E-A-S-Y way to clean linoleum!

I hated my kitchen floor!  It's linoleum, white with black and gray in a square pattern.  The linoleum has a textured, dimpled finish.  No matter what I use to damp mop with, this floor always looked dull, and the dirt did not come up from the dimpled texture with a mop.  The only way to really get the floor clean was on my hands and knees with a scrub brush and a few hours' work!  And I seldom made the time to clean it in this fashion...so it always looked dirty, it always WAS dirty, and I hated it.

A friend forwarded this tip to me, and I believe it is truly one of the best tips I've ever received!  Foam Carpet Cleaner!  I purchased a can at our local Dollar General for about $1.  I sprayed the foam in a sweeping motion over about 1/4 of my kitchen area, and went and sat down for about 15 minutes.  When I came back, the foam had dried up for the most part; I then took a Mr. Clean swivel type wet or dry mop with a terry mop head, (about $7 at the Dollar General), wet the terry pad and mopped up the dried foam.  To my amazement, the foam had loosened all that dirt in those hard to clean dimples, and my floor was stunningly clean!  I sprayed off another section, under the table, and let it "soak"; I sprayed a 3rd section after about 10 minutes, and proceeded to mop up section 2; sprayed section 4 and mopped up section 3; and finally mopped up section 4.  I did dry each section with a dry terry towel after mopping.  After hand drying each section, I was able to walk on my floors without leaving any footprints.  After 2 hours, my floors had dried to a beautiful shine - all the dull spots, all the worn and gray dimpled areas, the whole floor just sparkled!  I have a huge kitchen/dining area that used to take 2.5 to 3 hours to mop on my hands and knees.  I was finished in about 40 minutes (due to the wait time for the foam to do its thing) and NO SORE KNEES!

I hope this little tip helps someone else.  I'm amazed that the carpet cleaner does not advertise their product for linoleum as well as carpet for loosening ground in dirt.  It is truly amazing!!

4 Comments | Post Feedback

Thank you, thank you. You have saved me a lot of grief. My bathroom linoleum floor sounds just like your kitchen and has been a nightmare. I will be taking your advice and cleaning my floor just like you.
All the best to you :)

Thank you SO much! I live where the "dust" is fine sand so you can imagine what my floors look like with 13 dogs in and out of the doggie door, and that dimpled linoleum should be outlawed, LOL! You have solved one of my biggest housekeeping problems!

Thanks so much for posting this idea. I am going Thrusday to the store and I will pick up some carpet cleaner and give it a try. Woo Hoo!

I too shall try your carpet cleaner foam idea. even though I have a new linoleum, the thought of having to get down on my hands and knees( or sitting on the floor) to clean has kept me from cleaning like I should. I am A Senior Citizen. Its a shame as we get older our joints dont work like they did when we were young.

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