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Well…I tried all the suggestions. But with the amount of dirt and dust we have out here — all roads are dirt, it’s dry, wind blows hard and often, 6 dogs, 4 cats, work boots with deep treads, etc. — floors still not looking good. So the other day I was (finally) washing the windows and the lightbulb went off — our laminate floor is really just a horizontal window. So I got out the sponge mop and a dilute Spic & Span solution. Sponge mopped, then (AHA!) used the rubber window squeegee and squeegeed the moisture (and the dirt suspended in the moisture). I worked my way the length of the floor and, at the end, with a rag (or towel or old t-shirt) sopped up the dirty water that the squeegee had pulled. Floors look great, no grimey streaks, and the dirt is really gone. (Please don’t think I’m a compulsive cleaner because of this discussion….just the opposite…really!).
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Compulsive cleaner for me is trying to clean more than once in a while. :)
I'll hazard a guess that your problem was soiling due to non-water-soluble materials, and what you needed was a mild nonstreaking surfactant (detergent) which would dissolve them. Window cleaners are designed also to reduce the surface tension of water so that it can be more thoroughly removed. Pure water would evaporate without streaks, but of course even the potable water we use has minerals and unmentionables in it (unless you run out and get a reverse osmosis filter). I wonder whether a dilute ammonia solution would work.
A good all-around biodegradeable cleaner is Simple Green. Home Depot sells it in concentrate by the gallon, and I saw online a place to get it in 55-gallon drums! They used it to clean 75 years of New York City grime off the ceiling murals in Grand Central Station because it is effective was chemically mild. (I've been wanting to see how they did but haven't visited NYC in a while.)
You wouldn't have this problem with a wood floor because the dirt would get stuck in the crevices. Yum. Even if varnished the surface is rougher than the pergo melamine.
I'm jealous. Someday our floors will be worth looking at. Until everything above them is done (for example, the roof), they'll have to wait.