How to take care of the floor of laminate?

The problem of laminate care concerns everyone who has this flooring at home. When repairing, evaluate all the positive and negative aspects of this material. From the article you not only learn how to take care of the floor of the laminate, but also understand what to do in emergency situations. You will also be able to get skills to repair such damage to the coating, such as swelling from the water, chipped away from fallen heavy objects.

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What does laminate consist of?

Laminate flooring, or, as it is also called, "laminated parquet", is a kind of "layered cake", consisting of such parts:

• Stabilizing layer of durable kraft paper, which is impregnated with melamine. To enhance the noise insulation effect, the stabilizing and noise-damping layers are sometimes combined.
• The carrier layer is the main part of the floor covering. In materials of economy class and some models of the average price category, the supporting part is made of a strong chipboard. The basis of expensive grades of laminate is natural wood. It is much stronger and more practical than particleboard. In this layer locks are cut to connect individual lamellas to each other.
• Decorative part. It is melamine-impregnated paper on which the drawing is applied. It can be imitation of wood, ornamental stone, ceramics, sea pebbles and other materials.

Important! In addition to the classic, there are also waterproof grades of laminate. The bearing part is formed not by chipboard, but by high-quality plastic with air chambers. Caring for such a coating is much easier than for ordinary.

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How to properly wash the laminate?

Materials based on woodworking industry waste do not like excessive moisture, and natural wood does not particularly favor it. Most people buy laminate based on chipboard. With prolonged exposure to moisture, the lamellas swell and become completely unusable.

However, it is not only possible to wash such a floor, but it is also necessary. Use for this purpose soft detergents for laminate care, chemically non-aggressive. The rag should not be too wet. Excellent option - a mop, equipped with a squeezing device.

Methods for wet cleaning:

• Classic( with water and cloth).Pour water in a bucket, moisten a rag, squeeze it well and wipe the coating. Now manually wipe the floor with a dry rag.
• A heavily soiled surface will wash away hot water( by no means, boiling water!).The algorithm is the same as with cold water. Naturally, you can not allow a long contact of the coating with hot water.
• Water with vinegar. This method is relevant in the event that the coating is heavily soiled and has lost its luster. Dissolve in a liter of water 250 ml of table vinegar, pour the resulting solution into a spray. Spray liquid on small areas and wipe immediately. When the surface starts to shine again, wash the floor with cool water, and then wipe dry.
• A good care product for laminate at home is a baby shampoo. Dissolve in the hot water a little shampoo for children( it has a neutral pH reaction, so it's perfectly safe), then wash the floor in the usual way.

Important! Before you buy a product for cleaning the laminate, pay attention to its chemical composition. It should not contain sodium hypochlorite. If one time to wash the floor with such a solution, there will be no harm to the coating. But from frequent washing the laminate will lose its shine and the original color.

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"Ambulance" for laminate

Caring for a laminate of Class 32 or any other is not just a cleaning( dry or wet), but also the restoration of the laminated surface from scratches, chips or children's drawings.

Scratches removal

Scratches are the result of improper use of laminate( furniture rearrangement, children's toys).

Important! It is impossible to leave such damage without attention. Gradually, the scratch will increase, it will accumulate dirt and, in the end, the lamella will have to be replaced.

The procedure for removing a small scratch is as follows:

1. Using a vacuum cleaner, clean the scratch, remove all dust from it.
2. Spend on the defect with a special pencil( if necessary - several times).
3. Polish the defect with a dry rag.

To eliminate deep defects, when the pencil does not help, you can use mastic or paste. The application of these tools is extremely simple:

1. Apply mastic with plastic glass, remove excess.
2. Polish the floor surface with a soft, dry cloth.
3. Pasta, in comparison with mastic, has a more liquid consistency. Apply it to a scratch, level it, then wipe it( first with a damp sponge and then with a soft cloth).
4. After 2 hours you can walk around the repaired place.

Important! Select a pencil to repair the damaged laminate is not difficult. On sale there are almost any shades. To pick up mastic or paste is more difficult: the toning palette is enough limited. You have to mix different colors until you get the right shade.

Elimination of chips

The chips on the laminate cover appear when heavy objects fall, usually in the kitchen. Eliminate chipping as quickly as possible, as dust and dirt accumulate in them. So, proceed:

1. Strip the defect.
2. Using a burner, melt the laminate filler.
3. Apply it to the damaged area, spread out with a spatula and remove any excess that is near the chip.
4. Wait for the putty to cool.
5. Sand the defect site and carefully polish.

How to eliminate the swelling of the laminate?

It can occur if the liquid is spilled onto the floor and not wiped off on time. If the floorboard is swollen, the defect can only be removed by replacing it:

1. Disassemble the floor a little further from the damaged area.
2. Place the swollen floorboards on a flat surface to dry.
3. Do not rush floorboards again. Arrange a draft in the room to destroy moisture under the cover.
4. Assemble the floor again.

Important! Do not forget to seal sealant joints. Ideal if this is done during the initial installation of the laminate.

How to remove drawings from a laminate?

The effectiveness of removing "art" from the floor depends on the basis on which the ink of the markers is made. Consider several ways to remove drawings:

• If the felt-tip pens are alcohol-based, try erasing the pattern with an ordinary school eraser, and then wipe the stricken place with a piece of cotton wool soaked in vodka or alcohol. Now it remains to clean the floor in the usual way and wipe it dry.
• Take the toothpaste( without whitening effect) and apply to the drawing. Remove the marks of the felt tip using a microfiber cloth. After that, wash the floor. Laminate as a brand new!
• If the pen is water-based, then its traces are well rinsed with plain water.
• Dampen fleece in acetone, nail polish remover or white spirit. First, try cleaning efficiency in a small area. If the traces of children's creativity are easily removed, and the surface has not changed its color, continue to delete the remaining drawings.

Rules for removing stains

In addition to children's drawings, a floor covering can be spoiled by accidentally spilled alcohol, resin from a Christmas tree. On the surface of the floor can remain traces of shoes. And in each of these cases you need to know how to take care of the floor of the laminate. To cope with such contamination will help the following tips:

• Dried blood stains can be removed with a cotton swab moistened with a window cleaner.
• Spruce or pine resin must be frozen beforehand. For these purposes, ice from the freezer or a bag of frozen vegetables is suitable. After the resin has solidified, it remains to remove it from the surface with a scraper. The contaminated area is washed with a cotton swab or a piece of cloth soaked in a window cleaner.
• Wine stains are well removed with water with mild detergent( equally well suited "Misters": Proper and Muscle).If the traces of the stains still remain, you can try to bring them out with denatured alcohol.
• It is convenient to remove stripes from street shoes with a soft eraser.

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Laminate care products at home: basic rules

The lifetime of the laminate depends largely on how well you chose the flooring:

• In normal humidity rooms, a normal laminate is appropriate.
• Moisture-resistant coating is installed in the kitchen and bathroom, but you need to use it with extreme caution.
• The best option for a bathroom is a plastic laminate.

Several basic rules will allow you to extend the life of the laminated cover:

1. Pay special attention to the entrance area. Dust, dirt and sand here are collected especially intensively. To prevent dirt from spreading through the room, use a dust mat. Take for the rule of daily cleaning of this site. Rug also shake out every day.
2. Try to avoid damaging the laminate with sharp objects. In order not to damage the cover when rearranging the furniture, glue to the furniture legs special lining, which are available.
3. Replace conventional rollers with rubberized ones. If you rent a computer chair on plastic wheels on the floor, it will certainly leave a trace. With rubber wheels there are no such problems.
4. Dry the cleaning of the laminate with a vacuum cleaner with a soft brush attachment.
5. The effectiveness of laminate care 32 class depends largely on how much you protect the floor from getting liquid. Even moisture resistant varieties can withstand water on the floor for no more than 2 hours. The frequency of wet cleaning - no more than 2 times a week. Do not forget to wipe the washed floor dry.
6. Treat the floor surface with a special mastic( once a year).

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How to care for a class 33 laminate in the living room of a house, or what should not be

Now what is the absolute taboo when caring for a laminated cover. So, to avoid damage to the coating, you can not:

• Use products containing caustic alkalis and acids, as well as cleaning products with abrasive particles.
• Use sharp objects when cleaning.
• Use too much water when washing the floor.
• Treat the floor surface with parquet products containing wax and oil. This creates a film that, like a magnet, attracts debris, dirt and dust.
• Use for treatment with glycerin. This can provoke swelling of the edges of the lamellas.

We hope that advice on how to take care of the floor of the laminate will be useful to you, and your new decor of any of the rooms will last even longer than you expected.