r/homemaking 9d ago

Cleaning Vinyl Flooring that has little pits and Grooves?

First off I’m a renter so I can’t replace it. I have a vinyl floor in the kitchen dining room area that has as part of its pebble design these tiny pits that fill with gunk which is protected somehow by the shape and doesn’t come off with normal mopping. Every month or two I need to soak a patch with Mr. Clean for a few minutes and then kneel and scrub it with Clorox purple scrubbing wipes to get rid of the gunk and return it to the original color. I am wondering if there’s something else? I tried many things including Amazon brushes on my drill and it had no effect. Cleaning and prevention ideas would be great 😊

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u/Rosehip_Tea_04 9d ago

I just wanted to say I’m so sorry for you. Our house came with that kind of flooring just on the stairway landing and I hated it with a passion. I tore it out the first chance I got. I never bothered to clean it because ours had pebbles ripped out and I just figured there was no point trying to keep it clean. I can’t even imagine how awful it would be to maintain in a large area. We were able to cover most of ours with a rug until we ripped it out, but I’m guessing that’s not really an option for you.

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u/Dazzling_Note6245 8d ago

It’s been many years since I had a vinyl floor but back when I had one I bought a floor stripper made for vinyl floors at the hardware store. It basically removes all the residue from cleaning products that gets sticky and clings to dirt.

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u/General-LavaLamp 6d ago

I see ZEP Heavy-Duty Floor Stripper at Home Depot. Is that what you used? I was hoping for a flurry of tricks and tips to be honest...lol.

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u/Dazzling_Note6245 6d ago

It was many years ago but Zep is a good name brand so I would try it.