What Type Of Machine Is Needed To Deep Clean A Vinyl Plank Floor

Vinyl plank floor comes equally a great alternative to hardwood. Cheaper to install, skilful-looking, and easy to maintain, information technology appeals to many homeowners. If you've installed it, mayhap you know already that it's easy to clean. Merely how to clean luxury vinyl flooring the right way? Are there products that can harm information technology?

Like all floor types, luxury vinyl flooring requires regular cleaning. You should sweep your floors daily to go along your domicile pristine and deep-clean near twice a month. It goes without saying that whatsoever spills must be dealt with immediately – especially if your floor isn't fully waterproof.

With this in mind, let's find out more about the right fashion to make clean and maintain luxury vinyl plank (LVP) floors.

LVP Cleaning Routine

The first thing to learn nearly when installing LVP flooring is the cleaning frequency. Like all floors, luxury vinyl planks crave regular cleaning to maintain their advent. Only dissimilar hardwood or tile – two flooring options that are very resistant to scratches and scuffs – LVP runs the risk of serious harm if you don't sweep away the dirt and debris.

In fact, dirt accumulating on the floor can scratch the LVP'due south protective layer. If your planks don't have a rigid core, which is fully waterproof, moisture can find its fashion to the plank's cadre through these scratches. Excessive moisture tin lead to swelling and, eventually, rotting.

If your flooring has a rigid cadre, the scratches will nevertheless hinder the LVP's aesthetic value. While you could cover the damaged areas with rugs, scratched floors can lower your property's resale value. To brand things piece of cake, stick to the cleaning routine below.

Cleaning frequency	Actions
As soon every bit possible	Wipe off whatever spills or stains
Daily	Sweep/vacuum and dry out mop the floors
Twice a month	Deep cleaning with a moisture mop

How to Deep Clean Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring

A deep cleaning may sound intimidating, merely the process is quick and easy. The only thing to pay attention to is the cleaning products yous use – harsh detergents and flooring cleaners can damage the protective layer on pinnacle of the planks.

Tools & Supplies

Vacuum cleaner (with difficult flooring brush)
Mop
Microfiber cloth
Soft bristle brush
Dish soap
Apple cider vinegar or vinyl plank cleaner
Bucket with water

How to Clean Luxury Plank Floor

Get-go the deep cleaning procedure with your daily routine: remove surface dirt. The easiest way to do this is with a vacuum cleaner, using the difficult floor brush for more effective cleaning. Alternatively, you lot can sweep the floors with a broom or sweeper and remove the backlog dirt with a dry out mop.
Audit the surface of the floor for any stains. Older stains are harder to remove than fresh ones, especially if your flooring has a texture – that's why you should deal with whatsoever spills or stains as soon as possible. Even so, if you lot've missed a spill or spot a stain you didn't know about, you can use soapy water to remove it. Mix some dish soap with lukewarm water and employ a soft bristle castor to scrub abroad the stains. For peculiarly stubborn stains, you tin effort scrubbing with baking soda paste or isopropyl alcohol.
Once the stains are removed, wet mop the floors to remove any residual dirt and crud. The best luxury vinyl plank cleaner is a homemade solution of apple cider vinegar and water (you can use whatever kind of white vinegar if you don't take apple cider vinegar). Dilute a loving cup of vinegar into a gallon of water and mop the floor in the direction of the planks. Alternatively, you lot can use vinyl plank cleaner.
Whether yous have water-resistant or waterproof flooring, it is recommended to dry any excess water with a microfiber cloth as soon as you're washed with the mopping.
Repeat this procedure every two weeks to keep your floors in practiced status for longer. Households with pets and kids may find it necessary to deep clean the floors more frequently.

Does LVP Floor Need Waxing?

High-end LVP flooring tin mimic hardwood so well that many homeowners wonder whether they should wax their floors or not.

In a word, no. LVP floor doesn't need waxing. Moreover, wax or wax-based products can really damage the vinyl cease. If your vinyl floor is older and looks worn out, you can freshen up its aspect with a coating of vinyl floor sealer or transparent acrylic.

If you decide to use an acrylic stop, call up that high-speed buffing can penetrate into the layers of the floor and could cause them to separate over fourth dimension.

LVP Cleaning Tips & Tricks Yous Need to Know

1. Use a doormat and sweep frequently

Use a doormat and sweep frequently

The easiest way to clean luxury vinyl plank flooring is to foreclose it from getting muddied in the first place. Dry water and mud stains can be difficult to make clean. Your dirty shoes can also bring in small-scale pebbles and other debris that can scratch your floors.

A chump tin aid you remove some of the dirt and cobblestone chemicals earlier you step inside the firm.

Furthermore, you should as well sweep the floors as often as possible. As a rule of thumb, endeavor to sweep the dirt from the entryway at to the lowest degree twice a solar day and the kitchen and dining area after each meal.

ii. Clean makeup and hairspray with shampoo

Clean makeup and hairspray with shampoo

Cosmetics, makeup, and hairspray can sometimes land on your vinyl floor, where they tend to grip to the surface. While y'all may struggle to remove these stains with vinegar or apparently h2o, hair shampoo tin exercise wonders in removing them. Scrub the area with some shampoo and a soft castor, rinse with plain water and dry the floors with a microfiber material.

3. Rinse well subsequently using soaps or detergents

Rinse well after using soaps or detergents

While apple cider vinegar is the best cleaning agent for vinyl flooring, you can also use commercial cleaners. If the bottle doesn't specify that the product needs no rinsing, make certain to rinse whatever detergent traces off your floors.

Yous should also limit the apply of chemical products. Until your floors need a deep clean, limit to mopping with plain h2o if dry out mopping doesn't remove the dirt and stains. When using a floor soap, it is recommended to use two mops, ane for washing and another for rinsing.

4. Outfit your furniture and appliances with floor protectors

Heavy furniture and appliances can damage your vinyl floors. These scratches tin allow wet to attain the inner layers of the flooring, but you lot can prevent scratches by plumbing equipment your furniture and appliances with felt or rubber floor protectors.

Mistakes to Avoid

Never steam clean your floors

Mopping your floors tin can be tiresome, specially if y'all live in a big home. Using a steam mop could be tempting; nonetheless, you lot should never steam mop LVP floors.

While all vinyl floors are at least water resistant, none of them are designed to resist steam. Vinyl is a blazon of plastic, and, like all plastics, it tin can lose its shape when exposed to high temperatures. Hot steam tin can also impairment the protective meridian layer.

Instead of steaming the floors, stick to traditional moisture mopping and use apple cider vinegar to disinfect the surface.

Don't use highly abrasive scrubbers

Some stains may crave serious elbow grease to remove, but you should never employ highly abrasive scrubbers similar steel wool and other crude materials.

An easy way to deal with particularly stubborn stains is by scrubbing them with a thick paste of baking soda and water.

Never use ammonia or bleach.

Choosing the right cleaner for vinyl plank floor can be challenging, more often than not because near floor cleaners contain ammonia. Withal, this substance doesn't pair well with vinyl. It tin can degrade the protective layer of your floor and damage the inner layers.

Bleach is another common ingredient in flooring cleaners. Similar ammonia, bleach can lead to corrosion or damage the vinyl finish.

That's why apple cider vinegar – or any white vinegar, as a affair of fact – is your best pick when looking for the perfect vinyl floor cleaner.

Down to You

We hope you now know how to clean luxury vinyl plank flooring to keep it look new for longer and forestall damaging information technology. Practise you have other tips or tricks to share with us? Or take you used some products that damaged your flooring and desire to warn the others?

Tell u.s.a. in a comment beneath. And before you go, please share these useful tips and communication with your friends.