Cleaning Linoleum

Vinigar and water works great! You can use this instead of soap and water to clean. It works great on wood too.
T. F.

That's usually a sign of too much soap. Do not use ANYTHING in combination with bleach as there is a possible harmful gas producing reaction. Armstrong makes a floor cleaner that is for linoleum that is not too soapy. every other tiem use plain water.

Mela-Magic from Melaleuca. It not only makes it not sticky, but makes it really clean and smelling great too!

You may be using too much soap. Try vinegar water...it's amazing!

Sinky stinky but vinegar works like a charm. For almost everything you have to clean. :o) I promise, it works.

What kind of soap? It could be what you are using, but with any floor cleaner you need to change your water and go back over the floor with a clean, soap-free mop in order to avoid that sticky feeling.

Two things may be happening. Your lineoleum floor may not be getting rinsed enugh. Or, if it's old lineoleum, the wax may be coming off. Go to a flooring store and ask them what to do or what products to use. You may be able to descrie the type of floor you have to them.

I know when I lived in California in the 80s, the floor in the house was old. I ended up using ammonia to get rid of all of the old wax and then redoing it with Mop N' Glo. I don't even know if those sort of floors still exist!

Hi V.,
I have Tile, but grew up with all lanoleum floors.
I use a spray bottle with straight vinegar (it has adjustable spray)-I use the stream and spray under the cabinets (gets dirtiest), then change to spray and mist the center of the floor.
Then I use a Dry Swiffer and go over it.
BTW-Wet Swiffers do the same thing to tile if you remodel/change flooring..
Hope this helps.
C.

I use a mixture of on half vinegar and one half water.

We use the Swiffer Wet Jet and LOVE it. So fast and easy. No rinsing and no sticky when you're done. We have tile in part of the house and laminent wood floors in the living room and the Swiffer even got crayon off the wood without much effort.

I imagine everone has run into this problem. It's just too much cleaner or soap. It seems like putting in more would make things cleaner, but it does just the opposite leaving a sticky residue that attract dirt!! I use a lot of hot water and a very small amount of pine sol (less than the label suggests). I never have that problem any more. What a wonderul blessing to be a stay at home mom. I've chosen to stay home with mine and i thank god for the opportunity everyday!!
Have a great day and god bless!!

Hi V.,
The best thing I found was the Bissel steam mop its quick easy the floors are cleaner and no chemicals needed. I bought mine years ago and a meijers and i know home depot had them but where i live now a friend of mine had to go to the bissel web site to get hers. Mine is white hers is green.

I use an EnviroSteamer made by Eureka and I love it! They were about $40 when we bought ours. It just uses water and washable pads, its really easy to use. I only use when the kids are in bed because as the name implies the water gets very hot and steams. The floor dries very quickly and you don't have to use soap or deal with a bucket of mop water. We were in a rental with really cheap linoleum floors when we bouth it and it worked great, now we have uneven rough tile and it works great on them too, you can also use it on wood floors. I only use soap once every 3 or 4 months to do a more thorough cleaning.

We use the Swiffer Wet Jet stuff to clean ours. It works great and is super quick. You just have to replace the cleaning pads often. We normally switch it every time we mop.

I have tile, but have found several products leave a sticky residue. I now use Armstrong floor cleaner. You don't have to rinse it off, just mix it in with water in your mop bucket and it never leaves the floor sticky.

If its sticky after mopping- it usually just means too much soap or cleaner. Mine has done that too. I just like to use hot water with a drop of dish soap and a bit of bleach.
J.

I would only use water. When you use soap it leaves a film on the floor or you are using to much soap. It does the same thing when you use to much bleach and not enought water. If you use only water for awhile it will help to get the build up film off the floor.

I used to have that problem too. I bought a Libman mop. The kind that looks like cut up wipes. It has worked for me.

Try a steam mop. I switched to one of those and I don't have problems with sticky floors at all. Plus, I don't have to worry about chemicals on the floor where my toddler plays. I got a steamfast one from walmart, but have heard good things about other steam mops as well. Sometimes if I have to turn it on high for the bad messes, the floor is wet when I am done, but it drys much quicker than conventional mopping. Plus, it got stuff off my linolium that I thought were stains that my old mop wouldn't touch.

Try pine sol and a little bleach..

Hi V.,

I know the feeling. I have turned into a clean freak more so since i've had my little baby. The thought of her crawling around on a sticky or dirty floor when she gets old enough makes me cringe. You may not be mixing enough water with your cleaning solution. But I have a better suggestion for cleaning your floors. Vinegar and water. I know it smells but it will only smell for a short amount of time, usually by the time the floor dries the smell is gone. It's cheap, effective and environmentally safe. You will be surprised how much money you could save by using this method as opposed to spending all that money on expensive cleaning supplies. Vinegar is better than bleach because it cleans just as well if not better and it won't leave any eye watering fumes for you and your family. Cleaners tend to actually build up on your floors more than they clean them so in the long run, you're just adding more grime to clean up. I hope this works for you as it did for me. Good luck!

P.S When mixing the vinegar and water, you'll want to add more vinegar into the mixture than water.

T. B

I spray mine with Clorox Green Works and then damp mop. No sticky or slippery residue.

Either the soap you're using is not breaking up the waxes and oils on the floor, or your linoleum is starting to break down. Try using a product that focuses on that - like Pine Sol or the like - at least double the recommended solution and letting it sit for a little while, then mopping again with clean water (I now wet mop with a "dry" mop - basically a towel on a stick, found at Lowe's, just pull it off to rinse and ring out - and am much happier with the results). If it's still sticky, you could try a "stripper". Ask about it at any home improvement center, and you can lay down a new coat of wax if you want after that.

Hey V., try vinigar and water...

I use ammonia to clean my floors, then I rinse them with clear water.............

at walmart they have this stuff called fabuloso, i love it and it works well!!! before that i just used the clorox and water

We just ordered a steam mop because we have a crawler and don't want the chemicals or residue on the floor. All my friends swear by theirs and so we decided to give it a try. Just be sure to follow the instructions to the letter or you might end up with pools of streaky water.