On top of its ability to imitate a range of visual styles and bring colour and texture to your floors, laminate flooring is known for being highly durable and low maintenance. With a base layer designed to resist moisture, a core layer composed of hard wearing HDF, laminate flooring can hold up against the everyday wear and tear we all expect in family homes. You will never have to compromise practicality in favour of aesthetics when you can achieve the best of both with some high quality laminate flooring.

In this post, we will outline some of our top tips for keeping laminate floors clean and perfectly up to scratch (and therefore free from scratches) for the long term benefit of your home and its appearance. Following these rules will help give your interior that impeccable look of luxury we all desire, therefore accentuating the natural appearance and inimitable beauty of laminate.

 

Scratches

Heavy furniture can be the foil of any kind of flooring, including your laminate. In particular, scratches from the legs of chairs, tables, and sofas are unsightly and quite often irremovable. You have to protect your laminate from heavy furniture by tackling the problem at the root. Adding casters or protective pads to furniture legs will soften their impact on your floor, preventing a buildup of scratches when you pull out your chair or drag heavy furniture around (although it’s always best to lift heavy furniture instead, even if it takes more than one person).

You should also prevent your laminate flooring from coming into contact with anything sharp. This may include taking the initiative to remove your high heels or football boots at the door and regularly clip your pet’s claws or nails. Simply changing your habits in these ways will significantly reduce the likelihood of unnecessary damage being done to your floor.

 

Spills

As mentioned above, modern laminates are usually specifically designed to prevent the absorption of moisture with its many layers imbuing the floor with a number of properties. Synthetic resins in the core layer help waterproof the laminate and a water-resistant coating adorning the outer wear layer further helps to protect the laminate from spillages on the surface. Still, homeowners should always make sure to wipe up spills as soon as they occur to greatly reduce the chance of any moisture seeping into the compound. This is particularly important if the liquid you have spilled has the capacity to stain your flooring if exposed to it for a long time.

When this occurs, avoid using a wet mop and instead wipe up the spill using a damp cloth before drying the leftover moisture with a dry one. You may also want to prevent spills from happening altogether by placing wet mats in notoriously wet parts of your household – underneath water bowls or beside the front door, for instance.

 

Scuffs

If your white socks always end up looking slightly less white after walking through your home, perhaps it’s time to put a stop to the dirt and start keeping laminate floors clean and shiny. Placing rugs in areas with high footfall (such as the hallways and the living room) will work to reduce the scuffs and marks on your laminate – plus they add some nice contrast to your room! Likewise, you should be putting doormats by doors to prevent people from dragging dirt inside and compromising the appearance of your floor.

If your laminate does end up getting a little dirty after dragging your pets in after a long walk (don’t worry, it happens to the cleanest of us), then repeat the same cleaning process as above. Avoid using abrasive materials and chemicals as these can damage or stain your laminate – play it safe and stay on the softer side when brushing and scrubbing marks from your floor.

Ultimately, it goes much further than just keeping laminate floors clean, tidy, and dirt free. Laminate flooring strikes a perfect balance in terms of aesthetics, functionality, and affordability. At Hudson Flooring, our beautiful range of laminate floors is certainly no exception!

For expert advice and assistance in finding your perfect floor, simply get in touch with a member of the Hudson Flooring team and we’d be delighted to help.

 

Posted in Laminate