Vinyl is one of the most useful modern building materials around and is a crucial ingredient in today’s homes. However, it’s easy to stain our vinyl kitchen or bathroom floors and not know how to get them clean again. Knowing how to clean vinyl floors using a tried-and-true cleaning solution will keep your home looking its best.
When you have a reliable method for how to make vinyl floors shine, you’ll be able to handle any stain you encounter. This article is just what you need to get and keep your vinyl floors looking like new. In this article, we show you some fantastic cleaning recipes for cleaning all sorts of stains on vinyl.
You’ll find out which daily cleaning procedures are suitable for everyday cleaning and which options work on tougher stains. We also give you some procedures for deep cleaning a vinyl floor, and you’ll learn how to prevent future stains before they occur. With your new-found cleaning methods, your home will sparkle.
Easy Ways to Clean Vinyl Flooring
When you want to learn how to make laminate floors shine naturally, begin with low-impact cleaning options. Knowing how to tackle tough stains is fine, but your usual dirt and grime require regular treatment, as well. Having a cleaning method for daily use is the best way to ensure that your floors keep looking beautiful.
Many of our recipes can also be used for cleaning linoleum floors, and floors made from other materials, too. Always choose the most basic solution first before trying a harsher method for cleaning to protect the floor’s surface.
Basic Cleaning
This section looks at the best daily cleaning solutions. These options on how to clean vinyl floors are simple and take no time at all. Best of all, our basic cleaning methods won’t damage your vinyl or leave scratches or scuffs. When you want a quick and easy option for how to make vinyl floors shine, our homemade kitchen and floor cleaner recipes are just what you need.
Vacuum Your Floors
Many of us make the mistake of regarding the vacuum as a device meant for carpets, rugs, and other fabric coverings. Your vacuum is a much more powerful tool than you might think, though.
You can use a vacuum regularly to keep your vinyl floors looking pristine. Daily vacuuming will remove debris and any dry matter on your floors without you having to mess around with liquids or chemicals.
When you use a vacuum, be on guard against possible scuffs. To avoid damaging your vinyl floors, remove the beater bar attachment from your vacuum before using it. Use a crevice attachment to clean baseboards and other hard-to-reach spots.
Use a Dry Mop
Most daily encounters with dirt or stains on vinyl floors will be easy ones that require little in the way of effort to clean. When you have a simple liquid spill, a dry mop is often the best cleaning method you can use. Like the vacuum, a dry mopping allows you to handle minor spills without resorting to cleaning liquids or more involved options.
Have a clean, dry mop on hand and ready to go in the event of spills, and give your floors a once-over every day with the mop whether they seem to need it or not. After a while, running a dry mop over your floors will feel like second nature and will ensure that your floors last a long time.
Clean Your Floors with Water and Paper Towel
As you go about your daily routine, you’re going to run across lots of spills and stains that need nothing more than a swipe with a cloth or paper towel. It’s essential to hit those spills before they set in and become more significant problems. Using little more than warm water and a clean, absorbent wiping cloth ensures that you take care of stains while they’re still easy to manage.
Put on the gloves. Dampen the cloth or paper towel in warm water, and wipe away any spills or minor stains and repeat until the stain is gone.
Dry the area with another clean cloth to prevent streaks or dull spots on your vinyl. Always clean any nearby grout as well as the vinyl.
Hit Your Floor with Glass Cleaner
If you’ve encountered a stain that requires a little more than pure water to clean it away, reach for your standard glass cleaner such as Windex. A simple homemade glass cleaner often contains alcohol, which is ideal for cleaning vinyl floors.
Glass cleaner is a great option when you need to find out what removes Sharpie from surfaces, too. Do not use glass cleaner that contains ammonia, however, which can cause cracks to develop in vinyl tiles.
Try to use this method before the spill dries and becomes more challenging to clean. Don the gloves, and spray glass cleaner on the stain. Let the glass cleaner sit for a minute, and then wipe it away with a cloth or paper towel. Repeat as needed.
Use a Mop and Soapy Water
If you encounter a spill or stain that water or glass cleaner can’t deal with, graduate to a mop and soapy water. The mop, soap, and hot water method is one of the most popular options when you need to know how to clean vinyl floors, and for a good reason.
You can use this gentle cleaning option to handle most garden-variety stains. Never use a steam mop for cleaning vinyl floors. Steam mops can warp hardwood floors and damage vinyl plank flooring.
Don the gloves, and combine the soap and water. Use the swab first to soak up any spilled liquid and remove dirt before rinsing it thoroughly.
Dampen the mop with soapy water, and rub away at the stain with the damp mop until it lifts away. Repeat as needed. Rinse out the wet mop with clean, hot water, and give the floor a final mop to clean away any soap residue.
Tackle Your Stains with Water and Salt
You might not regard table salt as an effective cleaner, but it’s the perfect option for lots of stains. Salt has a natural abrasive quality that allows it to scrub at stains without damaging the vinyl. It’s just what you need when you want to know how to make vinyl floors shine.
Combine the salt and water to form a paste and apply the paste to any stains using a clean cloth or sponge. Scrub at the stain until it lifts away, and repeat until the stain is gone. Rinse the area with clean water.
Try this solution to remove paint from vinyl flooring, too. Salt is a simple but effective cleaner
Get Your Floors Clean with Water and Laundry Detergent
Like dish soap, laundry detergent has ingredients that let it break down oil and other grime to make it easier to clean away. Take advantage of this characteristic when you want a daily method of how to clean vinyl tile floors. Just a few drops of detergent can work wonders on your floors and vinyl tiles.
Combine the detergent and water. Dampen the cloth in the mixture, and rub at any stains until they lift away. Repeat until the stain is gone. Dampen another cloth in clean water, and clean away soapy residue.
You can also use laundry detergent in the washing machine to clean a vinyl shower curtain if it gets a little dirtier than a few spots here and there. Use hot water and let the shower curtain run through a delicate cycle. Re-hang the curtain in place and let it air dry.
How to Make Vinyl Floors Shine with Extra Cleaning Power
Even the most reliable daily cleaner will occasionally run across a stain that the usual tricks can’t handle. To ensure that you can take on any vinyl floor stain you encounter, you should have a few cleaning options that pack a bigger punch and can handle even the most challenging cleaning problem.
Having a robust cleaning method or two in your back pocket keeps you ready for any challenge you face. This section looks at how to clean vinyl flooring with recipes that have a bit more oomph.
These cleaning tips include household cleaners that will clean away difficult stains without breaking a sweat. If your usual methods aren’t cutting it and you need to know how to make vinyl floors shine, reach for one of these cleaning solutions. You won’t be disappointed.
Get Your Floors Shining with Vinegar
If you’ve spent any time working with household cleaning options and DIY solutions, you’re familiar with the miracles that vinegar can work on stains, grease, and grime.
Vinegar is perfect for all sorts of cleaning tasks, including on clothes, coins, and wood, and you’ll love the way it works on your vinyl flooring. It’s just what you need to deal with difficult stains.
Combine the water and vinegar in a bucket, and dampen the mop in the vinegar solution. Mop the stain until wet, and let the mixture sit for a minute or two.
Use the mop to clean the stain. Repeat until the stain lifts away. Rinse the area with clean water when the stain is gone.
Use this simple recipe to remove paint from vinyl siding, too. Vinegar has a multitude of applications.
Use Pine Cleaner on Your Floor
Pine cleaner is one of the favorite options around the world for cleaning vinyl floors. Pine cleaner cuts through grease and other everyday spills, and it leaves a fresh scent that lets everyone know that the area is clean and safe. Give pine cleaner a shot if you run across a stubborn stain on your vinyl floors.
Check the manufacturer’s instructions, and combine the cleaner and water in the ratio suggested in the manual. Soak the mop in the solution, and mop the stain.
Let the mixture sit for a minute before cleaning it away. Rinse the vinyl floor with clean water after you remove any stains.
Try Baking Soda and Water
Baking soda is one of the great unsung heroes of your kitchen pantry. You can use baking soda to antique brass and repel insects, and it’s just what you need to clean up tough stains on vinyl floors. Baking soda won’t damage the vinyl and will do a number on most grimy spots and spills.
Put on the gloves. Combine the water and baking soda to form a paste. Use a cloth to spread the paste on any stains, like if you need to get hair dye stains off vinyl flooring, and let it dry. Scrub with a toothbrush to clean away the dried paste and repeat until the stain is gone.
Clean Your Floor with Baking Soda and Vinegar
When you combine baking soda and vinegar in a single recipe, you harness some of the most effective cleaners in your DIY arsenal. Mixing baking soda and vinegar unleashes an effervescent cleaning power that will cut right through most dirt and stains. It’s just right for when you need to know how to make vinyl floors shine.
Fill a spray bottle with vinegar, and don the gloves. Sprinkle baking soda on the stains and spray the area with vinegar. Let the mixture sit for five or more minutes on the vinyl floor, and then scrub the vinyl tiles and grout with a toothbrush.
The stains should lift away without much trouble. Repeat until the floor is clean.
Use Rubbing Alcohol on Your Vinyl Floors
Isopropyl alcohol, also called rubbing alcohol, is an excellent home remedy that you can use to clean all sorts of household items. Alcohol works by breaking down compounds and reducing mixtures to their components. Take advantage of this and let it help you get your floors back to showroom condition.
Fill your spray bottle with rubbing alcohol and don the gloves. Spray stains, and let the alcohol work on them for a minute or two. Scrub at the stains with a toothbrush to get the dirt out until the stains lift away. Wipe the area with a microfiber cloth once you remove the stains.
Break Down Stains with Nail Polish Remover
Acetone, or nail polish remover, acts in much the same manner as does rubbing alcohol on complex chemical compounds. When you apply nail polish remover on a stain, it causes the stain to separate into parts and makes it much easier to wipe away. Use nail polish remover on any blemish that daily cleaning can’t handle, such as crayon or Sharpie.
Pour a few teaspoons of acetone into a container. Dip a toothbrush in the acetone, and scrub at floor stains. After you loosen the stain, wipe it away with a cloth. Repeat until the floor is clean.
Clean Away Build Up with Shampoo
Shampoo on the floor seems like something you should clean away, but it’s just right for cleaning your vinyl floors. Shampoo works by gently dissolving and removing build up on your scalp and hair, and that makes it perfect for dealing with build up on your vinyl floor.
If you have hairspray stains or other build up on vinyl, a shampoo cleaning will often take care of your issue without trouble.
Combine the shampoo and water in a container. Dip a cloth in the mixture, and rub it on stains and build up on the vinyl. Let the mixture sit for a minute and scrub with a toothbrush or soft-bristled brush until the stain lifts away. Rinse with clean water.
Try Vinegar, Dish Soap, and Water on Your Floor
If you’ve tried the other cleaning options with extra power and still see stains on your vinyl, you should give one final recipe a shot before moving on to the big guns. Vinegar, water, and dish soap are just the ticket and will get rid of all but the worst stains and grime on vinyl flooring. And, you won’t risk harming your family with harsh chemicals.
Put on the gloves. Combine the liquid ingredients in a spray bottle, and spray stains until wet. Let the mixture sit for about five minutes.
Scrub the spot with an old toothbrush until the stain lifts out. Rinse the area with clean water after you finish cleaning.
Deep Cleaning a Vinyl Floor
You’ve tried all of our previous recipes, but you’re still stuck with a vinyl floor dotted with stains and dirt. Now’s the time to try some of our most potent cleaning options. If the usual cleaners don’t do the job, you’ve got to try deep cleaning a vinyl floor.
Having a few super-tough recipes ready to go when needed is just what you want to make your cleaning tasks more manageable. This section looks at the top recipes for tackling the worst stains on vinyl.
We include scrapers, liquid cleaners, and caustic chemicals that will remove scuffs, stains, and scratches from your vinyl floor. These are hardcore recipes and cleaning solutions that will cut even the worst cleaning tasks down to a manageable size.
Use WD-40 on Scuffs
WD-40 is another unlikely cleaner, but you can use it to deal with scuffs that you can’t remove any other way. If your vinyl floor has marks from shoe leather and other permanent stains, knock them right out using WD-40.
It’s an effective cleaner and should be a go-to when you encounter scuffs on vinyl. It’s perfect for deep cleaning a vinyl floor.
Don the gloves and spray a cloth with WD-40. Rub the cloth on scuffs or discolorations on your vinyl flooring. After a minute or two, the scrapes should wipe away without much effort. Once the scuffs are gone, give the area a final wipedown with a clean cloth to remove any remaining WD-40.
Tackle Tough Stains on Vinyl with Essential Oils
When deep cleaning a vinyl floor, you should always use just enough power to clean the surface. Overkill can damage the material you’re trying to clean. Essential oils are what you need to get your vinyl floors clean when faced with tough stains; they’re strong enough to knock out most stains and won’t injure your floors in the process.
To make an essential oil floor cleaner and stain remover, put on the gloves and combine the vinegar, soap, and essential oils in a spray bottle.
Sprinkle table salt on stains, and spray the mixture on the salt until wet. Let the mixture sit for a minute.
Scrub the stains on the floor with an old toothbrush until gone. Repeat as needed. Rinse the area with clean water after all the stains are out.
Get a Putty Knife
Not all of your methods of deep cleaning a vinyl floor involve liquid cleaning solutions. You can use abrasives to clean away all kinds of dried spills and debris. If you have a vinyl floor covered with stubborn spills that you can’t remove no matter what you do, it might be time to break out the putty knife and start scraping.
Be careful not to scratch your vinyl tiles when you use this method. Don a pair of safety gloves, and angle a putty knife so that the blade is under the stain but won’t scratch the vinyl.
Gently push forward to scrape away the stain. Test this cleaning solution on an inconspicuous spot before using it on the entire floor.
Clean Scratches and Scuffs with Jojoba Oil
Like WD-40, jojoba oil is just what you need to clean away unsightly scuff marks on your vinyl made from shoes or furniture. A little jojoba oil will take care of even the most lingering and stubborn marks on any vinyl flooring. It’s an excellent option for deep cleaning a vinyl floor when you’ve given up hope of anything else getting the job done.
Apply two or three drops of jojoba oil to a cloth. Don the gloves, and rub the jojoba oilcloth on scuffed spots of your vinyl flooring. After a minute, the scuffs should begin to rub away. As a bonus, jojoba oil will leave your vinyl floor with a rich gleam.
Master Your Stains with Vinegar, Baking Soda, and Salt
Do you want an option for deep cleaning a vinyl floor that satisfies the DIYer in you? We’ve got you covered. We combined the most effective home cleaners, like baking soda and white vinegar, into an exceptional cleaning option for the most ornery stains and spills. Give this cleaning solution a shot before moving on to commercial products.
Combine the salt, water, and baking soda in a container to form a paste and use a cloth to spread the paste on any stains. Let dry, and fill a spray bottle with vinegar.
Spray the dried spots until wet, and scrub with a toothbrush until the stain lifts out. Rinse the area with clean water when done.
Use a Commercial Vinyl Floor Cleaner
Perhaps you’ve tried the other cleaning options but can’t find a solution that does the job as well or as quickly as you need them to work. Luckily for you, vinyl flooring has been around for a long time and has all kinds of commercial cleaning products ready to tackle the worst cleaning tasks.
You can use a commercial vinyl floor cleaner to deal with the worst and most unmanageable stains. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions whenever you use a commercial product.
Operating the product according to the manufacturer’s recommendations ensures that you can go to them for support if their product doesn’t do the job. Always wear appropriate safety gear when you use a commercial cleaning product for deep cleaning a vinyl floor.
Preventing Future Grime
It’s lovely to have a reliable option for how to clean vinyl floors, but you ideally want to stop stains from occurring in the first place. Fortunately, you can take some steps that will reduce your stains and require fewer floor cleanings in the future. With one or two precautions, you can reduce your time spent cleaning vinyl floors.
It’s the simplest and most effective method you’ll encounter on how to make vinyl floors shine. This section looks at ways you can prevent future vinyl stains and spills.
When you use the time-tested options included here, you’ll avoid messy and unpleasant future cleaning sessions and keep your floors looking sharp and clean. Take these steps to reduce your cleaning time and add to your leisure time.
Use a Doormat
It might seem like a silly and useless item, but your doormat is a vital member of your household staff. Without a doormat, every person and pet who enters the house tracks everything they picked up outside on your floor. Doormats catch mud, dirt, oil, and much more and should be your vinyl floors’ constant companions.
Every entrance to your home should have a doormat, including garage entrances. Keep an eye on your doormats, as well. It’s easy for your doormats to get clogged with dirt and stop performing their duties, so make sure to run them through the wash at least once a week.
Treat Your Floor with Vinyl Laminate
Vinyl is an excellent material for floors because it’s sturdy and easy to clean. That doesn’t mean your sheet vinyl or luxury vinyl is impermeable or shouldn’t get protection, though. A simple treatment of commercial laminate can keep your vinyl tiles looking as good as the day you bought them and will reduce your required cleaning time dramatically.
Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions when you use commercial vinyl laminate. Laminate produces hazardous fumes as it works, so never use it without wearing all necessary safety gear, including a respirator and eye protection. Avoid stepping on any freshly laminated flooring until the vinyl is dry.
Protect Your Vinyl Floors with Baby Oil
One of the issues you may experience when you have vinyl flooring is a loss of shine along with a loss of protection. As your vinyl laminate floor ages, it begins to lose its protective coating. This loss results in a dull floor finish and more vulnerability to stains and spills.
Take steps to prevent this from happening to your floor. All you need is some baby oil and a little elbow grease. Baby oil is just what you want to protect and beautify aging vinyl.
Add the baby oil to a bucket of hot water. Use a mop to apply the oil and water solution to your vinyl floors. That’s all there is to it! This natural option is all you need to keep your floor looking its best for the long haul.
You don’t have to only include baby oil in this recipe, though. Add one or two drops of baby oil to your favorite cleaning option to protect and pretty up your vinyl.
We hope you had a lovely experience checking out our tips on how to clean vinyl floors. Having beautiful vinyl floors is essential to keeping your home looking its best, and knowing how to make vinyl floors shine will help you achieve that goal. Our guide gives you the best recipes for cleaning vinyl floors, whether you’re dealing with daily cleaning or the toughest stains.
Thanks for reading our vinyl floor cleaning guide. If you found our tips on deep cleaning a vinyl floor helpful, we’d appreciate it if you’d share this info on how to clean vinyl floors with your family and friends on Pinterest and Facebook.