Laminate floors may be able to withstand a lot of pounding and some tough testing, but cleaning it the wrong way can cost you a lot of money.

"If they use the wrong procedure or the wrong product on their hardwood or laminate floor and damage the floor it will be their dime and the warranty will be voided," Gay Woodward of the B.C. Floor Covering Association said.

Woodward says with new products coming out all the time consumers need to check with manufacturers before using them on hardwood or laminate flooring.

That means calling a manufacturer and getting the okay in writing.

"You probably would be much more successful in having the manufacturer support your claim if you had it in writing that in fact they had said that you could use that product."

You see steam cleaning systems like steam mops in infomercials being used on all kids of flooring - but there are limitations.

The H20 mop warns not to let the unit stand on any wood floor for an extended period of time as this could cause the wood grain to rise.

The Bissel steam mop shouldn't be used on waxed floors or unsealed wood floors because the steam strips the wax.

Instructions for the Shark steam mop warn never leave the steam mop in one spot on any surface for any period of time with a damp or wet cleaning pad attached as this will damage your floors.

Each flooring manufacturer has its own way of making the product and so you can't generalize that a product is safe to use on all floors.

But whether hardwood or laminate -- water is the enemy.

"It can delaminate, it can cup," Woodward said. "It can completely ruin your floor it can stain it."

Woodward showed CTV a laminate floor that had water sit on it overnight. It left visible gaps in the floor as the water soaked into the laminate. And in less than a day the floor began to warp.

But sometimes the damage is done over a period of time.

"The consumers don't know that's what they've done they just see the floor is suddenly damaged and then to find out that they've been doing it repeatedly and repeatedly thinking you are caring for the product you spent a lot of money on -- it's quite devastating to them personally and their pocket books."

The manufacturer of any product knows the best way to take care of them so read those owner's manuals or find them online.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen