How to Clean Linoleum

Thanks for checking out our green tips on how to clean linoleum.

Linoleum is regaining its popularity with the eco-friendly crowd. Often made with eco-friendly products like linseed oil and cork flour, it’s not your grandmother’s floor anymore. Okay, even if it is your grandmother’s floor, we’ll still tell you how to clean linoleum with eco-friendly, nontoxic cleaners you can make at home. We’ll help you get your floors spotless and protect your home from toxic chemicals, all at the same time.

Have you ever heard someone say, “Her floors were so clean you could eat off them?” Well, if you’ve been using commercial cleaners, it doesn’t matter how often or thoroughly you clean, those floors are not safe to eat off of – even if you wanted to. We’re glad you’ve stopped by to pick up a few tips on how to clean linoleum and get it truly clean. Let’s get started:

• Vacuuming is a good way to keep linoleum free of dirt and crumbs, just make sure the wheels or other parts of your vacuum cleaner won’t scratch the floor. This simple step, if done regularly, will greatly extend the life of your linoleum flooring.
• A mixture of two cups water to a quarter cup white vinegar sprayed onto a soft cloth or mop will do wonders for your linoleum tile. A great recipe to use for sheet linoleum is a mixture—no need to be exact—of five or six squirts of castile soap added to approximately six cups of water.
• You should avoid getting any linoleum surface too wet. Large amounts of any liquid can be damaging, causing waving or lifting around the edges of linoleum flooring. Sheet floors can be wet mopped, but linoleum tile floors should only be cleaned with a slightly damp mop. Thankfully, green cleaners are effective enough that you don’t need to use much. And that’ll save you money, too.
• If your floor is looking dull, a mixture of cornstarch and water (almost a paste, really) rubbed gently into the floor and then buffed with a soft dry cloth will renew your floor’s shine and luster.

Green cleaning linoleum is a great choice because truthfully, linoleum just does not stand up well to harsh cleaners (i.e., chemical based commercial cleaners). When you start green cleaning your linoleum, it will last longer, your family will be healthier, your home will be safer, and you’ll save money to boot. The second you stop purchasing chemical cleaners and start making your own, you start saving. You can’t go wrong, really.

Having nontoxic floors is especially important for those who have children and pets because they tend to spend more time than adults on or near the floor and are, therefore, more susceptible to the hazards of chemical cleaners. Really, what’s the use of having a nice, clean floor when you’re too worried about the risks to really appreciate it?

Now that you’ve seen how simple and beneficial green cleaning can be, we hope you’ve decided to stick with these eco-friendly methods.

Thanks for checking out our tips about how to clean linoleum.

Happy cleaning!