In my experience there is no way to avoid this with dark floors. The house we rented while building had dark laminate and it was a nightmare. Needless to say we installed white oak with a natural finish in the new house, so easy.

I’ve had both , medium to dark walnut floors in one house & light ( oak ) in another home, the darker hardwood was much harder to keep looking good, showed everthing! Never again.

I can relate to your issue. I had dark slate flooring in my entryway that I disliked. I replaced it with Italian porcelain wood look tile, and am quite happy with it!

I do too. I have Roomba's which I run every day. They get rid of the dust and any sand (Florida) and make the floors look clean.

I feel for you as we bought this house with dark engineered wood throughout. The bedrooms had carpet, which I ripped out and replaced with white porcelain tile. Put wood looking tile in the den, similar to Kculbers.

We have a English Pointer Dog which is white and black. Those white hairs show up on the dark floors and drive me crazy.

After letting the Roombas run around, I will use a microfiber mop and spray a little floor cleaner to remove any stains. It is a pain, but I don't want to spend a fortune to tear it all up and replace. If I did, it would be tile.

In our previous house, we had oak floors throughout with 3 dogs and kids. Those floors were fabulous and lasted over 50 yrs. I now hate engineered wood. Can't be sanded or stained lighter.

Good luck,

Jane