Laminate flooring
A wood-based board under a resin surface. The board is why water is the enemy, and why the trade body rules out steam without qualification.
What not to do
Mild abrasion is unsafe on Laminate flooring
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Evidence
Supported
Sources
Technical Bulletin: Cleaning and Maintenance of Laminate Floor Coverings in the Home
EPLF — Association of European Producers of Laminate Flooring, 2022 · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That abrasive cleaning pads, sponges, cloths and scourers must not be used on laminate flooring, and that the floor must not be sanded, varnished or waxed. (states this directly)
Steam cleaner should be avoided for Laminate flooring
Best avoided
The available guidance advises against this.
Precautions
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
Evidence
Supported
Sources
Technical Bulletin: Cleaning and Maintenance of Laminate Floor Coverings in the Home
EPLF — Association of European Producers of Laminate Flooring, 2022 · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That laminate flooring is cleaned damp rather than wet and that moisture at the joints damages the board. (states this directly)
Precautions
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
- Limit the contact time
In detail
Laminate looks like a hard impervious surface and is one — on top. Underneath is a wood-based panel, and the European producers' technical bulletin is direct about the consequence: with higher humidity the wood material panels tend to swell, as with all wood-based products, and low humidity causes shrinkage. Cleaning is therefore vacuuming and a well-wrung damp cloth, with a laminate cleaner in the water. One instruction is categorical and carries no qualification: steam cleaners are not suitable for use with any type of laminate floor. Abrasive pads, sponges and scourers are excluded, and the floor is not to be sanded, varnished or waxed. The bulletin also draws a distinction almost no owner knows exists, and it changes the answer. A melamine resin surface — the common EN 13329 type — must never be treated with film-forming cleaners, polish or beeswax, which will not bond to the resin. A direct-print lacquered surface, the EN 15468 type, can take the same aftercare as lacquered parquet. The same bottle is therefore right on one laminate floor and wrong on another that looks identical. Grit is the other mechanism: tracked-in dirt is described as acting like sandpaper.
Properties
Sensitivity
- Acids
- Not known
- Alkalis
- Not known
- Chlorine bleach
- Not known
- Heat
- Sensitive
- Abrasion
- Sensitive
- Porous
- Sensitive
“Not known” means nobody has established this, not that the material is unaffected.
What works
Water is safe on, in specific conditions, Laminate flooring
Safe only in specific conditions
This is only appropriate within specific limits. Outside those limits, no claim is made.
Only within these limits:
- A WELL-WRUNG damp cloth. Not a wet mop and not a wet floor
- Vacuum the loose dirt off first — grit is described as acting like sandpaper
- A laminate cleaner added to the water rather than a general-purpose product
- NO STEAM. The bulletin's statement is flat and unqualified: steam cleaners are not suitable for use with ANY type of laminate floor
Laminate has a WOOD-BASED CORE. The trade body states that higher humidity makes wood-based panels swell and low humidity makes them shrink, which is why the water instruction is about quantity rather than about chemistry.
Precautions
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
Evidence
Supported
Sources
Technical Bulletin: Cleaning and Maintenance of Laminate Floor Coverings in the Home
EPLF — Association of European Producers of Laminate Flooring, 2022 · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That cleaning is by vacuum for loose dirt and a well-wrung damp cloth with a laminate cleaner added to the water, that steam cleaners are not suitable for use with any type of laminate floor, and that wood-based panels swell with higher humidity and shrink with low humidity. (states this directly)
Floor cleaner is safe on, in specific conditions, Laminate flooring
Safe only in specific conditions
This is only appropriate within specific limits. Outside those limits, no claim is made.
Only within these limits:
- Vacuum loose dirt first
- A WELL-WRUNG damp cloth with a laminate cleaner added to the water
- Steam cleaners are not suitable for use with ANY type of laminate floor
- No abrasive pads, sponges, cloths or scourers; do not sand, varnish or wax
Laminate has a wood-based core, so it swells with humidity like any wood product — which is why the cloth is wrung out rather than merely damp.
Precautions
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
Evidence
Supported
Sources
Technical Bulletin: Cleaning and Maintenance of Laminate Floor Coverings in the Home
EPLF — Association of European Producers of Laminate Flooring, 2022 · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That cleaning is by vacuum for loose dirt and a well-wrung damp cloth with laminate cleaner added to the water, that steam cleaners are not suitable for any type of laminate floor, and that abrasive pads, sponges, cloths and scourers are prohibited. (states this directly)
Why
- Laminate flooring is explained by Fibre swelling and shrinkage
The reason a floor that looks like plastic behaves like wood.
- Laminate flooring is explained by Soil shielding
The answer to the sticky floor. A film-forming product leaves a layer that holds the next lot of soil, and on a melamine surface the bulletin says 'under no circumstances' about polish and beeswax.
Related
- Laminate flooring is commonly affected by Water marks
Hacks and claims involving this
- Steam mopping a laminate floor Does not work
- All-purpose cleaner on a vinyl floor Does not work
Sources for this page
Sources
Technical Bulletin: Cleaning and Maintenance of Laminate Floor Coverings in the Home
EPLF — Association of European Producers of Laminate Flooring, 2022 · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That the wood-based panels swell with higher humidity, that cleaning is by vacuum and a well-wrung damp cloth, that steam cleaners are not suitable for any type of laminate floor, that abrasive pads and scourers must not be used, and that melamine resin surfaces must not receive film-forming cleaners, polish or beeswax while lacquered direct-print surfaces may. (states this directly)