by Jennifer Hinders

Created on: December 29, 2008

We've had laminate wood floors in our house for the past five years. With five boys and two dogs in our household, our wood laminate floors get a lot of wear and tear. The laminate wood floors has held up remarkably well with minimal maintenance. Here are some simple tips for keeping your laminate wood floors shiny and clean.

1. Clean laminate wood floors with the manufactured cleaner especially designed for laminate floors. This cleaner can be purchased at large home improvement stores or purchased online. To clean the floor, you simply spray some of the cleaner onto the floor; let it sit a couple of minutes and then wipe the floor with a micro fiber terry cloth mop. The cleaner removes dirt, stains and leaves the floor shiny. Once you're finished mopping the floor, the micro fiber terry cloth can be removed from the mop head and washed in the washing machine. This keeps the micro fiber mop clean and free of any grit that might scratch the laminate wood floors. There are several brands of recommended laminate cleaner available.

2. Laminate wood flooring can be spot cleaned with water. It's important to remember to use the water sparingly. Too much water can cause damage such as warping or peeling. Attach your micro fiber terry cloth mop to the mop head. Spray a fine mist of water onto the area that is dirty. Mop as you would when mopping with the laminate cleaner. Allow to dry. The spot cleaning with water is helpful when cleaning up after parties or meals.

3. If you have an especially stubborn stain on your laminate wood floors you can use a bit of lanolin-free nail polish remover. Apply a bit of the nail polish remover on a rag and gently wipe the stain. After the stain is removed, apply the laminate spray cleaner and wipe with the micro-fiber terry cloth mop. Never use regular spot cleaners on the laminate wood flooring. Make sure the nail polish you use is lanolin-free.

4. Another recommended stain remover for laminate wood floors is denatured alcohol. Denatured alcohol is a solvent recommend for difficult stains on various hard surfaces, but it quite poisonous and dangerous to use.

5. Never clean your laminate wood floors with regular floor cleaners. These cleaners will remove the shine and cause damage to your laminate wood flooring. Use stain removers sparingly, too. They are harsh and can damage the lamiate wood floors if used too often.

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