House Cleaning and Stain Removal Forum

[gosailor4]

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c224/gosailor4/Floor2.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c224/gosailor4/Floor1.jpg

Hello. New to the forums. Was wondering if anyone could tell me what kind of floors these are. Also, what can I do to make this kitchen floor look shiny and new again?
Over the past few years I have been using bleach and water to clean floor. I use a ton of bleach when I mop, and to my dismay, I think I might have actually stripped the shine from the floor...Is that even possible?
Well, whatever I did, I've noticed it looks very dull and appears dirty faster. All you have to do is walk across it once with shoes on and it starts to gather a blackish hue across it.

What did I do wrong, and what can I do to "re-seal" or make it look nice and shiny again? Any ideas??

[mrscleannw]

Hello gosailor4,

Bleach is very alkaline and can do serious damage to floors. It has most likely stripped the sealant from your flooring.

The biggest problem is figuring out if you have either a vinyl floor or a linoleum floor. We typically tend to call all sheet-flooring linoleum because linoleum was once the normal flooring type. It’s like calling all facial tissue “Kleenex,” when it’s not actually Kleenex.

Most sheet flooring these days is vinyl or a vinyl blend. This is not genuine linoleum. Vinyl is a synthetic material. Linoleum is made of natural materials and requires different care.

Linoleum Flooring:

Linoleum explains the materials with which it’s made. “Lin” is from linseed (“linium” is linseed in Latin) and “oleum” is Latin for oil. Linoleum flooring is made mostly of linseed oil. They boil down the oil, and then they add items like resins, powdered cork, ground limestone, possibly ceramics, other natural ingredients, and wood flour.
Wood flour is basically finely ground sawdust. Pigments are added, which gives the mixture color, and then it’s pressed and heated to form a sheet.
Linoleum flooring can actually get deeper in color and often prettier when it’s exposed to sunlight instead of fading because the materials are all natural.
Most manufacturers suggest a polish or wax for linoleum floors to protect the flooring.

Vinyl Flooring:

Vinyl flooring is finished first in blank sheets. The design is then stamped or printed onto the sheets, then sealed to protect the design. Eventually, the vinyl sealant will wear off, and the print is going to fade or become damaged.

Vinyl floor manufacturers usually recommend against wax, especially once the protective sealant wears down.

If you don’t know what kind of floor you have (linoleum or vinyl), you can either scrape off a layer with a razor blade (in an inconspicuous area!) to see if the design comes off (indicating that it’s vinyl), or you can buy polishes that are safe for both linoleum and vinyl floors.

Vinyl floors usually require resealing once the sealant wears down, and linoleum floors only require wax or polish.

Never apply a sealant to a waxed floor, or you could lock in the wax build-up!

Mrs. Clean