I bought mine at B&Q
:)
Lel

That's what it's called - Dettol Easy Mop!! I have been after one for a while now - any idea where I can get one, please?

Sweep :)

I use an mop and some stuff from Sainsburys or B&Q for laminate floors. We have laminate in the bedroom and it gets so fluffy that the throwaway thingies are no good and it is white so I can see the spiders :D :D

If anyone knows of anything to wash real wood floors properly I would be obliged cos downstairs is all wood and it is getting pretty dirty and hard to clean and is a flipping pain at the moment.

Thanks gina

I got mine in Asda, I think it was around £15, the pads are sold separetly too, but they are nice and thick, not like the skinny wet wipes you can get for other mops!

Wouldn't be without mine.

Best thing to do it buy a proper floor cleaning kit . from a flooring place quick step (brand)sells one , you should get a special cleaning head with it too. . just make sure you dont use a wet mop on it unless its inpregnated and states that its suitable for bathrooms. even a damp mop isent a good idea if you get any down the sides of the planks it can swell:( products are better as often they have alchol or other substances that evaporate.

And with the wood cleaner there are variouse ones . all wood floors are different some have 5 laquers some uva finish and we have some with titanium finish ( whats on the nose of planes)
so as you can imagen it will depend on what you have really.if your talking about beech wood . dont put a single drop of water on , beech is the worst wood for sucking in water and will go black thats why we wont fit it in peoples kitchens
pop into your flooring retailer and get a product off them:)

Our wood is light oak and is stuck down but is getting really dirty in some places and it has only been down for about 6 months - wish I had bought dark oak now!!! :p

Gina

Thanks everyone - some very useful replies.
I think for me the choice will be between the Swiffer and the Dettol mop.

Can't remember the name of it but in argos they have a large red floor mop like the style you would see cleaning companies use.

I personally find if you dust the floor regular the actually cleaning of it is a lot easier ( not saying anyone doesn't clean their floor enough) ;-)

Pledge do a good wood wash and if put in a spray bottle and sprayed on the floor then imediately wiped off it is very effective and smells very nice also :-)

Pam

so pleased i decided to get a carpet :D , hoovered and its like new :D -----until its dirty, then someone else can come and clean it :rolleyes:

LOL Dizzy..

We have no carpets at all... :-) My hubby has spent the last month I mean the whole month laying solid oak planks throughout the whole house, well except my main bathroom, ktichen and utility they are tiled..

But a new carpet is nice.. ( until it is dirty :-0 )

Pam

i drove myself bonkers trying to choose between carpet or wood----eventually deciding carpet-but when we took the old one up, ready for the new one fitted, -the noise on the wood was awful, so i was so pleased i wasnt sat there with the new wood waiting to be put down :D

Well least it is down now Dizzy, nice and new carpet for Xmas.. gulp..

There are pros and cons to both as so often debated. For me the floors fit in with my westies also some are not fussy on natural dust in houses. The solid wood is a lot more warmer than the laminate as well and don't think it is near as slippy. I think all work well if you take the precautions for each.

Hope the dogs like the new carpet ;-)

BFN Pam

Hi Joyce
I have just bought a handle from Kleeneze, it has velcro on the base & you attach cloth pads that you can wash, the head swivels, & I can certainly recommend it, I bought 2 pads, one I use for polishing, the other to use with the spray floor cleaner although I must admit I do sometimes dampen the pad if the floor is really grubby. regards Pauline

I did a combination of both wood and carpet,replaced all carpet with cherrywood floor then promptly covered most of it with rugs for my elderly dog:o I expect the new pup will appreciate it though! and will probably choose the rugs to do her wee's :(

gina you floor should be easy to clean. is it unfinished? brushed wood? or has it got varnish on ? i dont know why its gone like that. if you get so sick of it being dirty dont get rid of it get it re sanded and sealed. it needs protection, /varnish what have you been cleaning it with that may be the problem.

wood can be sanded and sealed some up to 6 times.so you get the look of a brand new wood floor rember that soild woods arent always the best. you can only sand down to the joint. the rest is waste and that means wasted money.
Carpets lovely and warm too , wood can be warm too with the help of under floor heating.
and shouldent be noisy with acoustic underlay

Hi ya, it was supposed to be finished light oak (£73 a metre so not that cheap!) and I was told it should be sanded and 'finished' again every 5 years or so - it is the third floor we have had (different wood and manufacture) as the first two were condemned so who knows. This one moves up and down so think more drastic action needed this time against the shop.

Gina

ahh depends gina. if you picked a floating floor then it will give a little and theres nothing you can do if you have a written quote/estimation as by agreeing to the price you agreed to the product:( id be interested in the brand you picked i may be able to help you with the reason why it did it and why its gone dirty .
for light oak that sounds quite alot of money.. in my trade were known for quality , and have the highest quality flooring we simply cant afford to mess about with unhappy customers , but some places will sell anything anywhere at what ever price they like:( we often have people in beggin us to help them in tears:( unfortunaly thers nothing we can do , often these are bigger retailers
, we have one brand of wood thats the rolls royce of flooring and its only £70 for light oak , its the only know brand you can put in bathrooms wet areas . did your £73 include fitting by any chance.

Hi LLady. If you dont mind could you e mail me so you can give me some advice. It looks like we may get our money back luckily as we had the floor from a large retailer and we believe it is that is wrong the sub base that was laid wrong as the wooden floor is stuck down to it. This is the 3rd floor they have laid in our house!!!! The laminate in the bedroom is on a floating floor and is fine. Hope to hear from you as dont want to bore the pants off everyone else here :D :D :D

Regards Gina

PS Just thought I would add for people on here thinking about laminate versus real wood (the real wood being much less slippy and warmer and doesnt get so dusty) is that sometimes you need a floating floor under the laminate (the floating floor being quite pricey too) but you dont necessarily need it with the real wood so you can get real wood for more or less the same price as laminate - as it is the fitting which adds to the price. I hope my lay person explanation makes sense she says!!!! :p :p

At the risk of sounding like a "Housewife" I use Orangeglo from Lakeland (amongst other suppliers). I vacuum the floor first with a special parquet flooring attachment(Miele Cat and Dog vacuum) as I find all the swiffer-type dusters run out of steam too quickly with 3 dogs and 4 kids worth of muck. The cleaner is applied using a barely damp mop and makes your floors whether wood or laminate really clean. Sounds like an ad ... sorry. The best thing about it is that you never get a build up from it and you don't need to ever strip the polish off as you do with some of the others. I would agree that water is a disaster on the joins of laminate having seen my neighbours kitchen floor after a flood.

We have laminate floors on the ground floor of our house, I sweep it daily and mop it twice a week with some warm water and flash, (Lemon) smells nice. Not a born house wife me.

Mind you cant wait to see if our new puppy will "skid" on the floor if he tries to run on it, he'll learn..

Its caught our cat out a few times. My husband put some flea and tick lotion on the cats neck the once and the stuff must have been cold cos it gave a loud startled meioooww and shot across the floor, went round the coffee table so fast she lost her back legs cornering and skidded accross the lounge. It was soo funny, we howled........

With a dog, that could be the cruciate ligaments gone.... :(

Hi,

It would depend on what sort of laminate floor it is and how its been put down,partner
is a cabinet maker:-)

Briony