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If you’ve never lived in a home with it before, it can be a little confusing to know how to clean wood laminate floors. Thankfully, it’s quick and easy with the right tools!
A couple days ago, I wrote a post talking about how to choose new flooring. In my opinion, right now there’s nothing more kid-friendly (and still nice looking) on the market than wood laminate flooring. When we got our new floor in the kitchen, dining room and family room, it was the first time I had a large area of wood laminate to clean. I was a little lost as to HOW to clean a laminate floor. Should I use steam? What kind of soap do I use? Do I only dust it? What about when the kids spill something on the floor?
In the last year, I’ve tried several different homemade cleaners as well as a few store-bought ones. I’ve finally settled on a solution that doesn’t leave streaks, sanitizes the floor, and cuts through grease when I need a little extra “oomph” in the kitchen.
However, the majority of the time, I just use water. Turns out, the most important thing you need to clean a wood laminate floor is a good mop!
When we first got the flooring installed, I talked to a friend who cleans houses for a living. She immediately recommended the O Cedar dust mop with the two sides. The blue side with the microfiber “hairs” is for dusting (which absolutely positively must be done every single day.) The flip side is a soft cloth for damp mopping.
You do NOT want to use a traditional mop and bucket to clean laminate floors! Water is the enemy here, and will warp the wood if it gets soaked. Most of the time, I can just clean up a spot on the floor with a little water and a paper towel. But when the whole floor is looking a little grimy, or there’s been a spill in the kitchen that’s left a greasy residue, I use this cleaning mixture.
How to clean wood laminate floors
- spray bottle
- 3 parts water
- 1 part white vinegar
- Optional addition for cutting grease when needed: 1 (tiny) squirt dish soap (I will always use Blue Dawn, the miracle in a bottle
- a few drops of essential oils like orange or lemon if you want to make the room smell nice (totally optional, but I like to use peppermint at Christmas time) 🙂
Mix the water and vinegar (and dish soap if you’re dealing with a greasy mess) in a spray bottle, and mist over the floor in small sections, or just dampen the mop directly. Mop with the soft cloth side. It should dry almost immediately. If the floor is still wet after running the mop over it, you’re using too much spray.
I will say, having the wood laminate floor is a bit of a trade-off. If I miss even one day sweeping or dust mopping it, the floor looks terrible. Most of that is because we have a large dog with light colored hair and she sheds ALL THE TIME. With carpet, the mess isn’t so obvious. However, I shudder to think about just how much dirt and hair was in the carpet that used to be in the house! The mess was still there, it was just well-hidden. At lease now I KNOW my floors are clean! 🙂
Do you have wood laminate floors in your house? What do you like to use to clean them? I’m always willing to try new things, so feel free to leave a comment below. 🙂
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Monique says
I have tried every recipe on Pinterest to clean my laminate floors, including this one & I end up with streaky, disgusting results. Washed my den, dining room & livingroom floors “3” times (yes 3 times) today with horrible results. Don’t have a clue what to try next. Floors were installed only a year ago!! HELP!!!
Nicole Burkholder says
Are you using just a very light misting of the cleaner? You don’t want too much soap at all-that’s where the streaks come from. A combination of the water/vinegar/TINY bit of dish soap and the dust mop I have shown in the post is all you need. But it seriously just takes a tiny bit of moisture. It’s a “damp mop” rather than cleaning the way you’re used to with a typical floor. We’ve had ours for several years now, and I still use the same cleaning mixture and my dust mop. You can get it a little cleaner if you take a paper towel and wipe the floor after misting with the spray. A little elbow grease will work when the mop isn’t cutting it. I hope you are able to get it figured out! For now, I’d go with water/vinegar ONLY to get the soap residue stripped off the floor. If you cleaned 3 times yesterday, it’s probably got too much soap on the floor still.
Arham Raza says
Great tips you got here. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Sarah says
Great blog regarding wooden laminate floor cleaning. You have shared some useful tips. good job!
Jamie R. Lopez says
I had simply wanted to write down a quick word to say thanks to you for those wonderful tips and hints you are showing on this site.
Nicole Burkholder says
Thanks so much! You are very welcome. 🙂
Shaylee Packer says
It was mentioned that you don’t want to use loads of water when cleaning a laminate wood flooring because the water will warp the wood. My sister recently replaced her flooring with laminate wood flooring and wants to keep it looking nice. I will have to suggest to her that spot cleaning for spills is the way to go and dust everyday.
Tyler Johnson says
That’s a cool idea to use essential oils in the floor cleaning solution. I could see how that would help to offset the smell of the vinegar, so that’s a great idea. I’ll make sure to do that when trying this solution out, and if I still can’t get my floors looking nice, I’ll have to get a professional to help me out.
Kimberly Coughlin says
Thank you so much for this recipe. I’ve tried several green cleaners for my new laminate flooring. This one hit it outta-the-park
Alicia says
I use my Shark steamer to clean my laminate floors after I swifter the dust off first. It’s literally just steam so it usually takes off any drops from drinks/food/whatever, doesn’t leave streaks (as long as you clean the same way the wood is laid down), and dries VERY quickly! I love it!! Best invention ever!!!
Sandra Barnett says
A cleaning lady wet mopped my floor and put down my desk chair pad before it dried. I didn’t realize it until the next morning and it had taken the finish off. Any tips?
Nicole Burkholder says
Unfortunately, from everything I’ve read, there’s no way to refinish laminate flooring. The advice given is to replace the individual planks instead. 🙁
Miriam Kearney says
I think there are different types of laminate flooring – some are not usable in a wet environment like a kitchen. the ones that can be in a kitchen are coded A (I think). I imagine that the others are even harder to clean. I have used a wide variety of cleaners, homemade and commercial, and although they have had different results I have never had water damage or warping. I don’t buy expensive laminate but I do make sure it is thick – my planks are 3/4″ thick. Not sure if that makes a difference.
Miriam Kearney says
I use a mix of 2 parts rubbing alcohol and 1 part water with just a wee drop of Dawn. I find it leaves the floor with less streaks – I think because the alcohol evaporates faster.
Thomas says
Great post! Have nice day ! 🙂 dzkeh
Tami says
We’ve had ours for years. I just use regular mop and bucket. Little bit of cleaner and spin it till damp. The mist and damp mop thing takes too long and just doesn’t work for me. I have Bona dust mop for quick cleaning and use vacuum for big jobs.
Nicole Burkholder says
Your laminate must be a better quality or different kind (maybe glued down instead of the popped together kind they have now) than mine, because just a little water will leave marks or warp the board on my floor! Since it gets dry mopped every day, I only use the mist and mop for sticky spills or big messes. It’s pretty rare that I ever do the entire floor at once. I do like how easy the upkeep is with laminate floors! (My parents have hard wood flooring, and while it’s beautiful, it’s a LOT of work to keep clean and looking nice!)
Becky says
I also use a spin mop and am totally in love. I needed easier than spray and mop. I use vinegar hot water and a squirt of dawn.. Tried many mops and different products over the past three years and this is by far the best system for me.
Shirley says
I’ve used all the cleaners given on Pinterest but they either leave streaks and after when you walk on the floor every footprint and soles of shoes show up every where a person walks. It’s maddening. I have figured out to just spray small areas and mop with a dry pad which worked for streaking but the footprint thing has me stumped. Does anyone else have this problem? The rest of the floor is wonderful and shiney because it hasn’t been walked on. Help! Thanks for your blogs, I’ve learned a lot.
Nicole Burkholder says
Generally, if you’re getting footprints after cleaning, it’s because there’s too much soap in the mixture. I use this mixture I posted about, and then VERY lightly mist just the area I’m cleaning. I do it the same way you do- with a dry mop (exactly like the one pictured) and it’s just right. The only time I ever get streaks or footprints is when I use too much soap in the mixture on accident. You could also try cleaning with a little rubbing alcohol, as it dries even faster than water and doesn’t leave behind a film. Just test it on a small area first to be sure! 🙂
Marlene Wojciechowski says
I have tried it all water, vinegar. Now I am using Bona laminate floor cleaner this works for me. You are right about what mop to use the microfiber are the best I have been using the O Cedar wet mop can change the pads and wash them . No more streaks which drove me crazy. It’s just two of us no pets so I don’t have to clean the floors often. Hope you will try the Bona.
Nicole Burkholder says
I’ll have to check it out, thanks!
Dolores says
Agreed. Bono is the best. I use the entire line of bono for the laminate floor The Bono refill mop with cleaner Check out the different cleaners to refill mop accordingly
Nancy says
I’ve been using Bona for about a year now. Now my floor is getting tacky when we walk on it with our slippers. Anyone else have this issue with Bona.
Lois Reece says
I hate my Armstrong laminate floors. Especially the footprints. And I’m telling you a little mist and a dust mop do no “clean” these floors. If you want to test it, try that system for a while then walk around on them for a few days in white socks. You will see they are not clean at all. I do make up the vinegar/water (dish soap) mix for the cleaning lady to use but I think she hates these floors just as much as I do.
michelle says
Lois, I am right there with you, I hate my laminate floors because of the streaks and footprints. I wish we would have paid a little more and got regular hard wood floors .
Ana Grey says
Well this is something to try out. I have laminate flooring in our bedroom. That’s the place to start it off. Thanks for the tips!
Brittany says
Do you or did you seal your floor? We rent a house right now with these types of flooring.snd you can see where there has been water damage. I just want my floors to be shiny and clean. But with two large dogs and kiddos it never seems possible. ?
Nicole Burkholder says
No, we did not seal the floors. I think they only do that with real hardwood flooring. From everything I’ve read, you will have to replace the individual planks that are water damaged, as you can’t refinish wood laminate. I understand what you mean about dogs and kids, though!
Becki says
Clean your laminate flooring extremely well, test with damp paper towel swipe to see if it is really, really clean. Then apply a coat of rejuvenate follow instructions to detail. The shine it leaves is stunning and beautiful, for future touch ups use the rejuvenate no bucket floor cleaner. Have used it for years, and the complements I recieve are wonderful.
I have saved the multi family industry hundreds of thousands of dollars with this product.
Gladys Hill says
Great tips you got here.. I’ve been looking for this because of my kids spoiling around on the floor also our pets. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Anne-Marie says
I sweep up with a soft fibre mop. But I also use the vacuum.
Nicole Burkholder says
For every day use, the dust mop works great. I just used the vacuum today, too! It had been a few days, and the dust and dog hair was disastrous. I swept it into a pile and used the vacuum to suck up the mess! 🙂 I have some grimy spots that I need to spray with the cleaner, though. The corners of my kitchen are the worst!
Joanne says
I tried a recipe that I got off of Pinterest that called for dawn, alcohol, water and white vinegar. Smells nice, but found out the floor gets dirty faster, especially if you have a dog. Water works great with my microfiber mop.
Nicole Burkholder says
For most of my “everyday” floor cleaning, I just use a mist of water and my dust mop as well. Too much soap will make a MESS and attract the dirt like crazy. It’s weird! The cleaner solution is great for the grimy spots, especially in the kitchen. Plus, since we have a dog tracking in all sorts of nastiness, I like to keep the floor disinfected. My boys spend a lot of time down there. 🙂 Overall, I’m thrilled with how great the floors look and how easy they are to clean!
Marjorie Briggs says
Hoping to get laminate floor in my kitchen soon! Thanks for the tips.
Marla says
I have laminate floors and I was just on line and on Amazon today trying to find some some kind of mop that I though would work good. I do use white vinegar cleaner that I make myself with citrus peels which works great. The mop I have does not have 2 sides to it and this might be just what I am looking for. Thanks for the great information. Sharing!
Nicole Burkholder says
I really and truly love mine! It’s so easy to wash, too!