The Simple DIY Cleaner That Will Leave Your Laminate Floors Sparkling

Keeping a clean home may sound simple, but it's a task that can turn out to be one of the most consistently challenging goals some people will face in their lifetimes. From finding the right cleaning schedule and tools for your household to deciding which solvents to use for which surfaces, cleaning is actually far from simple. One surface that's present in many modern homes is laminate flooring. Since laminate mimics the look of hardwood without all the maintenance, it has exploded in popularity since it became a believable wood lookalike in the early 2000s.

Even a flooring choice as low-maintenance as laminate, however, still requires regular cleaning. Commercial solvents marketed to laminate flooring owners can be costly and often contain mixtures of harsh chemicals and artificial colors and fragrances that could potentially pose risks to young children and pets. Fortunately, there's an easy way to make your own inexpensive laminate floor cleaner that will make your floors sparkling clean without worrying about what you could be putting into your environment. All you need is warm water, rubbing alcohol, distilled white vinegar, and liquid dish soap. 

Combining your ingredients to make DIY laminate floor cleaner is simple. For every 2 cups of warm water you add to your mop bucket, add ¼ cup of rubbing alcohol, ½ cup of distilled white vinegar, and two drops of liquid dish soap. Be sure not to add more than a few drops of liquid dish soap; adding too much can create a solution that leaves a sticky residue on your floors.

If you'd like a scented floor cleaner without all the artificial fragrances, you may choose to add a few drops of an essential oil to your solution. Orange, lemon, peppermint, eucalyptus, and rosemary oil all offer particularly clean scents that rival commercial solvents with their natural fragrances. Make sure your cleaner is thoroughly mixed and that all of the ingredients are properly dispersed. Then, it's time to grab your mop and get ready to clean your laminate floors. 

Once your ingredients have been mixed thoroughly, use your mop to apply the warm cleaner to your laminate flooring and mop away the grime as you would with any other solvent. Be sure to wring out your mop well between rinses to prevent pooling. After you've finished mopping, it's important to dry your laminate floors. Allowing excess moisture to stand on the flooring can cause permanent damage to the materials that give it its wooden appearance.  

The easiest way to dry your laminate floor after mopping is to use a dry microfiber dust mop. You can purchase an O-Cedar dual-action dust mop for $13.99 on Amazon for all your floor drying needs. Since rubbing alcohol is a drying agent, a once-over with your dust mop is all that is required to aid your floor's drying process, as long as you don't use an excessive amount of cleaner. Then, simply stand back and admire your shiny clean floors.