Cleaning engineered wood flooring - help!

[verybadhairdoo]

ok folks, apologies for the boring topic. Have some new (expensive) engineered hardwood flooring installed. Its very grubby already with mud and other crap from the builders traipsing in and out. Have some cif wood cleaner and some flash wood cleaner - though unclear whether they are suitable (or effective). Have tried water with e-cloth mophead and it seems ok to begin with after drying it looks rubbish again and I can see the stains. What about white vinegar? Any experiences??

def don't put vinegar down - it sounds to me like they are not sealed boards - are you able to check? - our engineered wood floors wipe up really easily and are in our enormous kitchen so wide area of space which gets loads of traffic and muck on. You could try the method wood cleaner which is very good or use some dilute flash - HOWEVER - you must check they are sealed wood if not it could make it worse.

if there is staining you need to speak with your builders or whoever installed them for advice on cleaning because tbh it doesn't sound right to me… sorry

yup they are definitely sealed. Just grubby.

No Flash or any type of 'cleaner' for wood our you'll ruin it! Hoover thoroughly then use method wood floor cleaner with an E mop.

Always use as little water as possible on wood.

What are the stains? There shouldn't be any

Your builders should have put a protective film on after it was put down to prevent this happening. I'd be concerned that they could have scratched the wood which might not be apparent if it's covered in mud.

Before cleaning you need to find what they are sealed with, eg oil or urethane as you need different cleaners for different finishes.
Also most manufacturers specify what you should use to clean with or you will invalidate your warranty if you have one.

We didn't have a protective film, but it went down perfectly and only a little dust which we just hovered. Can't work out what stains there would be on a new floor, bit worrying!

stains are mud mostly, some look like glue actually so no idea now to get that off. They haven't used protective film which has annoyed me to say the least.

did try the method stuff though and worked a treat - can see some spots though where it has sprayed so not sure what happened there. You can only see it upon reflection of the light, but annoying just the same. Other than that glue spots remaining and the odd speck of paint. will have to get the builders onto those!

I would double check because it strikes me that it isn't sealed ( I talk from bitter experience) or it has been sealed incorrectly … You shouldn't be able to see the spray marks unless the product has been absorbed by the wood - if its been absorbed it isn't sealed. or its been sealed with something odd… Def check with the manufacturer

We have engineered oak flooring and the supplier recommended WOCA cleaner. We have a set of three bottles, one for 'everyday' cleaning, a deep cleaner and something else. Don't take my word it'd work for you though. We have the click assembly flooring, installed it ourselves, no glue or anything like that. It does get grubby but this definitely works.

I think woca is for oil finished floors though, be careful if you have a wax finish as I'm not sure it would work.

You shouldn't see any marks on the wood from cleaning OP, that sounds very wrong.