Laminate flooring is enjoying unprecedented popularity because of its exceptional ability to resist fading, staining, and deterioration due to normal wear and tear. When you add affordable prices and easy DIY installation to the mix, the result is a winning combination that is irresistible to consumers.

As great as today’s high gloss laminate products are, however, they are not completely impervious to all minor damage. Over time, you might start to notice some scrapes and scuffs spoiling your floor’s appearance, chiefly in areas that are frequented by pets and small children.

Fortunately, you don’t have to pull up the blemished planks and replace them with new ones. Instead, you can repair high gloss laminate on your own using the following everyday items that you probably already have on hand.

• Pencil eraser. Skid marks left on laminate flooring by certain types of shoes and toys can often be removed by rubbing a pencil eraser over the area using gentle, circular strokes. In lieu of an eraser, you can use the rubber sole of a tennis shoe for the same purpose.
• WD-40. While most folks are aware of the lubricating properties of WD-40, not many realize that it is also a terrific household cleaner. To remove scuffs from your high gloss laminate, apply a bit of WD-40 to a soft cloth and lightly scrub until the marks disappear. Be sure to wipe up the lubricant residue with a wet rag to prevent any potential slip-and-fall accidents.
• Baking soda. Baking soda is celebrated for having a multitude of uses, so it should come as no surprise that it helps remove scrapes and scuffs from laminate flooring. Mix a couple tablespoons of baking soda with some warm water until you end up with a pasty substance. Next, use a cloth to dab paste onto the scuff marks and rub them away.
• Toothpaste. If you don’t have any baking soda at home, there’s no need to run to the store. You can often get the same effect by using plain toothpaste to touch up your floor.

The methods listed above work best on light scuffs, scrapes, and skid marks. For deeper, more stubborn blemishes in your laminate flooring, you might have to turn to commercial cleaning products to get the job done. Many manufacturers now make nonabrasive cleansers especially for high gloss laminate, so you don’t have to worry about damaging the finish.

Don’t let minor scuffs and scrapes turn your floor into an unattractive mess. Instead, you can restore its natural beauty in no time by treating the problem using these simple solutions!

The right saw blade for cutting laminate flooring like Pergo is not the one that came on your saw, or any other miter or table saw that’s sold. One common misconception is that an original equipment blade is good for just about anything. Another is that laminate flooring is wood: it’s not.

Let me relate a true story to illustrate the results of these mistaken ideas.

The flooring contractor working at the house I was renting was using a nice DeWalt bench-top table saw, with a standard DeWalt blade on it. It might have been the original, an exact replacement or maybe a step up in tooth count, but apparently he thought a DeWalt saw needs a DeWalt blade. A crazy idea, when there are so many other aftermarket brands that are a lot better.

Anyway, I watched in horror as he tried to cut a piece of laminate flooring, lengthwise. I could smell the smoke and hear the scream of the blade from a distance, and from closer I could see the sparks flying. And the saw was straining just to cut through that thin board.

Why? That blade was shot, duller than a butter knife. And I’d guess it was that way from about the third or fourth cut on laminate flooring he made with it. Keep in mind, this was a professional contractor, using a blade that was ready for the dumpster.

Different Materials Call For Different Blades

You see, laminate flooring will destroy a wood cutting blade with alternating top bevel (ATB) teeth in no time at all. The sharp points on this type of blade can’t handle anything that hard – they dull quickly and those tips are what the blade uses to cut cleanly through wood.

Another thing that happens is, when the glue that holds the flooring together gets hot from using a dull blade, it sticks to the sides of the carbide tips and gums them up. Obviously, that makes the cutting even harder for the saw.

There are many different types of saw blades, designed for cutting different materials. If you just make sure you’re using the right type before starting your project, you’ll get much better performance out of your saw and make the job go much better.

Now, what kind of blade should be used for cutting laminate flooring? I’ll give you a hint: most laminate flooring brands have aluminum oxide in their makeup. And the material itself is about as hard as metal.

To most people Karndean Flooring is this beautiful looking designer flooring and you would be right, however people also associate Karndean flooring as an individual type of flooring – this is definitely not the case!

Karndean is a brand name of the flooring product Luxury Vinyl Tiles, there are 100’s of brands out there selling luxury vinyl tiles, the well known brands such as Amtico, Polyflor, Marley, Project-Floors and obviously Karndean.

Karndean claim to be the manufacturer, however this is not the case as nearly all luxury vinyl tiles in the UK are manufactured in China, Taiwan etc. and are re-branded and brought into the UK. Therefore Karndean spend over £1 million each year on establishing their brand so that people become aware of the products they sell. So this is why Karndean is more expensive, as a lot of what you are paying for, is the brand awareness, which has been costed into the product.

If you are reading this article and are interested in buying Karndean, think again, here is a good tip for you, go to Google, or any other search engine facility and search for luxury vinyl tiles (LVT’s), you will find suppliers selling LVT’s very similar to Karndean for a fraction of the price. You can still create borders and features in these floors, the only difference is, you guessed it – the brand name. Like when you go to the supermarket and they have branded peas and unbranded peas, they both look the same when you take the packaging away and taste the same, because they are the same thing! this is the same with Karndean and LVT’s if you market it well and make it look nice it sells better – typical evaluation of marketing. However save yourself a small fortune and find an LVT with a cheaper price tag, odds are they are still top quality just cheaper due to the company selling them having a low marketing budget.

The quality of an LVT is measured in the wear layer, most have a wear layer of between 0.3mm and 0.7mm, the thicker the wear layer the better the quality, however a 0.3mm wear layer is a domestic wear layer and is suitable for all domestic areas, a 0.5mm wear layer and above can be used for commercial installations.

So now i have explained that Karndean is a luxury vinyl tile, lets discuss the possibilities and strengths of this type of flooring compared to alternative flooring products:

1. Durable – unlike ceramic tiles or solid wood, luxury vinyl tiles (LVT’s) will not split, chip, crack or splinter and will stand up to most things being dropped onto them. Most LVT’s come with gurantees between 8 and 20 years.

2 Realistic – they are designed to replicate natural products and are designed to a very high realistic standard.

3 Designer – luxury vinyl tiles (LVT’s) are one of the most bespoke, designer looking flooring available, using borders and strips you can create a floor that fits in perfectly with your interior needs.

4 Easily Maintained – cleaning LVT’s is very easy, unlike natural wood floors, you wont need to sand and seal every couple of years, instead you can just mop the floor with hot water and a splash of LVT routine cleaning solution.

5 Waterproof – To a certain degree luxury vinyl tiles can with stand water a lot better than a laminate or wooden floor can, it can be mopped and cleaned a lot easier.

6 Quiet and Warm Underfoot – unlike ceramic or stone tiles or laminate flooring, luxury vinyl tiles are quiet and warm underfoot.

These are just a few benefits of using luxury vinyl tiles opposed to natural flooring products. So when you hear about Karndean remember that it is an LVT and to always look for a luxury vinyl tile first so you can see the price comparison. Luxury vinyl tiles like Karndean are a great product to use as they have more benefits than any other type of floor covering, however for them to look good and perform how they should, you also need to prepare the floor as per the installation instructions given by the manufacturer. As a perfect sub floor is one of the most important aspects of the job.