Beautiful Home

One of the easiest ways of improving the appearance of a room is by upgrading the flooring. Depending on the homeowner’s tastes, new floor covering can be carpeting, tile or wood flooring. Many people today are reverting back to the appearance that wood offers and using the best laminate flooring they can afford, can offer a room a rich look without the mess usually associated with the installation of wood floors.

While price plays a major role in the quality of the wood flooring, the most expensive brands on the market may not always be the best laminate flooring for the individual’s room or design. Two main types of laminate flooring exist, high-pressure laminate and direct pressure. Direct pressure processes creates a great looking product but may not be the best laminate flooring for rooms in which children play often or have a large amount of foot traffic. Direct pressure laminate flooring typically is made with three layers of fiberboard and is susceptible to denting of the floor.

High pressure laminate flooring is made with five or more layers and is stronger and less likely to show dents. Even those with an attached padding will not sound as hollow as some of the less expensive materials, making them some of the best laminate flooring products needed for high-traffic areas. Although, the more expensive, hence durable products, may not be necessary in every room in the house.

Mixing Flooring Quality May Save Money

As with most products, the better quality is usually accompanied by a higher price tag and laminate flooring is no different. Using the best laminate flooring you can afford to meet the daily demands of some rooms may give better service and durability over the years. However, for certain rooms in which traffic is at a minimum, installation costs can be reduced by using a lower quality, less expensive product, providing it can be found with the same pattern and in the same color.

In many cases, regardless of price, each box of flooring will contain repeated patterns if they are laid in place in the same order in which they are removed from the box, the created floor pattern may not be as orderly as expected. Most installers recommend that even with the best laminate flooring that at least five boxes are opened and the panels used from different boxes to attain the best laminate flooring pattern possible for the design being used.

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Harsh cleaners and cotton mops may be staple in many houses for keeping their floors clean, you should not use wet mops to clean laminate floor materials. Typically, a dust mop is used on a regular basis to remove any dust and grit that can cause scratching to the surface of the floor, and an occasion pass with a damp, not wet, mop can help restore the luster of the flooring, but using mops to clean laminate floor is not always necessary.

Most laminate flooring material is designed to be water resistant, and if connected properly, even a spill on the floor will not cause much damage if it is wiped up and not allowed to lay on the floor. When using mops to clean laminate floor there is a chance excess water can get down into any unnoticed cracks and work into the underlayment of the flooring. The resins in the fiber core of the flooring usually contains waterproofing chemicals, such as paraffin wax, but the floor on which it sits probably does not have the same protection.

Laminate flooring, installed correctly, will be free of gaps where the floor panels connect, but since the flooring is not glued or nailed down, there is always the possibility of the boards slowly working loose, creating small gaps. Using mops to clean laminate floor can allow extra moisture to get between the boards and turn any dust located there to mud.

Dry Mop Usually Sufficiently For Laminate Floors

Those with experience in maintaining wood floors know how hard it can be to maintain the shine on the wood. Whether the floor is coated annually with a sealer and acrylic coating, most people also wax the wood to help protect the finish and the shine. There is no reason to wax laminate flooring to maintain the shine and, in fact using mops to clean laminate floor can cause the shine on the floor to fade over time.

For stubborn stains on the flooring, the manufacturer’s recommended cleaning products and techniques should be used to insure the floor’s warranty is not voided. Each manufacturer may have a different cleaning product in mind to protect the integrity of the floor. Even if it call to use mops to clean laminate floor, the mop should never be wet and water should not be allowed to lie on the flooring. If possible, the floor should be protected with throw rugs or small carpets, especially during inclement weather.

Tags: laminate floor cleaning, laminate flooring, flooring,floor cleaning, mops to clean laminate floor