I researched this pretty thoroughly when I got my new laminate flooring a year ago and using a steam mop on a laminate floor is asking for trouble. Experts will warn you away from that. And, for mopping, you should never mop it like you would a tile or vinyl floor where it doesn't matter the amount of water you use. I use a laminate cleaner made strictly for laminate (not real wood) and a microfiber or terry cloth pad. There is only enough liquid to remove the marks, never more. And, of course, it is vacuumed first to remove dust and dirt because the biggest enemy of laminate is to capture the dirt and then scrape it across your floor while cleaning. Wet Swiffer products are probably not a good idea either because they introduce solvents that will haze and detract from the nice finish of the flooring. And, no Murphy's oil products...they are great for real wood but will cause a smeary mess on laminate. The Bruce products are great and so are the Abbey floor cleaner products. I would love to hear if someone has tried the BonaKemi products because the refillable floor mop system seems interesting.

I have wood floors with oriental rugs. I used to have a Panasonic upright and now have a Miele canister. I prefer the canister for my home, because... Uprights: Heavy and awkward - easy to damage furniture legs and molding. Beater bar scatters dirt and even if turned off, dirt doesn't seem to get pick up. Filtration I understand is not as good as canisters. Limited cleaning accessories. If equipped with hose, usually it is too short. Canisters: Wand is usually light weight and easy to manuever under furniture. Floor wands have no damaging beater bar, and the dense brush head cleans smooth surfaces MUCH better than uprights. More accessories, usually on board, so easier to dust things higher up such as shades, fans, window sills, etc. (My upright had a hose, but it was very short, and the hose suction was poor since the the machine was still suctioning from the bottom) I have a motorized head for my canister that cleans my orientals very well (I avoid using the motorized head on the fringe, instead using the floor brush instead)

What are the instructions from your flooring manufacturer? That is what I would follow - assuming you *have* those instructions. Otherwise, I think vinegar/water is always safe, or the cleaner from one of the flooring manufacturers - I think I use spray cleaner from Bruce (Laminate) flooring. I put it in the holder for my damp mop, dilute it with water (random amounts) to make it stretch - and clean away! Vinegar/water is more inexpensive, but the flooring cleaner really doesn't cost much since you aren't flooding the floor with it! You have to be careful with other cleaners - some people use ammonia, or Windex for instance(shudder) - they might void the flooring warranty and probably risk ruining the finish on the floor.

I came across many of these, and the way we handled it was with the old fashioned floor 'scraper' and 'elbow' grease. The scraper is a 3" to 4" tool with a razor sharp blade attached. There are scrapers that are professional tools for floor work and others designed for lighter wall paper removal, although those lighter duty tools will work also. Tip: You use the scraper to 'slice' the padding from the substrate. Most scraper blades are set at an angle to help you accomplish the task. Think 'slice' and you'll get the idea. It is brutal work. There are some professional, powered surface preparation tools that can do the job, but they are rarely available at the average tool rental place. Good luck.