Ask Mrs. Clean: House Cleaning, Stain Removal and Organizing Tips

[Kathy]

I read in many forums that you could use vinagar to clean linoleum/vinyl floors. Well I tried it and now they squeek when you walk on them. Is there any way I can stop the sweeking?

[mrscleannw]

Hello Kathy,

You don’t mention if your flooring is a sheet of linoleum or tiles. Either way it’s possible you have used too much water or allowed the water to sit too long before drying. Either one of these can damage the floor loosening the glue around the edges or getting in between the tiles damaging the floor and possibly causing the tiles to lift and separate causing the squeak.

Even though these floors are quite durable, they don’t do well with moisture. They should only be damp mopped, no standing water.

If this isn’t a squeaky clean squeak, it’s possible you have truly damaged your floor, you should consult a flooring professional.

Mrs. Clean

[cleanway]

That's true. Even though vinyl floor are quite popular for resilience and durability, they should be taken care of while being cleaned up. Standing water could cause issues, and in this case better to contact the flooring company who had initially gotten this job done. And if you already have a maintenance contract with them, you should get this fixed with no or little spend.