Laminate Floors--what Am I Doing Wrong?

I never let water touch my wood laminate floor if I can help it. I use my swiffer mop with a terrycloth washrag on it and use Bona brand floor cleaner. I find it at my local True Value and it's in a spray bottle. I work in a about 4' by 4' sections and never have streaking. I've also had good luck with the Mohawk laminate floor cleaner but its not available in my area. I had to order it on their website. Good luck!

We have wood laminate flooring through most of our home but ours is smooth not grainy. I had the same problem with streaking and dullness until I found the "Method" brand floor cleaner at Target. I absolutely love it and never have a problem with streaks or dullness and it comes out so shiny. It doesn't have any chemicals in it either. All you do is squirt and mop. I do use a microfiber mop as well. Good luck! I know how frustrating it can be.

Is the Shark mop you use the one with steam?? If not, you might try a steam mop. My laminate floor instructions said NOT to use water. So, I would swipe and dry. One time, we had two cleaning ladies come in, and I told them just to vacuum, not to mop. They "forgot" and mopped with their regular mop and bucket. Water seeped into the seams and parts of the floor buckled and warped. Now I use a spray bottle with that "pink cow" all-natural cleanser very watered-down and diluted, spray it on lightly, let it sit for a minute, swipe, and dry.

I also use the Swiffer Wet Jet and it works great. We have 2 dogs, one is huge, and we don't have any issues with streaking. I do have to use it very often, almost every other day, but that's because of the dogs. I dry Swiffer every day. I also have hardwood floors in another area of the house, and I do like those better. I don't have to clean those as often, but I don't dislike the laminate.

We have laminate flooring and dogs, too. I use a spraybottle with a mixture of vinegar and water in it and it works great. I spray as I work my way around the room. The company that installed the floors said to add the vinegar because it helps it dry faster and it seems to be true.

My laminate is smooth, absolutely no grainy texture, so maybe that is part of it. The other thing I can think of is that maybe your mop is too wet. I clean mine with my non-toxic cleaner and have no problems. And last, maybe you are scrutinizing your floor too much. When I first got mine I noticed every little scratch. I had to remind myself it was a floor!

Zep Hardwood and Laminate Floor cleaner and a microfiber mop - it's a great combo! Used it on my laminate in my townhome, and now on my hickory hardwood. The cleaner is found at Home Depot. It's streak free and easy.
Your dog might make a big difference, even if you wipe his paws, they still drool, shed etc. and you don't really notice. We had comapny in town this weekend and let them bring their dog and I could definately tell when they left!!!

try using a water distilled vinegar mixture. Vinegar is a natural safe cleaner & will not harm laminate

For the past 10 years I have only used a RUBBERMAID SUPER ABSORBANT ROLLER MOP. These are fantastic. They wash and DRY the floor as you mop. Great for everyday use on any linoleum or laminate floor. These are available on AMAZON.COM. I almost guarantee once you use one, you won't use anything else, you will recommend them to everyone!
Just follow the manufacturers instructions the first time you use it and then they are care free. I would definately give it a try!
L.

We have laminate floors AND dogs and I hate the combination! We were told NOT to use excessive water on our laminate floors but to use windex because it cleans well and dries quickly. I dry mop often and get on my hands and knees with the windex when I want them really clean. I have not had great luck with the Swiffer products, but I think that's because we live out in the country and it's very dusty--so the Swiffer just streaks the dust if you haven't swept or dry mopped well enough.

Try Windex! Good Luck!

Are you talking about wood laminate flooring? If you are, I've tried many many different things, and it always looked either streaky or soapy. BUT the Swiffer Wet Jet, multi purpose solution works GREAT on it. No streaks, make it look super shiny.....

I wish we never would have gotten our wood laminate flooring in our kitchen and our entry way, because of all the streaking when washing. I don't think it really matters what you wash it with...I have used special cleaner for laminate floors, and murphy's oil. What I have found and is not fun, is to wash the floor by hand and dry it by hand as well. I wash a section, and then dry it and keep that up until I am done and no streaks!

Because it is more work than I would like I have a permanent sign for people to please take their shoes off, to help cut down on how often I have to wash the floor.

Hope this helps!

After you mop a section, use a separate mop with a chamois head or wrap the mop head with terry cloth towels. In reality you have to swipe up the excess liquid to get rid of smears or droplets. Hopefully, this will keep you off your knees.

best thing i have found is a wide head mop i found at target it has terry cloth covers that you wash in the washing machine and mr clean diluted floor cleaner. i never had streaks after i used that. now i have the steam mop because i dont like using all the chemicals and i would rather have streaky floors then dirty chemical covered floors. we have 2 dogs and a 2 year old so the floor is always covered in something :)