About Randy Leighty Experience Over 15 years experience with Mirachem Corporation, a manufacturer of cleaning technologies. I have served as a trainer, technical writer, project coordinator, customer service representative and sales consultant. I can help with industrial cleaning questions, too!
Question Hi- I love my laminate flooring, BUT I have yet to wash it without being left with a dull and spotty result. I have tried cleansing solutions, plain water, vinegar and water, water softeners, and commercially "made for laminate flooring" cleanser. All leave me with a dully spotty finish. I would love to hear your suggestions. Thanks.
Answer Hello, Cheri.
Most streaking or dulling complaints in cleaning applications are a result of either too much cleaning product, mineral content in the water, or some combination of the two.
Based on what you’ve told me, I’m puzzled that you have been unable to achieve success, since the 'plain water' should address any detergent residue, and 'water softeners' should address mineral content. Under normal circumstances, I would question if the finish has been permanently damaged in some fashion, however, laminate is extremely durable and built to withstand pretty much anything. I can hardly believe there might be substrate damage, but let’s rule it out.
I would use two terry cloth towels and distilled & purified water to see if you can improve the appearance in one small area, say 12 inches square. Wet one towel just short of dripping and wipe the surface. Follow with the dry towel to remove all water, much like you would clean a window. I would repeat the process for good measure. How does the floor look after 5 or 10 minutes? Be sure to check in both indirect and direct light (sunlight if possible). If it’s good, then I think we can safely rule out damage as well as demonstrating that it is possible to get the finish you want.
If the appearance does not improve, please write me back and we’ll talk more about that. Let’s assume, however, that the spot cleans up nicely, as I expect it to do.
I would then repeat the above process in a new spot with two new towels, but this time using regular tap water. After several minutes, how do the two spots compare? If they both look equally good, then we can probably rule out mineral deposits in the water as an issue and move on. If the new spot is unsatisfactory, then you have probably found your problem. I don’t really look for this, however, because the vinegar you mentioned (which is a weak acid) should have removed common mineral film.
So, that pretty much leaves product residue as the culprit, which is my best guess at this point. I’ll proceed on that assumption.
If you are like most people, you understand the idea of concentrated products and dilution on an intellectual level, but rarely give it much thought in practice; you just pour and go. Also, most of us can’t help but take the “if a little is good, a lot is better” approach to cleaning, and so that extra “glug” of cleaner always seems to go into the bucket.
The reality is that most cleaning products are formulated to a level of concentration that either delivers a desired production cost / selling price relationship, or which offers a determined level of cleaning performance in a benchmark application. Many products include directions for cleaning at increased dilutions, but actual performance at these levels of concentration tends to be marginal at best. Likewise, increasing the amount of product tends to offer very little incremental performance, and in some cases using more product can actually hamper performance, as in leaving behind a cloudy residue on surfaces.
Solid content of the selected cleaning product can also be a contributing factor in residue problems. This refers to the amount of solid material (usually fine white-ish crystals or a grayish powder) that is left behind when the water is evaporated. We typically don’t see this in household applications, but it is common in industrial cleaning and parts washing.
You should be able to correct the current problem with the process of rinse and dry that I discussed above. Avoiding the problem is the future should be as simple as being more aware of necessary dilution, using only as much product as you need to get your desired cleaning performance, and rinsing when appropriate.
Please let me know how I did on this one. I want you to COMPLETELY love your laminate!
Randy Leighty
Cleaning Guide
Mirachem Corporation
clean.guide@mirachem.com
