What products are prohibited from using when cleaning linoleum?
Linoleum is a very popular and affordable type of floor covering in any room: home, office, cottage, apartment. Linoleum is not expensive (compared to carpet, parquet, tile or carpet). To preserve it and enjoy the long service life of the coating, you should carefully and carefully care for the linoleum. At the moment, there are several methods and types of products that allow you to care for linoleum (homemade and chemical). Which one is the most effective and safe is up to you to decide.
How not to wash linoleum:
- Bleach. We are talking about a concentrated product, so to speak, in its “pure form”.
- Chemical solvents . They can be used in minimal quantities, for example, to remove a small stain locally.
- Soda and lye. They can disrupt the structure of the coating and cause it to crumble.
- Abrasives (powder). They can scratch the surface of the linoleum and damage it.
Lenoleum is a coating that can imitate parquet pattern
Cleaning after renovation
When repairing, it is best to cover the linoleum with plastic film. This way, no building materials will get on the coating, and after completing the work, all that remains is to remove the film and wash the floor in the usual way. If the linoleum does get dirty, you should try to remove the dirt immediately.
For example, fresh primer can be easily wiped off with a soft cloth, but dried primer will have to be removed with a special remover or acetone solution.
Products for cleaning linoleum from the consequences of repairs are selected depending on the type of contamination. Here are some general principles:
- Traces of whitewash and cement dust are removed in several stages. First, wash the floor with warm water with the addition of table salt and soap shavings, then wipe the surface with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. After drying, rub with a woolen cloth and apply linseed oil.
- It is better to remove paint fresh, but it is not recommended to use soda and other alkalis, they will make the coating brittle. It is better to use a drop of vegetable oil. Dried paint is removed with solvents, after first checking in an inconspicuous area to see if the coating will deteriorate. After removing the stain, the linoleum is washed and rubbed with linseed oil.
- The polyurethane foam, if it is fresh, is scraped off with a spatula in the direction from the edges of the stain to the center. After this, the area is treated with a special product to remove all traces. The dried foam is cut off, the remains are soaked with a professional composition and scrubbed.
Homemade linoleum cleaners: what can you use to clean the floor?
“Homemade” linoleum cleaning products:
- Flaxseed oil - this product will help you hide the most common problem that occurs with linoleum - scratches. Just soak a sponge in oil and lubricate the scratch area, and then rub it dry with a dry cloth. Remember that oil will help you hide only minor defects, as well as give the linoleum a pleasant shine.
- Soapy solution - unlike parquet, linoleum can be washed with soapy water. But there are several features here: the solution should not be hot and too concentrated. After the soap solution, rinse the floor with clean warm water.
- A solution based on dishwashing detergent and vodka. Pour 1 tbsp into a bucket of water. any dish soap and a glass of vodka. Carefully spread the solution using a sponge or rag (a mop with a microfiber attachment is an option). This recipe will help you remove any dirt and stains from linoleum.
- Milk and warm water. The ingredients are mixed in equal proportions. This product perfectly removes dirt from linoleum. After washing with milk, the area is wiped with vinegar (a kind of disinfection that will prevent milk bacteria from spreading and emitting a bad smell).
IMPORTANT: Remember that any “folk” floor cleaner is best used locally, but not for the entire floor. The best products for cleaning linoleum are specialized solutions.
Linoleum is an affordable and durable floor covering
Fat removal
Grease stains often appear on linoleum, especially when laid in the kitchen. To eliminate them, various methods are used, ranging from improvised means to professional ones.
Home Remedies
Large and small grease stains can be dealt with using products that can be found in the kitchen, medicine cabinet, workshop, and even in the garden.
Alcohol
Alcohol can be used to clean linoleum even from complex grease stains. To do this, rub the problem area with a cotton pad or cloth soaked in alcohol, then rinse with a damp sponge.
Elder
Elderberry berries are mashed into a paste, you can do this with a blender, apply to the stain and leave to act. After some time, the pulp is removed and the surface is wiped.
Turpentine
Turpentine is a remedy that is left as a last resort if others have not helped. They should act very carefully, wiping the stain with a small amount applied to a cotton pad. Then thoroughly wash the floor with a damp cloth.
Special means
Blot the fresh stain with a napkin, trying to erase it completely. If the dirt is old, you can use dishwashing liquid or use a product specially designed for linoleum. The product is distributed over the grease stain, rubbed in a circular motion with a soft sponge, then washed with a damp cloth. Such products as Mellerud, Loba, Longlife have proven their effectiveness in the fight against fat.
Which rag is best to wash linoleum?
INTERESTING: After the first laying, you cannot wash linoleum at all, because it can become deformed. At first, dry cleaning is acceptable: with a broom, vacuum cleaner, dry cloth.
It is important to know that before washing linoleum, it should be vacuumed or swept. Small particles of debris (grains, crumbs) can scratch and damage the linoleum. Choosing the right cloth is also important, because a good cloth will not leave streaks or puddles of water and will make the linoleum clean.
What rags are suitable:
- Woolen rag. Will help linoleum restore its shine. The cloth should be moistened in warm, clean water.
- with drying oil and then rubbed with a soft silk cloth.
- Soft cloths (synthetics and cotton) are suitable for daily wet cleaning.
- For daily and “general” cleaning of linoleum, any modern soft rags : microfiber, with nanoparticles, or bamboo fiber.
What rags are best to wash linoleum?
What to do in case of significant damage
If more serious problems are found on the surface, then before polishing you need to carry out repair work, I will give some tips that are easy to implement and help solve most problems:
- Deep scratches on the surface can be repaired with putty of the desired color. Even if the shade is different, the damage site will be noticeably much smaller. The process is simple: the scratch is repaired, after drying it is sanded with fine sandpaper to level the surface, then polish is applied to protect the repair area;
Carefully fill the scratch with putty.
- If there is a torn area on the surface that is almost invisible from above, then you can do it very simply. Lift the linoleum and clean the dirt from the bottom and base, then apply linoleum adhesive. Next, you need to press the repair area well and place a load on it, but not too heavy, so that a dent does not form on the surface;
This area can simply be glued
- If the damage is significant, then it is best to cut out a piece of material and put a new one in its place. That is, you should have a small piece of material left; do not throw away the scraps after work, they can be very useful later. It is better to cut along the lines that are on the surface so that the repair site is as inconspicuous as possible; the last stage is gluing the element.
Cut the piece along the lines so the patch will be invisible
If it is impossible to find a piece of linoleum of the same color as yours, or a sufficiently large piece or several sections are damaged, then you can get out of the situation by gluing in material of a different color. In this case, you need to come up with some shapes or make an interesting insert shape so that the floor looks as if this solution was originally conceived.
Use your imagination, and no one will even guess that you simply removed one part of the flooring and laid another option in its place. Moreover, instead of linoleum, you can use other materials - laminate, carpet, etc.
Sometimes it is easier to change part of the material than to repair it
Cleaning linoleum from dried wallpaper glue: tips, recipes
Wallpaper glue that remains on the floor after renovation can be removed in three ways:
- Soapy solution. Suitable in cases where the glue has not dried on the floor for several days and is quite “fresh”.
- Special floor cleaner. There is a large assortment of them in the store and each one effectively fights pollution.
- White spirit will help remove traces of old and dried glue from the floor.
Linoleum cleaning products
Cleaning linoleum from marker: methods and tips
Adviсe:
- The water-based marker can be wiped off with water and soapy water.
- Alcohol-based markers can be removed using any alcohol solution or vodka, in which a cotton sponge should be soaked.
- You can wipe off a marker on any base using toothpaste; to do this, apply it to the stain, leave it for a short time, and then wipe it off with a wet napkin. After the procedure, the linoleum is rubbed with polish or linseed oil (then rubbed dry).
How and with what to clean linoleum from grease and greasy stains in the kitchen?
In order for your linoleum kitchen floor to shine and be “like new,” it should be looked after as often as possible and preferably washed daily. If this is a problem for you, just take care of those places that are most susceptible to contamination (near the stove and dining table). To care for kitchen linoleum, you should choose special detergents or dissolve dishwashing detergent in water (it dissolves grease perfectly).
You can wipe off any stain from linoleum
How to update a view
Even with regular care, after some time, linoleum can fade and lose its attractive appearance. This happens especially often in rooms where the coating bears a large load. For example, in the kitchen, linoleum may suffer from grease splashes during cooking, stains from dropped food and other contaminants that have to be removed regularly, which can cause the pattern to become faded and lose its shine.
To renew the surface of linoleum, wax-based mastics are used. To properly apply the protective layer, follow these steps:
- Wash the floor thoroughly, removing dirt and removing old polish using special products.
- Wipe the washed floor dry to avoid streaks.
- Apply the mastic with a roller, a special mop or a polishing machine.
- Allow the surface to dry for at least 10 hours.
- Vacuum the renewed floor.
