How to restore 12 year old laminate floor tiles?

[David001]

The house we have bought has laminated tiles on the floor of one room.  The tiles were laid 13 years ago and their condition suggests they received only an occasional sweeping. The surfaces of the tiles look dry.

 

I have rubbed the floor with warm water (with a couple of drops of washing-up liquid in it) and that operation turned several bucketfuls of water dark grey.  So I think the floor is now as clean as it can be made.

 

The photos below show the current appearance of the floor.  The close-up suggests that each tile is actually a fibrous board with an impression of real wood imprinted onto it and into it.  In some parts of the room some paint was spilt and it's clear that the paint was soaked up by the grey, fibrous, 45-degree edges, but that it couldn't permeate the wood-effect surfaces.

 

While rubbing over the floor I noticed how the moisture from the mop "varnished" the tiles so that they shone and mirrored the light from surrounding windows and doors, which led me to wonder what I might be able to do to improve the floor's appearance.

 

I would prefer not to coat the floor with a polyurethane or similar coating because past experience has suggested that the coating gets worn away where usage is high, requiring the coating to be removed and replaced.

 

So beside further occasional rub-overs with a damp mop, is there anything I can do to improve the tiles' appearance?

[Temp]

You might be able to sand or scrape the paint out of the grooves but go carefully. That might well leave the fibre board exposed which will need some form of sealing. 

 

This American video mentions a sealer for laminate floors but that will seal in anything you leave on the floor. I've not tried it. There might be a similar product in the UK.

 

 

 

[MikeGrahamT21]

If they are laminate then it’ll be a plastic surface anyway, and they don’t look like the type that should be glossy. Of course mopping is always going to give a shiny wet look til they dry, but to me they look how they should be on the photo.

 

what colour are you wanting the joints? I’d suggest using a suitably coloured sharpie permanent marker pen, done similar on mine when I’ve scratched it and it works wonders. Have some isopropyl alcohol handy too in case you get it on something you didn’t want to rub it off, but with the joints being slightly rough it’ll stick to them