We remove yellow stains and other dirt from linoleum

Every housewife should know how to remove stains from linoleum if they accidentally spilled brilliant green or iodine on the floor, knocked over a can of paint, or stained the coating with candle wax.

Types of linoleum contamination

Methods for removing stains from linoleum depend on the nature of the origin of the contamination and how long ago it appeared. To choose the right cleaning product, you need to know exactly why the yellow or dark stains appeared.

There are several types of contamination of synthetic flooring:

• accumulation of fat;
• ingrained traces of food products - ketchup, mayonnaise, beets;
• stains of iodine and brilliant green;
• ink, markers, felt-tip pens;
• prints from table or chair legs, bicycle tires;
• hardened wax or paraffin;
• hardened chewing gum;
• construction paint;
• red and pink markings of unknown origin.

If dirty spots appear on their own, then before cleaning it is necessary to find out the cause of their occurrence.

Cleaning Recommendations

There are several secrets that you need to know before you start cleaning linoleum from fresh and old dirt.

• Whatever the nature of the stain, first of all the area of ​​contamination is treated with a soap solution. Perhaps this will be quite enough to remove the stain and you won’t have to look for other methods.
• PVC coating is resistant to high temperatures and frost. Therefore, you should not wash linoleum with too hot water and lay it on the balcony.
• Aggressive chemicals, such as alcohol, turpentine, gasoline, are diluted with water in a 1:1 ratio before use.
• If a solvent needs to be used to remove a stain, then it is applied to a piece of cloth that is used to cover the stained area. You should not pour such liquids on linoleum.
• Do not use hard brushes or iron sponges for cleaning. It is better to use soft materials that cannot scratch the surface.
• At the end of the work, the floor covering is washed with soapy water and wiped dry.

You never know how a particular floor covering will react to a particular cleaning product. In order for the work to be successful and new stains not to appear on the linoleum, you need to try the chosen product on a small piece in an inconspicuous place, for example, under a sofa or bed.

Ways to remove stains from linoleum

When it comes to cleaning linoleum, speed is the key to success. Newly appeared stains are always much easier to wash off than old stains that have become ingrained into the structure of the material.

Fat or oil

Vegetable oil, fat or mayonnaise that ends up on the floor should be carefully collected with a paper napkin and the contaminated part of the linoleum should be washed with warm water and any detergent: liquid soap, gel, powder.If the grease has long dried out, turpentine will help get rid of the dirt - you need to soak a cotton pad in it and rub the stain, then wash the floor with soapy water.

Iodine, juice, wine

Bright stains from iodine, juice, beets, red wine, and food coloring can be removed with bleach. To do this, you need to dilute chlorine powder according to the instructions and treat the problem area. Within 5-7 minutes, the bleach will react with the pigment, and the stain will gradually disappear.

Instead of pure bleach, you can use ready-made products containing chlorine, such as Domestos or Belizna.

Important! Bleaching may leave whitish marks on dark linoleum.

A more gentle method for removing juice and iodine stains involves using baking soda or starch. A thick layer of powder is poured onto the contaminated area and covered with a wet cloth. After 10 minutes, use the same napkin to remove any remaining marks.

Felt pen and ink

Chemicals containing alcohol will help remove traces of ballpoint pens, colored pencils, felt-tip pens or markers from the floor covering. In this case, nail polish remover, white spirit, and vodka will come in handy. It is necessary to moisten a cotton pad in an alcohol solution and rub the stains until they disappear completely.

An old stain that has become embedded in the deep layers of the material can be removed using fine sandpaper or a melamine sponge. After treating the linoleum with an abrasive agent, the floor surface is lubricated with linseed oil and polished with a clean cotton cloth.

Wax, paraffin

Drops of hardened wax or paraffin can be removed by heating with an iron. Cleaning work is carried out as follows:

1. Apply a clean sheet of paper or a piece of white cotton cloth to the contaminated area;
2. the iron is heated to medium temperature (at which synthetics are ironed);
3. carefully iron the paper from the outside of the sheet, trying to ensure that all the melted wax transfers to the cushioning material;
4. wash the floor with detergent.

You cannot use newspaper or other paper with printed text as an absorbent material, as the paint may transfer to the linoleum.

If after cleaning using the heating method there are still yellow stains left, you need to treat the floor with a solution of isopropyl alcohol or oxalic acid, mixing 1 tbsp. l. chemical with 200 ml of water.

Rust

Metal objects standing in one place for a long time leave orange traces of rust on the linoleum, which eats into the surface of the coating and is difficult to wipe off. The following techniques will help eliminate such contamination:

• Squeeze the juice out of half a lemon, moisten a piece of soft cloth with it and place it on a dirty area, leaving it to dry completely.
• Dissolve 1 tsp in a glass of warm water. salt and the same amount of citric acid. Dip a cotton swab into the cleaning solution and dab onto the stain.
• A piece of cotton fabric soaked in kerosene is placed on the contaminated surface and left for half an hour. The remaining traces are washed off with a soap solution.
• Treat the dirty area with a solution of acetic acid (9%), then wipe with ammonia.

Pink and red rust stains can sometimes be dealt with using drying oil. The substance is applied to the fabric and unsightly stains are erased with polishing movements.

Pet urine

You can eliminate yellow stains from cat and dog urine using acetic acid, lemon juice or alcohol.Having chosen one of the listed substances, dilute it half with water and treat the area of ​​contamination.

A solution prepared from 25 drops of iodine and 1 liter of water will help with old stubborn stains. The main thing is not to use this product on a light-colored surface.

Of the industrial household products, UrineOff is the most effective.

How to wash brilliant green

Green stains are very difficult to remove. Especially if it was spilled a few days ago and particles of the substance penetrated the pores of the floor covering. How to remove brilliant green from linoleum and return linoleum to its original appearance? There are several ways to cope with such serious pollution.

• To clean the floor from brilliant green, you need to prepare soda and table vinegar. The green spot is generously sprinkled with powder, after which they begin to pour vinegar. The acid reacts with the alkali, which is indicated by hissing and foaming. As a result, the stain will become discolored. However, it has been experimentally established that this method does not work on all types of linoleum.
• Gauze is moistened in acetone, gasoline or kerosene and placed on the stain for half an hour.
• Old stains from brilliant green can be completely removed using potassium permanganate, hydrogen peroxide and vinegar. To do this, you need to dissolve 5 g of potassium permanganate in 50 ml of 9% vinegar and treat the stain with the resulting composition until the green color changes to yellow-brown. Then mix 1 tbsp. l. vinegar and the same amount of hydrogen peroxide, apply to the stain and rub.

If it was not possible to achieve the desired cleanliness the first time, the treatment can be repeated.

How to remove gum and tape

Chewing gum tightly stuck to the floor or old tape forgotten after renovation can ruin the appearance of a room with the most beautiful design and expensive flooring. It is not very easy to clean such stains, but it is possible.

Sticky tape stains can be removed with vegetable oil or glass cleaner. It is enough to apply these products to the dirty area and wipe with a sponge.

Chewing gum marks can be removed by freezing:

• pour ice cubes into a plastic bag and place them on the stain;
• wait 15 minutes until the gum freezes;
• using a blunt knife, scrape off the viscous substance;
• wash the linoleum with soapy water.

If you don’t want to bother with freezing, you can buy Mellerud - a wonderful German product designed to clean linoleum from stubborn dirt.

How to get rid of construction paint

A can of oil paint spilled on the floor can cause a lot of trouble. It’s good if this happened recently and the stain did not have time to harden. Fresh paint should be immediately collected with a rag or paper, trying to leave as little substance as possible on the floor, after which you can begin to eliminate stains:

1. The area of ​​contamination is moistened with vegetable oil.
2. After a few minutes, the remaining oil is collected with a paper napkin.
3. If the floor is not clean enough, traces of paint are removed with white spirit.

Dried stains are first scraped off with a knife, then treated with solvent-containing products.

There are hundreds of ways to clean linoleum from stains and dirt. However, in some cases it is simply impossible to cope with contamination and drastic measures have to be taken - cutting out the dirty piece of linoleum and replacing it with a new one.