Strive To Be Chemical Free
We live in a society that’s well-informed and each day we learn and continue to learn about the ways in which we can live cleanly. By now you’re aware of the harmful effects that chemicals like pesticides, preservatives, and additives have on the body.
Even so, we’re conscious of the negative effects and yet how many of us keep the Windex ready to go during clean up time? How many of us know the creeping dangers of manual home labor? It is true that the heart of the issue is the high-impact that toxic chemicals have caused on the environment. It is true you ought not let another day go by without thinking about making the switch over to a chemical-free, non-toxic solution.
You wouldn’t go wrong with an all-purpose cleaner and we have found some great non-toxic cleaning solutions out there. Seventh Generation’s got an excellent cleaner on the market that works superbly on all kinds of surfaces. If that’s not enough, you want more options, head over to your health food store and find a chemical-free solution that works to suit your needs and tackle the tough stains that buildup.
Leave Your Shoes at the Door
Everyone prefers a clean resilient floor over a dirty floor. Your home’s floor functions as the main raceway for guests, family, and friends to traverse about the house. In the short term, the dirt and residues dragged in from the outside aren’t noticeably present near the foyers and doors.
But over time, you may begin to notice mud prints and dirt trails building up all over the place. Using a doormat to clean the sides and bottom of your shoes as soon as you walk in the door helps to stop the dirt spreading issue before it happens.
Doormats are a wonderful tool you place at the perimeter of your house and even more so if you live in a dog-friendly home. Keep a towel near the doors where you let the dogs out and gently brush their paws when they return from doing their business. This ensures they won’t bring in mud all the time.
Try Dog Boots
My mother and I live with three dogs and I am cleaning up after them every day. Dog ownership is a full-time job that’s also extremely rewarding. As we learn to coexist with our animal friends, we have changed parts of our house and made compromises that fit better for a life with a dog.
An example of which we’ll address is none other than the in-floor heating we did underneath our kitchen tiles. Dogs absolutely love warm floors. When you supplementally heat a room with radiant heating, gentle heat radiantly warms your floors and the temperature change is just perfect for dogs - not too hot - and not at a temperature that plastic dog boots could melt.
Furthermore, If you’ve got a dog door installed at home, then you won’t always be there to catch your dog from bringing in the mud. We urge you to consider the advantages of dog boots. First of all, dogs walk uncomfortably on hard surfaces.
Dogs’ paws claw into the dirt and were made to run on grass. Not only do boots give extra padding under the paw, but also they reduce the amount of dirt and debris that the dog drags in from outside.
Sweep Often
Keep a dustpan and broom ready when it comes time to do your house chores. A thorough floor cleaning is done in two parts: one dry run and one wet run. What we mean by that is your first flyby of each room you take a broom and sweep up any loose dust and dirt, then run through each room with a damp mop and clean the floor again to remove contaminants from your home.
Save Money With House-Hold Products
If you’re a woman, share a bathroom with a woman, then I suspect that you’ve got an idea how to clean hairspray off vinyl floor. To clean up hair spray from the bathroom floor, whip up a vinegar and water solution. You can add a small amount of shampoo if you want.
For really tough buildups, apply a little bit of rubbing alcohol directly on the floor. Working in small sets as the hair spray begins to dissolve.
Clean Spills Right Away
I’m sure you’re aware by now that a vinyl floor isn’t made out of hardwood. Even though it does look like hardwood sheets or plywood planks, a luxury vinyl floor is actually made with layers. Its primary component is PVC vinyl, which makes vinyl flooring both stable and flexible. Laminate flooring tends to hold up well to liquids but water damage can still occur.
In case of a spill, clean up spills as soon as they happen and stop the likelihood of a vinyl floor becoming damaged from a neglected puddle of water. Possible warping and cupping might happen to the floor if spills are left unattended. Vinyl flooring can be floated, meaning that the floor isn’t nailed or glued down to the subfloor. On the off chance some serious damage absolutely devastates your vinyl sheets then a contractor can more easily rip up and replace the floor.
Rinse Well to Remove All Soap
Now during the second half of this post, we’d just like to brush up on different lines of soap, analyze the lines, and lay it all out for you. Soap is an excellent abrasive cleaner to a home-made cleaning solution. Mixing this up with your vinegar-water solution helps to cut up the dirt and residue that congregates over the course of your floor’s natural life.
Years ago, certain dish soaps would contain phosphates that assisted cleaning but also posed an environmental hazard. The same goes for Triclosan, an antibacterial substance. Whatever you’re using, it’s a good idea to check the product labels to make sure they don’t contain Phosphates or Triclosan.
I shouldn’t have to shout it from the hilltops that based on what I know from my times working with soap, you’re going to have a harder time cleaning up all of the soap from the floor. Make sure to rinse enough water from the tool you used to clean, whether that was a mop, sponge, or towel. Use warm water from the sink and avoid soaking in water that’s too hot.
If any soap is left after cleaning, that’s like a venus-fly-trap of dirt and god knows what else floats in the air that may land and stick to your cleaning supplies.
Choose the Best Cleaning Solution
Here we’re talking about the cleanser that works for you. Not against you, but for you and what you’re trying to accomplish when it comes time to clean the floor. Commercial products work really great and always deliver on their promises, but it’s much cheaper to make a cleaning product yourself right at home.
Most stains and dirt spots can be removed with a vinegar and water solution. I follow the 80/20 rule as I’m mixing up a batch of homebrew cleaning solution. 80 percent of the solution is water and 20 percent is apple cider vinegar.
That gives the water enough acidity to break through the mess. You can add a small amount of dishwashing soap, again, if you wish.
The problem I face at times is definitely the film of slippery grease left behind after I clean the floor with either soap or a greased up cleaning solution like Pine-Sol. If that’s the case then just come back and hit it again with a baking soda paste and that should solve the issue.
Clean Stains According to Impact
All stains are equally important to clean up right away. But, it’s smart to differentiate stains based on the strength and impact of contamination. I personally don’t let a minute go by because that’s a minute that invites the possibility of a distraction, and no one likes it when someone else leaves a mess for you.
So learn to evaluate and prioritize the kind of mess you’ve got your hands on. Small stains that happen from juices, water, and food can be cleaned quite easily with little to no intervention. Wipe up the debris with a paper towel and use a dry towel to soak up liquids.
If there is presently a discoloration then you’ve got a stain and you can easily clear it with luke-warm water and a dry towel. Easy stains are acidic stains and prove to be nothing to worry about.
Tougher stains come from crayons, wine, lipstick, and lip gloss. For this, you’re going to want to bring out the big guns. Find two small buckets and fill them up with your vinegar and water solution and another one with soap and water.
Deep cleans of the vinyl floor first start with soap and water then it’s a really easy switch back to vinegar and water. Scrub with a hard bristled brush. Work fast and in quick bursts of strength and mop the floor immediately after and your floors cleaner. Use nail polish remover if the stain is nail polish.
Thanks everyone, we hope you learned how to clean an old vinyl floor. Do you have vinyl plank floors at home? What was the toughest stain you ever cleaned off of your vinyl floor?
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