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How to Clean Vinyl Floors Easily (Secret Tip!)

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How to Clean Vinyl Floors Easily!

This is a post that I wrote quite a few years ago about How to Clean Vinyl Floors. It was hugely popular and I know that so many people said that they could not believe how well this worked and how much it helped them. So I’m reposting it again for those of you that haven’t see it yet. I no longer have vinyl floors and we no longer have kids at home, but for those of you that do, I hope this helps! Now back to me from the past …… Well, I have to say this post is a little embarrassing, however this is such a great tip that I just can’t keep it to myself! We’ve been in our home for close to 9 years, we bought the house new, from the builder, and didn’t have the budget for expensive flooring in the kitchen, like wood or tile. So the best we could do was to get an upgraded vinyl. I really liked this floor in the beginning. I loved my black and white vinyl floor, with it’s check pattern. It has a subtle marble effect on it, that actually even fooled my Mother in Law into thinking that it was the real deal, when we first moved in! But over the years it got harder and harder to keep it clean. Four teenage kids and one Dog took their toll on it. The stains and dirt were really ground into the… pores? … crevices maybe? … of the vinyl, and it looked filthy and nasty, as you can see by the photos!

Cleaning Vinyl Floors

 

Vinyl Floor before and after

Here you can see how disgusting it was! I have to say that I’m my defense, I have a cleaning service come in and mop my kitchen floor twice a month, and they have done this for years. There have been at least 5 or 6 different ladies from the service that have cleaned it, and each year it got worse, no matter how hard they tried! (It needed a deep clean though and not just a surface cleaning.)So it wasn’t just my sad lack of cleaning skills, or at least not in this case! Anyway, one of my girlfriends told me about something that she used on her vinyl floors that worked like a charm. I tried it out on the vinyl tile above and was surprised at how easily it removed the grime and scuffs!

How to Clean Vinyl Floors Supplies

And surprisingly enough you only need one product to achieve this miracle and it’s not a vinyl floor cleaner! And surprise, surprise it’s also not white vinegar, or apple cider vinegar, or baking soda, or Ammonia, or rubbing alcohol, or soap mixture, or wax … not even dish soap, or any other type of floor cleaning solution.

Want to know what it is?

Here’s the secret! It’s this surprising product HERE that you may already have in your house, but probably never thought about using on your Kitchen floor!! How crazy is that?!!
I was absolutely floored (no pun intended) when I saw how well, and how easily it lifted that grime right up!

Additional Supplies:

You will also need a bucket and a mop. And a Vacuum Cleaner or Broom.
Make sure you scroll all the way down to see how clean the floor looks after. And read all of the comments at the bottom of the page, left by other people that experienced the same miraculous transformation on their floors too.

Instructions for How to Clean Vinyl Floors:

Step 1: Before you start mopping, make sure you vacuum or sweep with a broom really well to get up the dust bunnies and such.
Mopping Kitchen Floor

Here’s my step daughter, (aka Cinderella,) moping the floor with a bucket next to her. Yes, that’s right… I’m part Fairy God Mother.. part Evil Step Mother! haha! Actually my husband was the one that made her mop it, in order to work off the cost of a speeding ticket, that she acquired. I placed the Green Cinderella Pumpkin on the counter, so that it would show up in the scene,  just to drive the Cinderella part home! Haha.

Scrubbing Bubbles

Dirty Vinyl Kitchen Floor
Step 2: Anyway, back to the floor, move all your doormats and let’s go! All we did was spray the Scrubbing Bubbles onto the floor, working on a few sections at a time. Make sure the foam covers the vinyl pretty evenly and wait about a minute, or so,  for it to work it’s magic. Then use a wet mop and warm water to wipe up the grime. We have a fairly large kitchen, so it took about 3 cans to do the whole thing. You’ll need to change out your rinsing water fairy frequently. It’s pretty amazing how it just lifts the grime right off of the vinyl! You can really see how much dirt came up, in this photo. We could have made mud pies right there in the kitchen! Yuck!
Clean Vinyl Kitchen Floor

Ta da! It’s like a brand new floor again! No more grime or scuff marks. We actually did this a few months ago and it still looks great, so you wouldn’t have to do this every time you mop, only every now and again if you see a build up of dirt. This flooring has a light marble effect to it, in gray, so what you see on the photo above is not dirt, it’s the marbled pattern.

How to Clean Vinyl Floors

I can’t tell you how happy I am with my floor now! I thought I was going to have to replace it, but now I don’t have too. Yay! Let me know if you try this, I think you’ll be surprised at how easy it is!

Please keep in mind I have only ever tried this on Vinyl Floor, so I can’t comment if it would work on other types of flooring, and it may not be appropriate on other types of flooring. I would NEVER use it on Wood floors for example! I would think it would be fine for vinyl planks, but I haven’t tried that either. Make sure you test in an inconspicuous corner, to see how it works with your specific flooring.

Also, keep in mind that this is not a natural product. It does contain chemicals so keep that in mind if you are sensitive. I do prefer natural cleaning products, but when the situation is dire you do what you have to do!

P.S. I was NOT paid to do this post and I bought my own cans of Scrubbing Bubbles, just wanted to share this awesome tip!

P.S.S. Someone had asked me what brand my flooring was, I believe it was Armstrong but I’m not positive about that.

Does this work with a Generic Product?

I have tried a Generic version of Scrubbing Bubbles before that I think I purchased at the Dollar Store and that worked too, so if that’s what you have on hand, go ahead and give that a try. I don’t know if it works with all off brands as I certainly have not tried them all.

I hope you found this How to Clean Vinyl Floors post tip helpful and that it works for you too!

10 Cleaning Tricks for Cleaning With Salt

For even more cleaning tips check out this post by Jessica from Mom4Real… 10 tips for cleaning with Salt post HERE…

Vintage Cleaning Tip - How To Clean Your Oven Naturally

And another great post by Jessica …. How to Clean your Oven Naturally HERE.

And I highly recommend Jessica’s Blog for all things cleaning at Mom4Real HERE. She always has the best cleaning tips!

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Comments

  1. Lillian Simmons says

    Great idea! I have the same problem with my vinyl flooring. I wonder, though, if the chemical would eat up the vinyl surface, creating pits in the vinyl. Then the floor would get more dirty faster after the treatment.

  2. Ellen says

    Looks great Karen. Do you have a tip for painting a linoleum floor, preferably white. Nowadays it is all so expensive, I would prefer to recycle it but or it is possible, that’s the question.

    Hugs,
    Ellen

    • Karen Watson says

      Hi Ellen, I know it can be done! Although I haven’t tried myself. You might want to check out Hometalk.com they have lots of tips on those kinds of things over there. Also, if you don’t find it, you can ask a question there and many times professionals will answer with free advice!

  3. Pretty Purple Treaures says

    I’m trying this because my nasty cheap floor will not come clean! And I wonder if the cheaper off brand works the same, I have not tried this product in years. I’ve cleaned blinds the hard way too, but according to your readers I don’t need to again! THANKS!

  6. Gena Rae says

    can this be used on “rough textured” tile? Our church kitchen has this and it never seems clean, no matter what we do. thanks.

    our kids were raised on actions have consequences. they are really responsible and hard working adults now. we’re glad we kept our rules in place.

  7. Nancy says

    Thank you thank you thank you !! Our vinyl floors need help also. I too, am at the point of “do we replace them, there MUST be a way to get them truly clean.” You just saved us a bundle!! I also like your parenting idea. We did the “tough love” route a time or two also. Now our grown child says it was the best thing we ever did!

  8. Lisa says

    PS – Not entirely on topic, but: I do love that a parent is making a child “work off” their traffic ticket. So often, parents just shrug it off. But really, it will not only help her be more responsible, but also SAFER, because she’s paid a “price” and she’ll probably be more careful. Sorry for the soapbox.

  10. imklvr says

    Oh my word!! This is amazing! We have a similar problem with ‘textured’ vinyl! And the other ideas in the comments! Screens! Brilliant! Blinds and woodwork! Outstanding! This must be the best cleaning post ever! Thanks…to everyone!! Dona

  13. Laura Strack says

    Karen,
    Your floors look marvelous, darling!! I use it on my shower tile and glass door and windows and I love it, as well. I have never used it on lanoleum. Great tip.
    Thank you!
    Laura

  14. Anonymous says

    Scrubby Bubbles is AWESOME for cleaning window screens and aluminum blinds too. Just take them into the shower, give them a good spray, wait five minutes and rinse ! Perfectly clean !! Works great on car tires too, but avoid spraying the paint on your car.

    Jitzy

      • Lori Servage says

        I discovered this last year out of sheer frustration at trying everything to get the grime off of a mostly white vinyl floor. When I let the bubbles sit the foam turned grey – yuck – but showed it was working. It’s labour intensive though – especially the rinsing part. I spray on vinegar and water and use a mop bucket to rinse, but still wish there was an easier way to clean up the foam. ANy ideas?

          • Jennifer Weinstein says

            I just moved into an apt an the kitchen had super dirty floors. It should be marbled gray and white but most look almost all dark gray. I can’t stand it. I 1st tried Scrubbing Bubbles but not the foam. It’s Bleach 5 in 1 all purpose cleaner. Do you think using the foam makes a big difference? When I 1st tried it I only used paper towels rather then a mop or spònge and it really didn’t work all that great. But, I just learned that Apple cider vinegar is great for cleaning vinyl floors. So I wondered if using Scrubbing Bubbles 1st and then rinse with the Apple cider vinegar would do the trick. I’m trying to find a simple yet productive cleaner because the area I have to clean is huge. Any suggestions?

        • David says

          Once I was ready to clean the foam. I would rinse the floor with warm water, to dilute the foam and then use my wet shop vac. Then I did a simple mop up.

        • Marc says

          Try a defoamer chem in a wetvac. Vacuum it all up with a floor attachment and go back over with a your mop and rinse.

    • Kathy says

      TRULY AMAZING!!!
      WE CLEANED OUR 10 YR OLD LAMINATE FLOORS AT WORK
      10 YEARS OF WAX BUILD UP AND DIRT
      ALL WE HAD TO DO WAS SPRAY AND MOP AND OUR FLOORS LOOKED BRAND NEW

  15. Kristi says

    Oh, I love posts like this–one that gives a simple solution to a common problem. Thank you. I might need to stock up on Scrubbing Bubbles!

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