Vinyl floors are a popular choice for most modern households. Many people prefer using vinyl flooring because of its durability, ease of installation, cost (compared to other flooring options), and variety.
Floor maintenance requires regular cleaning. Dirt tends to accumulate on vinyl floors quite readily without proper cleaning. Your surface might become dull, dirty, and less appealing over time.
Why does pitted vinyl flooring attract dirt?
You might find several types of vinyl flooring available on the market, each with distinct features, benefits, and limitations. Examples include plank vinyl flooring, laminate floors, and textured vinyl flooring.
Textured vinyl floors are popular among homeowners because of their reliability, cost (the average cost of a vinyl texture floor ranges from $2-$10 per square foot), and aesthetics. You can opt between different patterns and textures depending on your tastes and preferences. You can find examples of these products in composite wood flooring (WPC) and stone polymer composite (SPC).
A common challenge concerning a textured vinyl flooring relates to dirt. A pitted textured floor is more susceptible to grease, mud, and additional bits of unwanted particles remaining on your flooring after cleaning (compared to other styles).
Textured flooring has an irregular floor surface, which can make it easy for contaminants to remain embedded within your vinyl floor surface and cause it to lose its sheen and affect its overall appearance.
Some people attempt to solve the problem by waxing over the surface, which only makes matters worse. However, you can use several techniques to clean up your vinyl flooring with ease and with a remarkable rate of success.
If you are looking for an ideal way of cleaning your textured vinyl flooring, here’s what you should do.
Best way to clean textured vinyl flooring
At first glance, it may seem like a daunting task to maintain textured vinyl flooring. But with a bit of know-how, the whole thing can be surprisingly simple, sustainable, and part of your routine.
Most vinyl floors rarely require constant cleaning, which is a plus for anyone looking for a floor type that requires minimum maintenance. The business world offers many products that claim to be the best choice for cleaning a textured vinyl floor.
However, some of these products might cause your floor to deteriorate and lose value over time. You can always hire a professional to handle the task on your behalf, but the average labor cost for a good cleaner is about $340 based on your region and type of flooring.
Instead of spending some extra cash on vinyl floor cleaning, you can always choose to work on it yourself using some relatively inexpensive home products. The internet has many DIY guides for cleaning vinyl floor surfaces, but some might give you inaccurate information that could end up damaging your flooring.
Here’s the best way to clean your textured vinyl flooring.
What you need
For an easy to perform self-cleaning of your textured vinyl flooring, you will need the following:
- A soft Brush
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Baking Soda
- Water
- Jojoba Oil (for dealing with scruffs)
- Mineral Spirit/nail polish remover (when dealing with stains left behind by crayons, nail polish, ink, paint, and dye).
It is easy to get your hands on most of these products, and you can purchase them for a fair price.
Step 1: Prepare your Vinyl floor surface for cleaning.
Always make sure that your floor surface is free from dust, mud, and other contaminants before cleaning. You can start by sweeping the floor using a broom or a vacuum cleaner. Pay special attention to areas under pieces of furniture, corners, and other hard-to-reach surfaces.
It’s never a good idea to use soap and water to clean a vinyl floor. The soap contains oils that easily attract dirt and might make the situation worse.
Step 2: Clean your floor with vinegar.
Vinegar is one of the best products to use when cleaning a vinyl floor. Apple Cider vinegar can provide you with additional disinfectant benefits that leave your floor surface squeaky clean.
Mix one cup of vinegar with a gallon of hot water and gently mop your floor. You can use a soft nylon scrubbing brush to work on tile joints and other spaces between your flooring. Most dirt particles remain on the adhesive material and might accumulate over time. As you clean, you might find stubborn stains such as ketchup, grape juice, ink markings, etc. Deal and remove each stain with an appropriate cleaning agent before proceeding to the next phase.
It’s a good idea to mop the floor a second time using the vinegar-hot water combination before allowing your floor to dry. Pay special attention to potential areas of interest like baseboards and corners to ensure that the surfaces are completely free from dirt and other stains before you move on to the rest of the house.
Step 3: Give your floor time to dry.
Once you are sure that everything is clean, always remember to give your floor enough time to dry. You can also open your windows and allow for sufficient airflow within your house before allowing others to enter.
How to prevent dirt on textured vinyl floors
Cleaning your vinyl flooring should always be a last resort. It’s better to take precautions to prevent dirt and other impurities from affecting the quality of your floor surface.
You can start by placing a doormat on high traffic entry points such as your doorways to safeguard against dirt and mud. Most doormats are reasonably inexpensive and include many different patterns and models suitable for indoor use.
Some heavy pieces of furniture might also damage the quality of your flooring and might cause tears, cracks, and other undesired effects. When moving such objects, you can use plywood and planks to safeguard against scratch marks, creases, etc. You can also use vinyl coasters to prevent indentation, which can also affect your flooring negatively.
Create a routine when cleaning your vinyl flooring. Most vinyl floors don’t require regular attention, but dirt accumulation can cause your vinyl to lose value over time. You might have to sweep your floor frequently to prevent dirt from accumulating on tile joints and other hard-to-reach places.
