Use of Steam to Clean Hardwood, Laminate, and Resilient Flooring

This Technical Bulletin serves as official notice of the following information about the use of steam to clean Shaw hardwood, laminate and resilient flooring.

Using steam in any way to clean Shaw hardwood, laminate and resilient flooring is not recommended. This includes the use of an upright steam cleaner and other similar cleaners that specifically advertise that their product is “safe to use on wood flooring” or “will not harm wood flooring”. While the concept of cleaning with ultra high temperature water (steam) as opposed to using harsh chemicals is attractive for most hard surfaces, wood flooring in any form – hardwood or laminate - is the exception. All of the rules that apply to wood and water apply to wood and steam. Using steam to clean hardwood and laminate flooring will cause harm to the flooring and in many cases, the damage will be irreparable.

Resilient flooring should not be cleaned by a steam cleaner. The temperature of steam could cause thermal expansion of the flooring.

See the following maintenance guidelines for additional information: