Learn How To Whitewash Laminate Flooring With 8 Simple Steps You Can Do At Home

Guess what? You can totally whitewash laminate floors at home in just 8 simple steps. No need to replace the whole flooring which will cost a bunch of cash. And the best part is, I have more than just a whitewash tutorial for you in store for you.

Many people are in love with a whitewash laminate floor

Let’s see the other benefits I’m offering you have inside this post:

• How to whitewash laminate flooring - an easy 8 steps tutorial you can do at home.
• How to lighten laminate flooring by painting.
• The best cleaning equipment for your laminate floor, both vacuums, and mops to make the process easier.

If that’s what you want to know, let’s jump into the details!

What you’ll need to whitewash laminate floor

Grab these things to prepare for the whitewash process:

• A mild dishwashing soap (or you can mix the soap with water)
• Medium-grit sandpaper
• One of the Best Laminate Floor Cleaner Machines (or anything you have to clean sanding dust)
• Primer
• Masonry lime
• Table salt
• Off-white latex paint (as a substitute if you can’t find masonry lime)
• A water-based latex varnish
• Paintbrush/paint roller

And that’s all you need. Now, it’s time to whitewash laminate floors.

Whitewash laminate flooring in 8 simple steps

It’s not too hard to whitewash laminate floors, but it’ll require your patient to follow these steps correctly. I’ll tell you what to do and explain the science behind each step. Here we go!

Step 1: Prepare the laminate floor

Use dishwashing soap to clean your laminate floor. Remember to keep the cleaning solution as mild as possible because the laminate floor is sensitive to moisture. Moreover, we’re going to “damage” the material later, so you need to go easy on this step to make sure we won’t ruin the whole flooring.

Remember to clean the floor before you do anything else

It also helps the whitewash result turn out better when you do it on a clean surface. So mix the dishwashing soap with water if you’re not sure how strong it is. Then clean the laminate floor as carefully as you can.

Step 2: Create a coarser surface texture

Use medium-grit sandpapers to create a coarser surface texture for your laminate floor. Do this lightly on the area you want to achieve the rustic effect.

The primer will also stick easier on a rough surface. But don’t overdo this step or you’ll end up damaging the material. Laminate floors have protective coats. Losing too much of that layer can cause the laminate floor to go bad faster.

Step 3: Clean off the sand dust

After creating a coarser surface, you should use a vacuum to clean off the sand dust on your laminate floor. And now we’re ready to move on to the main process where you can have a white-washed laminate floor in the end.

“Why can’t I combine step 1 with step 3?” - you may ask. Well, it’s okay to do them all together. But trust me, the result won’t make you happy. A dirty floor will make you use the sandpaper more than you suppose to at some spot, and the whitewash effect won’t be pretty afterward.

Step 4: Apply primer

Apply a light primer coating onto your prepared laminate floor. Let it air dry for how long the manufacturer recommended on the package. Take time with this process. Also, don’t use too much primer because it will take forever to dry plus the surface will be hideous.

Step 5: Make the whitewash mixture

To make the whitewash mixture, combine masonry lime with table salt and warm water and mix them up in the bucket.

Another way to make the whitewash mixture is using off-white latex paint and water. Turn them into a heavy-cream texture mixture and you're good to go. It won’t be as pretty as the original formula, but decent enough if you can’t get masonry lime.

Step 6: Apply the whitewash mixture

Apply the whitewash mixture on your laminate floor with a paintbrush or a paint roller. This step is where the magic happens, where you’re officially creating a white washed laminate flooring.

Apply the whitewash mixture evenly on your laminate floor

Step 7: Seal the surface with latex varnish

After the whitewash layer has dried, seal the surface with a water-based latex varnish. You can do this with a paintbrush and leave the coating to dry for 24 hours. Make sure you have every inch covered with the latex varnish so that your rustic laminate floor has a beautiful finish.

Step 8: Double the protection

Apply another layer of latex varnish after the first one has dried to create double protection for your laminate floor. After that, let the material cure for a whole day before using it.

Did you find it easy learning how to whitewash laminate flooring with my tutorial? Can you whitewash laminate flooring by yourself at home? Let me know the result afterward.

But for now, let’s move on to the next segment.

How to paint your laminate floor to lighten it up

If you don’t like the idea of whitewash laminate floors, you can try another way to lighten the material up. But first, you need to pick up these things to prepare for the process:

• A vacuum cleaner (or anything you can use to clean your laminate floor)
• Medium-grit sandpaper
• Primer
• Paint
• Paintbrush/paint roller/paint sprayer
• Sealant (optional)

Here is the 5 steps tutorial of How To Paint Laminate Flooring:

Step 1: Clean the laminate floor

Before you do anything, try to clean the floor as much as you can. You can use a vacuum cleaner or a mop, with or without a cleaning solution. The goal is to make the surface spotless and prepare for the next step.

Step 2: Remove the glossing coat

The laminate floor doesn’t absorb paint easily due to the protective coat. That’s why you need to use medium-grit sandpapers to remove this layer. Take time with this process and be as careful as you can. Don’t use too much force or you’ll scrape out the material underneath.

Remove the glossing layer carefully, don’t overdo it

Step 3: Clean off the sand dust

Cleaning off the sand dust before applying the paint is a very important step. If you skip this process, the paint won’t stick to your laminate floor and the surface won’t be pretty afterward. You can use a vacuum cleaner to speed up this step and do it more thoroughly.

You should also check for marks and holes on the laminate floor if you’re not familiar with using sandpapers in the last step. Make sure the surface is even so the finished result will look decent.

Step 4: Prime the floor

You have to prime the floor before applying the paint. That way, the paint will stick well to the material. You can use a regular latex priming coat for your laminate floor. Just make sure the primer is completely dry before you start painting. It’s best to leave the primer air dry for 24 hours.

Step 5: Apply the paint

There are three methods you can do to apply paint on the laminate floor:

• Using a paintbrush: paintbrush is small so unless you’re dealing with hard-to-move or can't be moved fixtures, it’s not the fastest way to paint a large area like the laminate floor.
• Using a paint sprayer: if the room has nothing or not many things inside, you can use a paint sprayer to speed up the work. But that also means it can get messy and you should know what to do because a paint sprayer is not easy to control.
• Using a paint roller: this method is easy to do and also what people usually do. Make sure you have a tray big enough for your paint roller, and you have a size that’s big enough to quickly cover up the whole laminate floor.

The paint roller is a commend choice for the job

I recommend you use porch paint or any other resilient paints. Latex paint is also acceptable. What you should avoid is acrylic paint because it won’t stick well on the laminate floor. After the painting job, you can use a sealant to protect the paint layer and waterproof your laminate floor.

And that is how to lighten laminate flooring with paint. In the next segment, I’m giving out a list of the Best Laminate Floor Cleaner Machines to help you with the laminate floor innovation.

The best cleaner machines for your laminate floor

We’re gonna take a look at the 2 best cleaner machines for laminate floors, one vacuum cleaner and one mop.

The best vacuum cleaner for laminate floors: Miele Compact C3 Alize PoweLine

The Miele Compact C3 Alize PoweLine has a very good reputation on the market. Both customers and industry pundits are giving compliments for this vacuum cleaner. The Miele Compact C3 Alize PoweLine has a powerful suction that can also adjust based on the user's needs. You can clean the laminate floor thoroughly without damaging it.

This vacuum cleaner is easy to maneuver, making the cleaning process more comfortable for any user. With HEPA filtration, fine sand dust from the whitewash process will be collected. Using the Miele Compact C3 Alize PoweLine to prepare your laminate floor will ensure the whitewash result at best.

If you already got this amazing vacuum cleaner, congratulations! But if you haven’t, you may want to put the Miele Compact C3 Alize PoweLine on your shopping cart.

The Best Mop For Laminate Floors: Bissell Powerfresh Steam Mop 1940

I’m not exaggerating when I say the Best Mop For Laminate Floors on the market right now is the Bissell Powerfresh Steam Mop 1940. If the Miele Compact C3 Alize PoweLine has a powerful suction as its pros, the Bissell Powerfresh Steam Mop 1940 has a strong efficiency steam system at a very affordable price.

The Bissell Powerfresh Steam Mop 1940 can boil water quickly to be ready for any cleaning situation at hand. You can also choose different steam modes that fit different intentions. And the small brush included in the package will tackle those stubborn stains along with the powerful heat.

What people love about this steam mop is it can sway around objects easily. With the 23-foot power cord, you can bring the Bissell Powerfresh Steam Mop 1940 anywhere in the household. No cleaning limitation.

This steam mop deserves to help you with cleaning your laminate floor. So if you haven’t had it in your household, it’s time to get one.  

To wrap things up

I hope you are happy with my how to whitewash laminate flooring tutorial along with other content. Now you know how you can make your laminate floor more beautiful, will you do it right away? I’d love to hear feedback if you follow my tutorial and get a good result.

If you bump into any problem along the way, feel free to ask me anything. I’m happy to help you take care of your laminate floor and also your household as well. I’ll be back with more tutorials about making your household better.