Claws scratch, accidents introduce liquid that sits, and the cleaning that follows is its own wear mechanism. Which material properties address each, where the damage actually concentrates, and why repairability beats hardness.
They look alike and are built differently. A wood-based core swells when it gets wet and a polymer core does not, and almost every other difference follows from that. What waterproof actually claims, and the label to ask for.
There is no best flooring. The product that suits a bedroom can be a poor choice ten feet away in a bathroom, and the difference is moisture, not quality. Bath, kitchen, basement and bedroom, each on its own terms.
Luxury vinyl is sold on two numbers and a word, and only one of them predicts how the floor looks in ten years. What a mil rating buys, why thickness is not durability, and what waterproof is actually claiming.
