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Vacumning Laminate Flooring

mo1950

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I have new laminate flooring in my kitchen which was just remodeled. It is Armstrong Santos Mahogany. I love it - it's beautiful and all I have to do is run a dustmop over it quickly every monring. Then for mopping, I use a handheld spray and run over it quickly with a special mop - really quick and does a great job.

However, I am already running into one problem that I don't know how to handle. Dust gathers in the cracks between each board and my vacumn will not pick it up. Since the floor is fairly dark, this dust is very noticeable.

About once a week I have to put the crevice attachment on my Hoover Wind Tunnel and vacumn each crevice individually. This is getting to be a real pain. I read online somewhere that you should not use the brush on the upright vacumn or it can scratch the floor.

I keep thinking if I could just find a powerful vacumn cleaner that is not an upright with the brush, that might work. But I have no idea, even after reading Consumer Reports, which vacumn has the most powerful suction.

I have also tried a nylon brush broom and that doesn't do the job. I live in Oklahoma, and we have a lot of fine dust here that I have not experienced in other states that I have lived in.

Does anyone have any suggestions?
 

Passepartout

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Peaceful coexistence and lowered expectations might save you from going nuts. The dust was there with your old flooring as it is in the rest of your house.
You have a good vacuum, and if you are dry mopping daily, that's enough OCD for anyone..... IMO.

Jim Ricks
 
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you need a Roomba!

some upright vacuums are fine on hard floors - we have a Dyson which is specifically for hard floors - the bush is supposedly 'non-scratch' and can also be retracted so it doesn't touch the floor at all - the suction on the vacuum alone seems to pick up most dust.

however, its a pain to get the upright out each day, so i have a Roomba who trundles round all by himself picking up dust on both laminate and Amtico. After 12 months, no scratches at all.
(note, the Roomba is a "he" not an "it" and also has a name!)
 

pjrose

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What about spraying the broom bristles with something like Endust? Another possibility is one of those dusters that claim to be magic - I think they attract dust with static or you could spray Endust on it. Also try contacting the manufacturer for advice.
 

mo1950

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Thanks for the suggestions. I had looked at a Dyson online, so will do a search and investigate it more. Next year I will be doing a large living room and hall area with this same laminate, so need to get a handle on it now.

Some of the dust is construction dust, so is white. And on my dark laminate flooring, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

I've never had a problem with OCD, so I don't think that particular suggestion is helpful.
 

BSQ

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I agree with the roomba suggestion, though I didn't have crevices on my floors I had the dust issues big time. I had polished concrete stained a variety of browns. Really pretty floors but every spec of dust showed up. Life was much more enjoyable ince I was able to set just schedule and forget about a roomba. I lived in a loft with large open spaces.

Now I live at the beach and have to deal with sand grit on the floors, counters, windows, ugh. Roomba still isn't failing me. And it was good ol Tuggers who turned me on to em.
 

Icc5

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Ordered the Roomba 530 model from Costco

Received it yesterday. My niece has two of them and says she couldn't live without them so we thought we'd buy one and try it. We are charging it and will see how it works. We went from a 1650 sq. ft. house to a 2450 house with a huge kitchen. I will still do the bedrooms with the regular vac. but figured this will help my wife since she sweeps in the kitchen for dust all the time. I will report back on how it works.
Bart
 

swift

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What ever happened to the Scoomba? The one that washes your floors. I never see it on the market anymore. Bummer that is the one that I was interested in. I hate mopping!
 

Twinkstarr

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I've had laminate flooring in multiple rooms(kitchen included) for 9 yrs and I haven't come across this problem

In the kitchen I have a Wilsonart stone pattern that was tile, not plank so I have less seams. It's a light color and doesn't show dirt that much(reason why I picked it).

My front hall, dining room and 1/2 bath is a dark oak and to be honest I can't really see my seams at all.

The kids play room is a natural maple(just went in to look), nothing stuck in the seams. I can barely see the seams

Mine was the type they had to glue the seams together. Do you have they type of the newer no glue self locking seam floor?

Were your floors professional installed? I used to work in the laminate business(not flooring, but for furniture, cabinets etc).
 

Icc5

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Wow, what a job!

Received it yesterday. My niece has two of them and says she couldn't live without them so we thought we'd buy one and try it. We are charging it and will see how it works. We went from a 1650 sq. ft. house to a 2450 house with a huge kitchen. I will still do the bedrooms with the regular vac. but figured this will help my wife since she sweeps in the kitchen for dust all the time. I will report back on how it works.
Bart

We ordered the 530 model but received the 550 and what a great job it does.
I can't believe I've been doing such a bad job of vacuming. The Roomba is making up for my laziness I guess. We have run it in the living room, kitchen, dining area, entry way and hallway and it picked up a ton of dirt.
It also went over one of the heater vents which lies flat on the floor and pulled the filter out that was inside the vent. I don't know how we have lived without the Roomba. It would have been great for out other house because the Pergo used to show all the dust.
I figured I'd use the Roomba just to do certain areas but now have changed my mind and will use it for the whole house.
One thing for anyone thinking of getting one is you do have to clean it each time but I find it well worth it. Heck, before this I thought about hiring a cleaning person. Now I'm looking at this as an investment with payback unlike the stock market or bank interest nowadays.
Bart
 

grest

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does the roomba work on hardwood floors as well, without harming the wood?
Connie
 

Icc5

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Yes

At least the new models do. I'm not sure about the older models. I only wish we had it at our other house. We had Pergo in the kitchen and entry way and had to sweep it almost daily due to dust. I never knew so much dust came into a house.
 

HatTrick

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The Swiffer Sweeper Vac works well for us on laminate flooring.

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Icc5

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Wife used also

My wife used to use that also. It does a fine job. The only difference with the roomba is now it does the cleaning not us.
Bart
 
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