Vinyl plank and laminate are both low-maintenance floors, and that is a big part of why people choose them. Low-maintenance is not no-maintenance, though. Most of the wear on a floor that is a few years old came from grit, furniture and the wrong cleaning products, not from the people walking on it. None of the right habits are hard. Here they are, along with the handful of things to never do.
Grit is what wears a floor
The top of a vinyl plank is a clear wear layer with a hard finish on it, and the top of laminate is a hard resin surface. Both stand up to feet very well. What scratches and dulls them is sand and grit tracked in on shoes and ground in with every step, which works like fine sandpaper.
So the most useful thing you can do for either floor is keep the grit off it.
- A mat outside each exterior door and another just inside it.
- Sweep with a soft broom or a dust mop a few times a week in the kitchen and the entry, where most of the grit lands.
- Vacuum on the hard-floor setting, or with the brush roll switched off. A spinning brush roll flicks grit across the floor and can scuff it, and a vacuum with a cracked wheel can scratch it.
Getting your house ready for installation day makes the same point about mats, and it bears repeating.
Mopping vinyl plank
Vinyl plank is waterproof, so it tolerates a proper mop better than any other floor we sell. Use warm water with a small amount of pH-neutral floor cleaner, or the cleaner the manufacturer recommends for that floor. A microfiber mop does a better job than a string mop and leaves less water behind.
Water will not hurt the planks themselves. It can still run down the seams to the subfloor if you flood the floor, so mop it rather than soaking it.
Mopping laminate
Laminate needs a lighter touch, because its core is made of compressed wood fiber. Water that sits on a seam soaks into the edges of the core, and the edges swell into a raised ridge that does not go back down. That is the one thing that ruins laminate, and mops cause it as often as spills do.
Use a damp mop, not a wet one: a microfiber pad sprayed lightly with the manufacturer's cleaner, or a mop wrung out until it is barely damp. The floor should be dry again within a minute or so. Wipe up spills when they happen, and do not leave a wet towel or a boot tray sitting on it. Some newer laminates are sold as water-resistant with sealed edges and tolerate more, but damp-mopping is still the safe habit. LVP or laminate in a Bootheel home covers where that difference should decide the floor.
What not to use
- Steam mops. Heat and pressurized steam drive moisture into the seams and can weaken the layers inside a plank. Many manufacturers say not to use them, and using one can void the warranty. Check the care sheet for your floor first.
- Wax, polish and floor restorers. Neither floor needs them. They leave a film that looks good for a week, then turns cloudy and holds dirt, and stripping that buildup is harder than never applying it.
- Oil soap and oil-based cleaners. They are made for a different kind of wood finish and leave a dull, slippery residue on vinyl and laminate.
- Bleach, ammonia and strong solvents. Over time they can dull the finish. A mild cleaner does the job.
- Scouring pads, steel wool and abrasive powders. They scratch the finish they are meant to clean.
A stubborn mark, like a black scuff from a shoe sole, usually comes off with a little of the recommended cleaner on a soft cloth, rubbed gently. If it does not, check the manufacturer's care sheet before you reach for anything stronger.
Furniture, chairs and appliances
Most scratches happen in a single moment, when something heavy gets dragged.
- Put felt pads under every chair, table and sofa leg, and replace them when they wear thin or pick up grit, which they do.
- Office chairs on hard plastic casters wear a pale patch into either floor. Swap in soft casters made for hard floors, or use a chair mat.
- Never drag the refrigerator or the washer. Lay down a sheet of plywood or hardboard and walk the appliance across it, or move it on a dolly.
- Very heavy fixed things, like a gun safe or a kitchen island, should not sit on a floating floor, because they pin it in place and stop it moving. Tile or vinyl plank for a bathroom or laundry room touches on the same point.
Rugs and mats
Some rubber and latex rug backings react with vinyl and leave a yellow or brown stain that will not clean off. Buy rugs and mats labeled safe for vinyl floors, or put a non-staining rug pad underneath. It is an easy mistake to make, because the stain only shows when the rug is moved months later.
Sun and heat
Strong sun through a big window or a glass door fades any floor slowly, and in summer it can heat a strip of vinyl plank enough to make it expand. A floor installed with the proper gap at the walls has room for that, but in a room that bakes every afternoon, blinds or curtains during the hottest hours protect the color and the floor. How to choose vinyl plank has more on heat and sun.
Pets and kids
Keep dogs' nails trimmed, since nails do more to the finish than paws do. Put a mat under the water and food bowls, because a dog splashes water across the floor every time it drinks, and on laminate that adds up. Wipe up accidents promptly: vinyl shrugs them off, but urine left on a laminate seam soaks in. The best flooring for dogs and kids goes further on choosing a floor for a busy house.
Keep the leftover planks
If there are leftover planks from the job, keep them, stored flat somewhere dry. A plank that gets gouged, or a laminate plank that takes on water, can usually be replaced on its own, and a plank from the same batch will match. The same floor bought two years later may be discontinued or come from a different run.
Questions about your floor
If you are not sure whether a product is safe to use on your floor, or a floor is doing something it should not, call us at 573-471-8700. If you are still choosing, book a free in-home estimate and we will bring samples of both floors to your house in Sikeston, Cape Girardeau or anywhere between.
