Vinyl flooring is the best choice for all the right reasons. One of them is that it is easy to clean. Daily mopping and brooming can make the vinyl floors look new and shiny for years. But if you are busy and don’t give enough attention to your Vinyl flooring, it can soon turn into dull vinyl flooring.
Therefore, you need different remedies to make the vinyl floor look new. You can either use commercial polishing products or make homemade polishing. Both are great and work fine for the vinyl floorings.
Today’s article will discuss why vinyl floors look dull and how you can make them look shiny.
Why Does My Vinyl Floor Look Dull?
Many factors lead to a dull vinyl floor. Low maintenance can be one of them. If you don’t clean, broom, and mop your floors regularly, the dirt and debris present on the surface of vinyl can make it look weary.
The dust particles work like sandpaper on the vinyl floor. If you clean the floor regularly, it maintains its shine, but if you leave it uncleaned for a long time, it starts looking dull and discolored.
Preventions To Stop The Vinyl Floor From Looking Dull
Prevention is better than cure. Therefore, before moving towards the solution for a dull vinyl floor, let’s look at preventions.
1- Keep the dirt and debris away
As discussed earlier, the dust and debris scratch off the floor like sandpaper if not cleaned for a long time. They take away the shine of vinyl floors. A good rule of thumb would be to use a doormat at strategic places, such as the house’s front door, kitchen and other high traffic areas.
2- Place the furniture carefully
Heavy and bulky furniture can scratch off the wear layer of the vinyl floor; therefore, you need to be careful while moving and shifting them. Placing vinyl coasters on the item’s feet can be helpful in this regard.
3- Use the proper vacuum attachment
If you use the wrong vacuum attachment while vacuuming your floors, you are at risk of making the vinyl floor dull with time. Make sure always to use the vacuum without a beater bar as it can strip your vinyl’s shine.
4- Don’t use abrasive tools or chemicals
Once you purchase vinyl flooring, which is not cheap, you should maintain it properly. When polishing or cleaning your floors, make sure not to use abrasive tools or chemicals. Avoid using steel wool, tough brushes, detergents, grainy cleansers, paste wax, ammonia-based cleaners or polishes and harsh chemical polishes.
7 Steps To Make The Vinyl Floor Look Shiny
You don’t need to worry if your vinyl floor has lost its shine and looks dull; you can still make it shiny by simple and easy seven steps.
Step 1: Select the right polishing solution
Although Vinyl is not a delicate flooring, harsh chemicals can damage its protective layer. Without the protective layer, vinyl can get scratches, stains and spots and other problems.
Therefore, you should select a gentle and right polishing solution for cleaning and polishing the vinyl. The ingredients for cleaning and polishing vinyl floors are available in your home.
However, you can also use commercial products, but you need to choose them specifically for your vinyl type. Another thing you can do is follow the manufacturer’s recommendation on the suitable kind of commercial to be used on your vinyl.
If not chosen correctly, the cleaning products can leave a residue over the floor, which is stubborn and doesn’t disappear. Therefore be specific about choosing the right product.
Step 2: Remove the old finish
You only need to follow this step if you have used any finishing product or wax on your vinyl’s surface. If you haven’t used anything like this, skip to step 3.
But if you need to clean the old finish first, you should vacuum or dry mop the floors to get rid of dust and debris. Likewise, you don’t need to wet clean the floors as you have to use strippers in the further steps.
Just like when choosing a commercial solution product for vinyl floors, you are specific about it. Likewise, you should be careful while selecting a stripper as well. Also, check the manufacturer’s guide for the best outcome.
After choosing a stripper solution, use a cotton mop to spread the stripping solution evenly on the floor. Then allow the solution to absorb nicely on the floor for 5 to 10 minutes. Later on, clean the solution with a dry cloth and mop it with a damp mop for removing the dust and debris.
Step 3: Clean The Vinyl Floor Thoroughly
To get the perfect polishing on your vinyl floor, make sure that you clean the floor thoroughly. Start by removing the dirt and vacuuming every corner of vinyl flooring, including under furniture.
If your floor doesn’t have many tough stains, a bucket of clean water with a mop will do the job for you. But instead of soaking the mop in water, you should prefer damping it for a nice thorough clean.
Mopping vinyl floors in normal conditions is not recommended either, as it can cause moisture damage to the floor. Then use apple cider vinegar on your floor to further clean your floors.
The vinegar’s acidity helps clean the stains and spots on the floor without leaving any residue on it. For accurate measurement, you should mix one cup of apple cider vinegar in almost 4 litres of hot water and mop.
If your floor is too dirty, try adding dish soap to the mixture of water and vinegar. After you are done with the first mop of vinegar, water and soap mixed, you should go for the second mop. Add a few drops of baby oil to vinegar and water mixture to get sparkly clean floors.
The scratches on the floor can prove to be very stubborn. Therefore, to make them less visible, try any lubrication such as WD-40. Later, remove this residue by mopping the floor with apple cider vinegar mixture.
Food stains that have dried and hardened up can be another problem faced while cleaning the floor. For this, use a brush, preferably one with nylon bristles. Then make a baking soda paste with water and spread the paste over the stain. Gently rub on the area and mop with cider and water mixture.
Step 4: Polishing Solution
Now that you have cleaned the floor thoroughly, you should start preparing the solution for polish. Any commercial vinyl polishing product can do the best job in this regard. Only make sure to follow the preparation and application instructions given on the product.
But if you are more comfortable in using homemade polish for your vinyl floors, then we have two methods for it. You can either use baking soda or vinegar for it.
Step 5: Use baking soda as a polisher
Follow the given steps to prepare a baking soda solution for polishing vinyl.
- Take 3 liters of water in a bucket and mix four tablespoons of baking soda in it and mix it well.
- Apply this paste to the floor using a damp cloth and let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Once 10 minutes have passed, take another damp cloth and rinse off the baking soda. You might need to rinse it off 2 or 3 times if any soda residue is left on the floor.
- Lastly, allow the floor to dry completely.
Step 6: Use vinegar as Polisher
The simple white vinegar is an excellent deodorizer, cleaner and sanitizer. It will remove the dirt effectively and leave your floors shiny. Here’s how you can use vinegar as a polisher for vinyl floors:
- Take 4 liters of water and add half a cup of white vinegar along with liquid dishwashing soap and one tablespoon of mineral oil. Mix them thoroughly.
- Dip a mop in this solution until it’s damp. Then spread it on the floor
- Either take another clean mop or clean the same mop and rinse the floor with water.
- Let the floor dry completely, and you’ll see a new life added to your vinyl floors.
Step 7: Use Household Alcohol
Alcohol has the specific ability to cut the grim through your vinyl floors and give you a sparkling clean floor in no time. This step is highly recommended for old vinyl floors as it provides a new life to the flooring.
- Add four tablespoons of alcohol into a litre of lukewarm water.
- Dip a clean mop in this mixture and mop the floor as usual.
- Allow the floor to dry completely.
Conclusion
The dull vinyl floor gives an impression of an old floor which is not so pleasant. Although there are many products that you can use to make it shiny again, you should not let it get dull anyways. Cleaning and mopping regularly can make it look new for years.
For high maintenance, you can use rugs, be careful while placing the furniture, avoid harsh chemicals on the floor and use the vacuum’s proper attachment. Both commercial and home ingredients can make your vinyl floor shiny again.
Commercial polishes, vinegar, baking soda, alcohol all can make your vinyl floors look new again. You can use any of the given methods as per your desire.