Features of the care of the laminate and how to wash it. How to properly restore the flooring and extend its life. What not to do when cleaning. Caring for the laminate is a task that everyone who has laid this floor covering at home or in an apartment faces. When starting a renovation, think over all the pros and cons of such a finish. It also does not hurt to learn how to care for the laminate correctly and what to do in an emergency (stains from persistent dyes, felt-tip pens, grease, swelling due to accidentally spilled water, chips from heavy objects falling on the floor).
Laminate structure for flooring
This is often referred to as laminated parquet, but the difference between the two finishes is significant. Laminate is a kind of "puff cake", which consists of:
- Stabilizing layer … It is represented by dense melamine-impregnated kraft cardboard. To improve the soundproofing properties of the laminate, in some cases, a soundproofing layer is also glued to it.
- Carrier layer … This is the actual "body" of the laminate. In economy class models and some representatives of the middle price category, it is made from a dense chipboard board. In an expensive laminate, the carrier layer is natural wood. It is much stronger than chipboard. In the bearing layer, locks are cut out, connecting adjacent lamellas.
- Decorative layer … Plain paper, printed and impregnated with melamine. Thanks to this layer, the laminate imitates everything - river pebbles and marble, natural wood of various species and ceramic tiles.
- Top or protective layer … How long the appearance of the coating will delight depends on its thickness and quality.
In addition to the classic laminate, there are waterproof types of this flooring. The main layer in them is represented not by wood or chipboard, but by special durable plastic with air chambers. Caring for such a laminate is 90% easier than for a conventional and moisture-resistant one, which has a wood / chipboard base.
How to properly wash laminate flooring
Wood does not like water, especially when it comes to materials produced from waste from the wood industry. Since 80% of us like to save money, they buy either economy class or medium laminate, which is based on chipboard. Particleboard is afraid of water - it swells with prolonged exposure, rendering the coating unusable.
However, the laminate can and should be washed, but not too often. The main thing is to choose the right detergents for this. It is difficult to find household chemicals only for laminate flooring. Any non-aggressive agent in the form of a gel or liquid diluted in water is suitable for the floor. Soak a cloth in the solution, wring it out well and wipe the floor with it.
Laminate care products that can be found in any household chemical store are Mr. Propper and Mr. Muscle. Dilute them with water according to the instructions, wet a rag and wipe the floor. The ideal option is to buy a special mop, on which, using a simple device, you can squeeze out the washing surface well.
If Muscle and Propper are not at hand, any pH neutral laminate cleaner can be used for cleaning. If you don't have a suitable one, see what ingredients are included in the available household chemicals. The simpler the composition (non-ionic substances, perfume, preservatives), the safer the product. Knowing what and how to properly wash the laminate, you will keep its attractive appearance for a long time.
Consider the methods of wet cleaning the laminate:
- Method one "water and rag" … Use a flat mop with a cloth wringer for cleaning. Pour water into a bucket, moisten a rag, wring it out with a special lever on the mop. Wipe the floor quickly, then rub it by hand with a dry cloth.
- Method two "hot water and a rag" … Use hot water, not boiling water. The procedure is the same: wet, squeeze, rinse, wipe. Hot water is the best way to wash away possible dirt on the laminate flooring.
- Method three "water and vinegar" … Relevant if the floor in some places is dirty and has ceased to shine. Pour lukewarm water into a liter? glasses of white vinegar, stir. Pour into a spray bottle and arm yourself with a soft dry cloth. Spray the product on a small area of the floor and start wiping right away. When the surface is shiny, rinse it with clean water, wipe it dry and continue cleaning.
- Method four "baby shampoo" … Pour very hot water into the bucket, add a couple tablespoons of baby shampoo, stir. Clean up in a classic style. Finally, dry the floor thoroughly.
Note! Household chemicals should not contain sodium hypochlorite. You can use such a composition once. But frequent washing of the laminate will result in a loss of gloss and discoloration.
Features of the restoration of the laminate
Caring for a laminate floor is not only dry and wet cleaning, but also emergency coverage in case of scratches, chips, swelling. Juice stains, wine stains and felt-tip pens stand out. The laminate floor is a convenient easel for children, so multi-colored stripes, or even whole paintings, especially if a small artist lives in the house, can appear regularly.
How to repair scratches on laminate flooring
Scratches appear as a result of improper use of the floor covering - from children's toys (cars), moving furniture, under the legs of which are not lined. It is impossible to leave such defects on the floor unattended. Grains of sand will gradually increase the scratch, and dust and possible dirt will get stuck, as a result, you will have to change the entire lamella, and this is already a small repair.
To remove a small defect, use a wax pencil (match the floor):
- Clean the scratch, remove all dust from the floor with a vacuum cleaner.
- Run your pencil over the scratch. Repeat the action until the flaw disappears.
- Polish with a dry cloth.
If the defect is deep, the pencil will not help, use either mastic or paste:
- Apply mastic with plastic glass (included in the kit), remove excess from the surface, polish with a soft cloth. You can walk around this place right away.
- The paste is thinner than mastic. Apply it with a plastic spatula to the cleaned scratch, smooth, wipe with a damp sponge and then with a dry soft cloth. Cover the place with something. You can walk on it in a couple of hours.
Finding a pencil of the right color is easy. On sale you can find a shade for any laminate. With mastics and pastes it is more difficult, they are produced in a limited palette of colors. To get the shade you want, you have to experiment: take several colors and mix in different proportions until you get the right one.
How to remove chips on a laminate
They appear as a result of a heavy object falling to the floor. Most often in the kitchen. Caring for such a floor consists in an early repair, since the place of the chip is most susceptible to the penetration of moisture, dust, debris.
Clean up the defect. Melt the special putty with a burner. Apply it to the defect and immediately remove any excess that has fallen on the surface of the laminate next to the chip. Let it cure, sand and polish.
Take care of such a floor in the same way as before: daily dry cleaning, 2 times a week wet, once a year applying special. means (mastics).
Eliminate laminate swelling
It occurs if water is spilled on the floor and it is not immediately removed. The wet lamella increases in size, its edges swell and wrap up. If a long time has elapsed since the ingress of water, the situation can only be corrected by replacing the floorboard.
If the lamella has spent an hour and a half under water, try to save it:
- Disassemble the floor a little further than the "accident" site.
- Place swollen floorboards on a flat surface (on paper) and leave to dry.
- Do not assemble the floor, arrange for a good draft that will remove moisture from the space under the laminate.
- Reassemble the floor and place the damaged lamella away from any possible moisture ingress.
Caring for the floor after an accident is standard, but be sure to seal all joints between the lamellas with a sealant. It's good if they miss the locks while putting together the flooring.
Removing drawings from laminate
The method for removing stains from markers depends on the basis on which their ink is made. There are several options to get rid of them:
- Take an eraser, preferably "Kokhinor's", and erase the drawing with it. If the idea is successful, complete the work by soaking the cotton swab in alcohol or vodka, and then wipe the floor with any suitable detergent and wipe dry. The method is effective for alcohol-based markers.
- Take a microfiber cloth and try to erase the design. Then wipe the area with a damp and then dry cloth.
- Squeeze toothpaste onto the stain. Take the microfiber and erase the felt-tip pen. If it works, repeat on the remaining pictures. Then wipe the floor with a damp and dry cloth. Do not use whitening toothpaste and gel!
- Soak a cotton ball in nail polish remover, acetone, or white spirit. Try on a small piece of laminate. If the felt-tip pen is removed and the floor surface remains the same, carefully remove the remaining traces of the child's creativity.
- Water-based markers can be easily washed off with clean water. Remember to wipe the floor dry after cleaning.
How to remove stains from laminate flooring
In addition to drawings with felt-tip pens, blood can get on the floor with an accidental cut, resin from a Christmas tree, alcohol during a holiday, stripes from street shoes, if one of the household members decided to run around the house without undressing.
It is not difficult to cope with such stains:
- Dried blood can be removed with any window cleaner.
- The resin from the tree must be frozen (put ice from the freezer on top), then carefully separate it from the floor with a plastic scraper. Rinse the place with window cleaner.
- Colored alcoholic drink is removed with water and detergent (one of the Mr. Propper or Muscle will do). If it doesn't work, soak a cotton swab in denatured alcohol and try it on a small piece of laminate, and then see what happens. If the floor surface is not damaged, remove the entire stain. Then wipe the floor with a damp and then dry cloth.
- The stripes from the rubber outsole of outdoor shoes can be removed with a regular eraser - just wipe them off the floor and then rinse it. And don't forget to wipe dry!
Laminate care rules
There are several varieties of this floor covering: ordinary, intended for installation in rooms with normal humidity, and moisture resistant, which is laid where there is a high probability of accidentally spilling water (in the kitchen).
Moisture-resistant laminate can be installed in the bathroom, but you have to be careful when using the shower. A few drops of moisture will not harm the coating, but regularly spilling water will ruin even the most expensive laminate flooring. For a bathroom, the best option is a waterproof plastic option.
The rules for caring for the laminate regulate the order of actions, as a result of which the floor will remain beautiful for a long time. They must be produced constantly:
- Pay attention to the entrance area. Dust, sand, soil particles are always collected here. To prevent them from spreading throughout the room, place a dust-collecting mat at the entrance. Every time you come from the street, carry out a wet cleaning of this area, and shake out the rug. A clean entrance - 50% of your laminate care job!
- Remove all sharp objects. You cannot walk on a home laminate in stiletto heels and move furniture (you can use a commercial one). To avoid scratches and dents, walk around the house in slippers, and “shoe” the furniture legs with felt shoes or glue on them special pads that are sold in any hardware store.
- Replace regular rollers with rubber ones. Some furniture (for example, chairs for working at a computer) are equipped with wheels, but they are plastic in 90% of cases. If you ride them on the laminate, stripes will inevitably remain, which are difficult to get rid of. Replace these rollers with rubber ones and ride your health!
- Eliminate or minimize water ingress on the floor. Moisture-resistant laminate with high-quality insulated joints between lamellas can be painlessly exposed to moisture for up to an hour. Further on, the water will still find a tiny crack and begin to seep inside.
- Caring for a laminate in the kitchen comes down to limiting moisture ingress: equip all flower pots with deep saucers, lay a rug on the floor near the sink. If water gets on it, remove it to dry and lay it dry.
- Carry out dry cleaning with a vacuum cleaner with a soft brush attachment.
- Do wet cleaning with a well-wrung cloth no more than 2 times a week. Change the water frequently while cleaning to avoid streaks on the floor. Be sure to wipe dry with a soft cloth or microfiber.
- Use only special laminate care products.
- Treat the floor with a special mastic once a year.
What not to do when caring for laminate flooring
Laminated surfaces are quite capricious in their care, despite the fact that immediately after installation and during the time when the protective coating is intact, it is enough to regularly vacuum the floor and wipe it with a slightly damp cloth several times a week.
The following steps cannot be performed if you plan to keep the coating intact for as long as possible:
- Use products containing alkali and acid, and powders containing abrasive particles.
- Use sharp objects for cleaning.
- Pour water on the floor while cleaning.
- Keep a lot of pets. If you like cats and dogs, put on a more affordable covering, for example, linoleum or higher class laminate.
- Use wax and oil-based parquet products for surface treatment. They do not penetrate into the lamellas, creating a film on the surface to which dust and debris adhere well.
- Use gloss products containing glycerin. Getting into the joints, they swell the edges of the lamellas.
How to care for laminate flooring - watch the video:
Caring for your laminate flooring at home is pretty straightforward. It is much more important and more difficult to properly operate this coating. Teach your pets to undress at the entrance, and then go barefoot or in soft slippers, do not spill water on the floor and do not draw with felt-tip pens! Then cleaning will consist of a daily “walk” with a vacuum cleaner and one-time weekly “races” with a damp cloth.
