No matter what kind of flooring you may have in your home, there is a specific way to clean it effectively. Here are some clean up tips for vinyl, linoleum and tile floors that will make your job easier. Read on, if you dare.
Sweeping
If you want to complicate the cleaning process, there’s no easier way than neglecting to sweep up beforehand. Crumbs and dust bunnies make wonderful companions for floor cleaners and complicate the cleaning process significantly.
Washing Linoleum Floors
As a rule of thumb, linoleum should never be too wet. Use a little water and a mild detergent to mop the floor. Rinse off with clean water. To give an old linoleum floor a new life or at least a shiny night or two on the town, so to speak, wipe it down with a mix of equal parts milk and turpentine and buff the linoleum with a soft cloth. Remember to use two pails, one with the cleaning solution and one with clean water.
Ceramic Tile Cleaning
Wash ceramic tiles with warm water and a few drops of dish soap. Buff the floor dry to prevent streaking and add a half lemon to the surface to really pep it up. Polish well and stand back.
Stained Grout
Mixing a solution of 1 part chlorine bleach and 20 parts water can clean most stains on grout. Apply with a toothbrush and let the bleach solution sit for 10 or 15 minutes. Don’t follow this process with any cleaner that has ammonia as an ingredient because bleach and ammonia can be a fatal combination (not for the floors, but for you).
Washing Vinyl Floors
For no-wax vinyl flooring, which is most popular today, the finish can usually be cleaned with a little liquid detergent or dish soap and water. Rinse with clean water.
Do YOU have any floor cleaning tips to add? Please share.
Related Reading:
“Cleaning Those Wooden Floors”