The Best Laminate Floor Cleaner [to clean up after kids and pets!]

With dogs, cats, and children running wild in our house, we need the best laminate floor cleaner we can find! Here’s how to best care for your floors, and the cleaner we use regularly.

New floors are in and they look amazing! Who doesn’t love new flooring?! But all new floors come with surprises. Our surprise…. just how well doggie footprints show up on the new laminate, lol. Ok, it wasn’t that much of a surprise because our old flooring also expertly showed off muddy paws, but I care more about the new floors which is leading me to finally determine what the best laminate floor cleaner is!

*This post was sponsored by Bona and may contain affiliate links. As always, opinions are 100% my own. For more information, please see my disclosure page.*

If you look closely you can see all of the puppy footprints on the floor in the photo above! We conveniently finished our floors in the spring, at the height of the muddy season, and our floors show it! Little girls with muddy boots trudge through the house getting dirt everywhere, and the dogs follow right behind. We finally got a laminate floor cleaner that we love, that uses a microfiber pad, and I’ll tell you why we think it’s the best!

Why Use a Microfiber Cleaning Pad?

Laminate floors are easy to clean and maintain if you have the right laminate floor cleaners! The best way to clean laminate floors with with a microfiber pad.

Microfiber pads will easily glide across the floor, picking up dirt and debris without damaging the floors. The most important reason is that they require less water and cleaner. Laminate floors will warp easily if they are exposed to too much water!

I would not recommended using a string mop of sponge mop on laminate floors. They can leave your floors looking streaky, they will take longer to use, and they can often use too much water. Even when manufacturers say that your laminate floors are sealed and waterproof, I would not recommend using too much water on them.

Reasons why the Bona Spray Mop and cleaner is the best Laminate Floor Cleaner

I’ve been using the Bona Spray Mop ever since I tried it on our new white bathroom tiles. The mop works so well! Here’s a few reasons that I’ve found it to be the best laminate floor cleaner:

• It has a dust pad that you can use to remove dust, debris, and pet hair before you use the wet spray
• The spray mop pad is made of microfiber (which is great on laminate!)
• The pads are machine washable
• The wand and base of the spray mop are flexible and easy to maneuver, and you don’t have to push hard on them to get a good clean on the floor
• The Bona cleaners are non-toxic – safe for our family and our planet (including my infant show still crawls all over my floors!)
• The cleaner dries fast and doesn’t leave a residue on your floor
• You don’t have to get down on your hands and knees to get a great clean!

Regular Care for your Laminate Floors

Laminate floors do not need a spray mop, or thorough cleaning every day (unless your dog is constantly leaving muddy prints everywhere!), but as with any floor, you should regularly remove dirt and debris. You can do this by sweeping, using a dusting cloth, or using the soft bristle head on your vacuum. Wipe up spills and muddy footprints as soon as possible, and try not to let water sit on your floors.

Steps for Cleaning Laminate Floors

Once a week I clean our floors more thoroughly (which isn’t saying much because it’s still a very simple process!), but here’s what I do:

1. Clean off big dust bunnies, dirt & pet hair with a dust pad, a dry mop, or a vaccuum
2. Use the spray mop and Bona cleaner to clean the floors
3. If pad gets too dirty, replace it with a new one and continue
4. Throw dirty clothes in the laundry to get cleaned later

Things to avoid when it comes to laminate floor cleaners

Laminate floors are generally easy to take care of, but there are a few things that you need to be careful of.

• Avoid using steam cleaners as they can cause the planks to swell, warp, and gap
• Do not use soap or oil based laminate floor cleaners as they can leave a film on your floors
• Do not use scouring products, or anything that could scratch the surface
• Avoid getting built up dirt and debris that may scratch the surface of your floors, by using high quality mats inside and outside of entrances, back doors, and garage doors.

I hope that you found that helpful! I’m a busy mom of three kids and three fur babies, and I’m happy to have a quick and easy way to clean our floors, that I also know is safe enough for my children to crawl around on. Hopefully you enjoy your Bona Premium Spray Mop for Stone, Tile, and Laminate Floors!

If you’re looking at another Flooring Upgrade, Read about the Reasons we Chose to Install Heated Flooring! Plus all of our tips!