Removing grubby 'patina' on laminate floor?

[Terry Pinnell]

Regrettably it looks as if we've been using the wrong cleaning fluid on our 'Pergo' matt finish laminate hall flooring for the last year or so. When the originally-supplied cleaning liquid ran out, we bought what we assumed was an OK equivalent, called Mr Sheen, more conveniently available with the weekly supermarket shop. But, although it states its suitability for 'laminate floors', we've recently realised that it has built up a sort of shiny layer or patina. That would be OK in itself, but it's also patchy and dirty looking.

So I want to get it back to its matt finish (and thereafter clean only with the Pergo stuff). But doing so looks a challenge. Small test patches with

- the Pergo liquid

- diluted Fairy Liquid required *really* hard rubbing to make a significant difference.

Is there anything else anyone can recommend please, that might be faster and/or easier, while still being safe of course?

FWIW, the Pergo maintenance guide recommends "Chocolate, Grease, Juice, Cordials, Wine can be removed with warm water and mild detergent, which is what prompted my trials with Fairy Liquid. And "tar, crayon, lipstick, shoe polish, ink, carbon, nail polish or cigarettes with Methylated spirit, acetone or household solvent, or petroleum spirit," which I've not yet been brave enough to try.

[Mary Fisher]

I never use any detergent on ours - just a damp cloth. The cloth gets very dirty and has to be washed out after each part and the floor gets clean. I'd use a dry cloth for grease and chocolate..

I don't think any of them would harm but I'd start by scraping off some of that stuff with a knife blade or fingernail, other things like lipstick, crayon and polish with a dry cloth. Don't understand the cigarette bit!

And none of those things ever gets anywhere near our floor anyway :-) What do we get? Beeswax - scrapes up with a fingernail. Trodden on food - wipes up. Dope - gets scraped up. Mud - wipes off with damp cloth - or sweeps up when it's dry. I can't think of anything else - but muck isn't really a problem!

Mary

[Stuart Noble]

Try white spirit with fine wire wool, the latter to collect the gunk rather than for its abrasive qualities. The problem with all floor maintenance products is that at some point you have to remove them and start again. Something like Johnsons Traffic Wax would be better than Mr Sheen, and not as slippery

[sanudo]

Hello Terry

Were you able to fix your problem? Does someone know how to fix this problem??

We just had the same problem - from only one application (we used Mr Sheen floor wipes last week - the floor (Pergo highest quality!) wa installed a couple of weeks ago) and now we have uneven shiny stripe on our matt Pergo.

We tried with warm water, with the Pergo cleaning kit... nothin worked. We dont know what to do...

PLEASE HELP!!!

Thank

-- sanudo

[Terry Pinnell]

Although the passage of time and repeated cleaning with the Pergo stuff has improved it a bit, I'm sorry to say it's still not back to normal ;-(

You could try a small section with a mild detergent (here, it would be 'Fairy Liquid'). That too seemed to help a bit.

[sanudo]

I am surprised that you didnt take any legal action or complained to

consumer association.

It seems that you tried to clean it with everything and still you didn get the floor back to the original look & feel

-- sanudo