It is quite common for vinyl floors to look drab a year or two after installing them in your home, but how do you make them shine again?
You want your home to look presentable, and one of the first things that will catch your eye when you walk through your front door is your vinyl flooring.
Luckily, there are some great techniques that you can implement to return the shine of your vinyl floor.
To make your vinyl floor shine, you should first properly clean them using a mop with either a soap or vinegar solution. If this does not work, polish the vinyl using a DIY solution or commercial product to make the floor shine.
Vinyl is one of the most popular flooring materials in homes these days, and there is a reason for that – it’s affordable, durable, and easy to install.
However, vinyl floors can easily lose their shine, making them look boring and unappealing.
This can be particularly frustrating if you have only recently installed vinyl floors and they are already losing their aesthetic.
To help you remedy this situation, we are going to take you through our complete guide on how to make your vinyl floors shine.
After extensively researching vinyl floor maintenance and upkeep, I have been able to gather enough information on how to keep this material intact so that it can keep its shine.
How to Shine Your Vinyl Floors
Before you begin scrubbing and polishing your floors, you should first try to identify why your vinyl floors have lost their shine.
There are a number of different reasons that this occurs, and each one can be solved using a specific technique.
Has your vinyl floor lost its coating? Or is there simply an accumulation of dust and dirt that is preventing the shine from coming through?
Let’s explore the different methods that you can implement to make your vinyl floors shine.
Cleaning Solutions
The most common reason that vinyl floors lose their shine is due to them being dirty.
You need to keep in mind that every time you walk into your home, you are tracking in dirt and dust along with you.
This dirt and dust get embedded into your vinyl floor. This makes the color begin to fade, and the material will lose its shine.
With that being said, the best way to prevent this from happening is to simply sweep and vacuum your vinyl floors regularly, especially after fresh dirt has been brought in.
However, even with optimal sweeping and vacuuming, vinyl will lose its shine after a while. When this occurs, try using the following cleaning solutions to make them shine again.
Mopping
This should be your first go-to approach. A simple mob job should do the trick for most drab vinyl floors.
Use some plain water with a sponge mop and go through your vinyl floors, as this will remove most of the grime that is on the surface.
If you find that the floors still don’t shine the way you want them to, try using warm water and dish soap.
If your vinyl flooring has lost its shine due to spills and embedded dirt, soap and water should remove everything from the surface.
Vinegar Solution
A great way to get rid of grime embedded in your vinyl flooring is to use a vinegar solution.
You may find this approach more effective if you have a lot of dirt buildup, as soap does not always get the job done.
For this method, take a ½ cup of vinegar and mix it with warm water to create the solution. Next, add some drops of baby oil to the mixture as this will help the floors shine.
Mop your floors with the vinegar solution the same as you would normally. This is a natural approach that will not cause any damage to your vinyl flooring.
Polishing
If cleaning your vinyl floors did not bring their shine back, then you may need to re-polish them.
This is something that you will have to do from time to time if you want your vinyl flooring to retain its aesthetic.
Polishing is usually required a couple of years after installation, usually due to sunlight exposure, scuff marks, and stains.
1. Select Polishing Solution
You need to consider what kind of polishing you want to use for the job.
There is no right or wrong way to approach this, but you may prefer one option over the other.
The first is to use a DIY polishing solution that you can make with standard household items.
The second is to buy a commercial product that was designed for polishing vinyl floors.
Make sure to read the instructions of the product carefully and use it as the manufacturer suggests.
2. Cleaning & Lubricating
Before applying any kind of polishing solution to your vinyl floor, you want to ensure that surface is completely clean.
Depending on how dirty your vinyl floors are, use one of our above-mentioned cleaning methods.
You may also want to give any major scratches and scuff marks on your floor some extra attention. If you see any marks that need to be addressed, you can use WD-40 to get rid of them.
Simply apply some of the product to the area and scrub out the marks.
Make sure you let your floor completely dry before continuing the process, as moisture can interfere with the polishing solution.
3. Apply Polish
If you have polished your vinyl floors in the past, you will want to buff out the top layer first so that the polish gives the best shine possible.
Once you have done this, you can apply your polishing solution to the flooring.
One of the best ways to apply polish to a vinyl floor is to use a paint roller. Ideally, you want to use one that has a nice length so that you can easily roll the solution onto the surface.
Apply the polish and evenly roll the mixture or product over the vinyl to create a balanced shine.
Let the product sit on the floor untouched for 24 hours so that it can properly dry.
Summing Up How to Clean Vinyl Floors
Cleaning vinyl floors so they get their shine back isn’t very difficult!
Make sure you utilize cleaning solutions or polish to get the job done. You can also resort to a commercial cleaning product as well.
DIY solutions also work out well for this. These are available at many grocery and home goods stores as well.
