If you’ve made the decision to go with luxury vinyl plank flooring for your home, you may be tempted to believe that the work stops once the installation team leaves. While you can certainly start enjoying your floor immediately, it’s essential that you keep up with the required maintenance.
Luxury vinyl flooring is an expensive investment, and you want to preserve it for as long as possible. When properly taken care of, you can expect multiple decades of quality use. The best way of doing this is by adequately cleaning your vinyl floors and doing so regularly.
Here, we’ll look at the best methods of cleaning your luxury vinyl floors, what materials you’ll need, and what cleaning methods you should avoid.
The Importance of Keeping Your Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring Clean
The key to long-lasting residential floors is preventative maintenance. This is true for all flooring types, but this is especially the case for luxury vinyl planks. These planks are not as durable as standard hardwood flooring, and you’ll need to take action to prevent damage from occurring. One of the most effective ways of doing this is by keeping your floors clean.
When luxury vinyl flooring is left to accumulate dirt and debris, it weakens the integrity and coating of the planks. This makes them quite susceptible to scratches and gouges caused by items like heavy furniture.
Another reason to keep your floors clean is the obvious visual benefit it provides. By preserving the factory luster of your vinyl planks, your home’s flooring installation will be looking fresh for years ahead. Regular cleaning is the best way to maintain this.
Materials Needed to Clean Your Floor
Luckily, the required materials to keep your luxury vinyl flooring clean are quite simple. Most of these items can be found in the house already, or they can be quickly purchased from the store. An advantage of luxury vinyl plank flooring is that it requires much less maintenance than hardwood floors, so you’ll never have to worry about expensive flooring products and chemicals.
For beautiful, shining floors, have these basic materials on hand:
- Broom and Dustpan
- Vacuum Cleaner
- Wet Mop and Bucket
- Dish Soap
- Warm Water
- Vinegar
- Baking Soda
- Vinyl Floor Cleaning Solution
Source: The Spruce
How to Best Clean Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring Regularly?
While it’s good to engage in occasional deep cleaning to preserve your floors, the most effective cleaning is the type that’s done regularly. Keeping up on a periodic cleaning regime will help stop dirt and grime buildup in its tracks. Not only will this keep your floors in good condition, but it’ll also make it easier for you to deep clean when you decide to do so. Skipping frequent cleaning will simply make your job more difficult down the road.
Here are some regular habits you can develop to promote clean luxury vinyl plank floors.
Vacuum and Sweep Daily
It may seem inconvenient, but daily cleaning is truly what will keep your floors in optimum condition. Fortunately, you don’t have to go all out with this kind of cleaning - it’s all about consistency.
Sweeping or vacuuming your floors daily will help remove any of the surface dust and loose dirt that gets tracked into the home. It’s easy to remove this, as it hasn’t had time to settle into the floors yet. It’s only when this dirt is left to settle that it becomes a cleaning problem later on. When vacuuming, do not use a power head with a motorized brushas these can easily scuff the flooring.
If you live a busy life and daily vacuuming is too much to keep up with, consider investing in a robot vacuum. These nifty devices utilize artificial intelligence to learn about your home, and they’ll take care of all the cleaning for you. They even return to their charging dock when the battery runs low, so they truly are a hands-off approach.
Tackle Stains Immediately
There’s nothing more unsightly than visible stains on your vinyl plank flooring. Although this flooring material is manufactured with a protective top layer, stains can still occur when they’re left to sit on the flooring.
The best way to prevent these stains from occurring is by wiping them up immediately. Soaking up the liquid before it has time to dry will prevent any lasting discoloration. While it’s advisable to handle them as soon as they happen, it’s not the end of the world if you don’t. We’ll address how to remove tough stains later in this article.
Mop Regularly
Mopping is an effective way of removing grime that has stuck to the surface of your flooring. It also helps to keep the factory shine that comes on the vinyl planks. While it doesn’t need to be completed as regularly as sweeping or vacuuming, you should still strive to mop your floors at least once a week.
When mopping, ensure that you’re wringing it out before use to avoid excess water. Water can pool in the cracks of your flooring causing the adhesive to weaken and the subfloor to absorb the moisture. If this is a challenge, consider using dry microfiber mops.
How to Deep Clean Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring
Deep cleaning is essential for removing the trickier dirt that builds up over time. It’s the perfect opportunity to spend the extra time needed for hard-to-remove stains, surface scratches, and damaged planks.
One of the best ways to deep clean your vinyl floor is to mop the floor with a mixture of water and vinegar (8 cups of water with 1/2 cup of vinegar). This is a very effective solution for removing all sorts of deep dirt and grime from vinyl floors. You’ll also need to use a second bucket of just hot clean water to rinse the area you initially cleaned.
Deep cleaning doesn’t have to be done anywhere near as frequently as surface cleaning, but it’s good to follow a schedule. It’s recommended that you deep clean every 6 months or a year.
Treating Tough to Remove Stains
A benefit of luxury vinyl flooring is that it doesn’t have porous material for liquids to soak into, like carpet and hardwood. Most stains are preventable by cleaning them up early, but if time has passed since the liquid spilled and you find yourself with a vinyl stain, you can easily remove it with some simple ingredients. Nearly all stains can be removed with DIY cleaning products made from water, baking soda, and vinegar. The steps to follow are extremely straightforward:
- Mix an equal ratio of baking soda and warm water to create a paste
- Using a soft bristle brush, scrub the stained area with this mixture and let it sit for 15 minutes
- With a spray bottle, apply a generous amount of vinegar to the area
- Remove the cleaning solution with a wet sponge or washcloth
If the stain is oil-based, consider just using warm water and dish soap. Soap is quite effective at removing these types of stains, but it tends to leave behind a dull film on the flooring. Be sure to adequately wipe it up with water afterward. Additionally, never use steel wool on your luxury flooring. This is guaranteed to leave permanent scratches.
Source: whatisvinyl.com
Removing Scratches and Scuff Marks
To remove minor scuff marks, applying WD-40 is a convenient trick that’ll help remove marks left by shoes and furniture. Just be sure to remove all of the oily residue afterward.
Olive oil and jojoba oil are both excellent alternatives to WD-40. Simply drip the oil onto a microfiber towel and apply to the floor. Consider getting a vinyl floor sealer if the scratch is too deep for the oils to take effect.
Source: Think Tank Home
Replacing Worn Planks
If pieces of your flooring are particularly bad, deep cleaning is the perfect time to replace them. It’s always recommended that you order extra flooring during the installation process specifically for this purpose. You won’t have to worry about finding the exact same product again.
4 Tips to Keep Your Flooring in Perfect Shape
Besides cleaning, there are a few behaviors that you can adopt to maximize the lifespan of your vinyl floors. It may take a little getting used to, but they’re a great way to avoid potential damages.
Don’t Wear Shoes Inside
Wearing shoes in the home is a great way of tracking in dirt, mud, and other debris. If you wear shoes regularly in the home, you’ll have to keep up on a lot more cleaning, and excess dirt can damage your floors.
Utilize Area Rugs
Placing rugs in strategic places, especially high-traffic areas, is a great way to reduce everyday wear and tear. It’s also worth placing them under large pieces of furniture to prevent scrapes and dings.
Protect Against Heavy Furniture
Furniture can cause indentations in your flooring, but you can easily prevent this with furniture pads that attach to the legs. These help disperse the weight and also prevent scratching.
Avoid Excess Sunlight
Strong UV radiation from windows can cause your vinyl flooring to fade over time. Consider shutting the curtains or blinds when you’re not enjoying the sunlight to prevent this damage from happening.
Protect Your Luxury Vinyl Flooring Investment By Cleaning
Your luxury vinyl flooring is a beautiful part of your home, and you want to maximize its lifespan. The surest way of doing this is through cleaning. With both a regular cleaning regime, occasional deep cleaning, and taking some precautions to avoid damage, you can keep your vinyl planks looking fresh for years.
Henson's Greater Tennessee Flooring is your comprehensive supplier of luxury vinyl plank flooring, and we have a stunning selection of products that you can choose for your home. Check outour complete collection today, and start planning your installation.
