Karndean floor woes

[PocketRocket12]

I have Karndean floor downstairs in my house - kitchen, lounge, hallway, office, utility, downstairs WC. The floor is a light colour with "grooves" in each panel to look like natural wood grain.

On reflection, it was a poor decision as it absolutely is not easy to look after - I was sleep deprived with a newborn baby is my excuse!

We have two kids and two dogs. I Hoover daily and mop every other day. No matter WHAT I clean it with or what I use (mop, steamer occasionally, electronic Vac floor cleaner), the floor is just never clean and quite noticeably so. Dogs are washed after every walk, no shoes in the house etc.

I feel like I spend my life cleaning floors. Any tips or tricks? Hands on knees with a scrubbing brush does the trick but I can't bear the thought of doing that every few days 🤣

Considering buying a big washable rug to protect the floor - is this a sensible idea or will I just get cross at a dirty rug?

I’m the same . Have recently bought a puppy so lots of mess ! I’m seriously considering a robot hoover / mopper . Just don’t know which one to go for.

Karndean in my bathrooms is great.

I've got one of those too @Kat772 - fab for keeping on top of the hoovering but does a surface wash on the floor and doesn't get "into the grain"!! I wish I could tell me from the past to go for tiles 🤣

I have Karndean cleaned only occasionally 2 or 3 times a year, you are overdoing it.

I have Karndean, I just hoover once a day and mop every so often. It looks great.

Do you have Karndean that has grain / grooves throughout each plank? That's the issue, the dirt builds up in there and looks awful and leaves all our socks filthy. I clearly chose the wrong floor and should have got a smooth one with no grooves 🤣 will try and send pic.

No grooves, I think I would consider a sealant.

The washable rugs are excellent (we’ve got ruggable), we do also have a solid 8ft of absorbent doormat the heavy ones that Lakeland sell in our hallway. So that catches a lot. I have the same floor issue but not dogs which I suspect is making the difference. However the ruggable rugs can be washed easy and dry fast so if you can afford a couple for the main traffic areas you can rotate them. A friend has many hairy dogs and uses them everywhere.

What about one of those rubber brushes for the scrubbing in the grooves. If you really are a no shoes house then it can't need that doing more than monthly.

Thanks all. It's defo the dogs - I feel like no matter how much you clean them they're always going to bring specs of mud in. Attached a picture of the offending grooves!! This is immediately after they've been mopped vigorously - it's only a hands and knees good scrub that gets this mud out so I'm doing that once a week and it takes nearly two hours due to the surface area. I think you're all right - a few good washable rugs should help preserve the floor underneath so a quick mop underneath every now and then will do the trick. Considering sealing it, too.

To be honest I wouldn't have Karndean in a kitchen - I say as someone who has Karndean in my hall and living room. Kitchens are messy places and kitchen floors get filthy and need a lot of cleaning. Karndean doesn't cope well with too much mopping, I only mop ours about once a month tops. But yes having a textured design won't be helping.

Totally agree with you @MissyB1 - lesson learned! Doing what I can to keep the floor in ok condition until an acceptable amount of time has passed to rip it up in the kitchen and put down tiles 🤣 only had it a few years.

Oh I hate my kitchen floor (Travertine tiles, bit like porcelain). Chips and cracks everywhere! I've put up with it for 9 years, it's on my list of very expensive jobs to tackle!

I think you've scrubbed the protective polish off, Karndean should be easy to maintain.
Have a look at the Karndean cleaning and polishing products, worth a try at least.

Thanks @Bamaluz - will check that out

I have similar type flooring, oak effect Karndean in the kitchen and bathroom. We hardly mop it tbh. Shoes off house, teens but no pets and spills & splatters dealt with straight away. It does sound like the protective layer has come off?

I've got similar grooves in mine (Polyflor Camaro), also have dogs etc.
Mine gets vacuumed (robovac) most nights and mostly looks fine.
The kitchen gets the worst of the dogs feet and that gets mopped (robomop) about 3 times a week.

I don't feel dirt gets into the groves as you are describing, amd certainly don't get dirty socks etc.

(Pictured bit needs a vacuum as in the conservatory and DP here with his dog atm so robovac doesn't get in here overnight)

Please can you share which robo vac you have ? Thinking of investing in one but can’t decide which one is best as all the reviews seem very mixed. Thanks .

I think it's the steam cleaning that's the problem - steam cleaning removes the protective layer from karndean and similar floors

This. Steam cleaners aren't suitable for LVT, neither are abrasive cleaners.

I have the wood effect and a dog and don't see these marks at all. Would the Karndean Refresh maybe help to recoat the surface?

Thanks everyone. I didn't actually use the steam cleaner for the first two years of the floor being down and resorted to it in desperation but you're all right that that probably was the nail in the coffin! I do use Karndean Clean floor cleaner but have never done the restore thingy which you are supposed to do regularly so I've just bought a Karndean Clean/Remove/Refresh kit and it should really improve things. Will come back with an update!

I have karndean smooth American oak colour absolutely love it has been down since 2010 looks perfect . I hoover and steam mop no detergents needed . No dogs . Only children and the elderly. There is their own cleaner , polisher and protector try it .

I have Armstrong Rhino floor - about 30 years old, it is commercial grade vinyl and looks like ceramic tiles. Other than two stab marks (knife fell point down) it is 'as new' and people mistake it for ceramic. And I only wash it once in a blue moon, although it's swept regularly (dog) Sadly we need to alter the kitchen and I'll have to get rid, as they no longer do anything quite like that, may go for wood effect. It's cushioned somewhat and doesn't feel too cold on bare feet in the morning..