Vinyl is a great material for flooring. Despite its reputation as the best alternative to hardwood floors, vinyl flooring has the best qualities. Vinyl plank flooring offers a fabulous alternative to hardwood floors. Additionally, vinyl flooring is much easier to clean and maintain.
When you follow a few simple steps, you will be able to enjoy your vinyl plank flooring for several years. Improper cleaning might make the floor look so old or less appealing. So you will probably be asking yourself how to do you clean and maintain this floor or is cleaning products safe for vinyl plank. Well, below is a guide on how to clean vinyl plank floors.
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Guide on How to Clean Vinyl Plank Flooring
There are two types of cleaning. We have regular cleaning that is done daily and deep cleaning. In deep cleaning, we always ensure that you clean every corner of the floor thoroughly. First, let’s takes a brief rundown on the regular cleaning of vinyl plank flooring.
Regular cleaning
One of the easiest ways to always ensure that your vinyl flooring is kept classy and sassy is to sweep and vacuum the floor daily. This eliminates dust and debris out from the floor. In most instances, these small particles may not seem like a big problem. With time when such particles are left on your vinyl plank flooring, the might tear down and damage the finish of the floor.
Regular cleaning is just a tip to keep the floor sparkling clean. You don’t have to do a deep clean, but vacuuming cleaning or sweeping at the end of the day is just a plus to maintaining your floor. No matter what type of cleaning, learning how to clean vinyl flooring means learning how to clean regularly.
Deep Cleaning
This type of cleaning involves way more than just weeping. One has to carefully follow the cleaning steps to maintain that fresh look on the floor.
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Vacuum or dry mop
This is an essential part of starting off your cleaning guide on vinyl plank flooring. Before you start launching water or using a wet cloth on the floor, ensure that you remove dirt particles or debris from the floor.
While removing the dirt, ensure that you do not forget the corners, baseboards, or areas covered by the furniture. Otherwise, if left with dirt, you run a risk of dirt collecting on the floor and becoming a bigger problem later on.
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Carefully choose the mop
You should always select your mop with a lot of caution. After you have prepared the floor for deep cleaning, it is time to choose the best mop for vinyl plank floors. You might probably have a lot of mops in your house. Always ensure that the mop you are anticipating to use does not have stiff bristles, wires, or is not an in-built scrub brush.
This is because such features on a mop can easily damage the vinyl plank flooring. However, mops that have a sponge or microfiber mops are the ideal mops to use. If you stick to using such types of mops, they will clean the floor without damaging the finish.
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Make a cleaning detergent
After choosing a mop, you can start getting ready to clean. Before you get into the cleaning process, always ensure that you mix the washing detergents. It is recommended to stick to basic detergents such as water, soap, or vinegar. It is always good to try and figure out what types of products are suitable for deep cleaning your vinyl floor.
In most instances, soap dish and plain warm water is best for the floor. However, if you feel that your floor needs a little extra maintain ace, you can try using white vinegar or apple cider vinegar. This helps to get rid of any excess dirt that might be hanging around. Besides vinegar being a powerful cleaning detergent, it does not leave or build-up on residue on the floor.
- Wipe the floor
Once you are through preparing the cleansing detergent, you embark on wiping the floor. Ensure that you mop every part of the floor, thoroughly using the detergent to get rid of residues. Remember to keep in mind that scrubbing too hard might take off the shining from the vinyl plank flooring.
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Rinse the floor
After washing, you probably should rinse the floor using warm water. Warm water tends to leave the vinyl floor looking fresh. It is advisable to use two mops, one for cleaning and another one for rinsing. This is because when you use the mop that you used while cleaning, dirt might stick on the soap scum and finally stick to the floor. Rinsing removes all the soap left behind on the floor.
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Dry the floor
Vinyl plank floors are vulnerable to water damage. So after you have rinsed the floor dry it with a clean dry cloth. Then leave it for about 5 minutes so that the floor can dry up completely. You should also limit the amount of water you are using to clean the floor and make sure the floor is dry after cleaning it.
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Arrange the house
Lastly, after the floor is dry, arrange the house back to its normal structure. Additionally, avoid pulling the furniture on the floor as it tends to scratch the floor.
For spot treatment: If you have spots that are not easy to get rid of, use affordable ways of removing such spots.
Conclusion
If you probably have been having problems when it comes to cleaning your plank floor, we got you covered. There you have it, tips on how to ensure that your vinyl floor keeps looking fresh and shiny. Cleaning vinyl, plank floors is not an easy task. Most of the people get in touch with the wrong steps.
This, in most instances, leads to damaging the floor, which creates a bigger problem than just cleaning. Always ensure that you follow the steps to the latter and get assured that your vinyl plank floors will look exquisite for several years.