How To Deep Clean Linoleum Floors
Linoleum made its first appearance in the marketplace in the 1860s, and although the popularity of this durable, environmentally friendly, hypoallergenic product has fluctuated over the years, it can be found in many homes and businesses around the country today. With proper care and maintenance, a linoleum floor can withstand decades of use, while the endless variety of colors and patterns make it suitable for every room in your home. Enhance the beauty and longevity of this versatile material with these tips from Molly Maid, for the best way to clean linoleum floors.
What is Linoleum?
Although many people use the terms linoleum and vinyl interchangeably, the two products are vastly different in composition and performance. The key ingredient in linoleum is linseed oil, and once it has been allowed to oxidize other materials such as pine resin, wood flour, or ground cork dust are added to make the finished product. This mixture is applied to a canvas or jute backing, and sheets or tiles are formed for commercial and residential use.
The Benefits of Linoleum Flooring
In addition to its exceptionally long lifespan, linoleum has a host of additional benefits, including:
- Comfort
Natural cushioning provides the perfect blend of give and support, unlike ceramic or stone tiles which can be hard on the back and joints.
- Durability
How To Clean Linoleum Floors
- Total Time: 30 mins
Linoleum is a tough, low-maintenance, resilient flooring material. It is also an eco-friendly flooring material since it is made of natural substances, including linseed oil, cork and wood dust, and limestone particles. However, it is not as durable as some similar surface covering options, such as vinyl. Because of this, you have to take a little extra care when cleaning linoleum, avoiding harsh chemical mixes and taking precautions not to ruin its shine or harm its surface.
Effective Ways In Cleaning Mold Off Pebble Shower Floor
Installing pebbles is best for shower floors as it comes in a variety of designs and styles. As you know, pebbles have different shapes and sizes which create gaps between pebbles.
These gaps are the perfect place for mold to grow. Therefore, gaining knowledge in cleaning mold from pebble shower floors is something beneficial for homeowners.
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Best Concrete Mold Cleaner
Complete Mold Killer & Remover DIY Bundle Kill, Clean and Prevent Fungi & Mildew This product comes a two in one package. The first product, cleaner RMR-141 RTU is a certified fungicide that kills and prevents re-growth of black fungi. The second product, cleaner RMR-86 black fungi stain remover clears all fungi stains. When paired together, the two products will wash all your fungi worries away.
Dry Out The Affected Area
Mold thrives on moisture, so you need to make sure the area is dry. If you dont, the mold can spread its spores in the air. This will make it harder for you to clean, and it might cause an allergic reaction.
Try to expose the area to direct sunlight to dry it out. If you cant, use a fan or heater thats made for the outdoors.
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How To Get Rid Of Mold Under Flooring
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Mold – you can’t wish it away and you can’t really avoid it. However, you can get rid of it and keep it from coming back. There are more than 100,000 kinds of mold. In nature, they’re beneficial as those molds decompose biological matter that would otherwise drown the world in waste. When the mold spores drift inside your home, if the spores find a suitable, damp environment, they begin to grow. The result is more than distasteful – it can prove hazardous to your health. If it’s growing under your flooring, you need to fix the cause, kill and remove the mold, then replace the flooring.
Place clean shoes outside the room to slip into as you make trips in and out of the room to prevent tracking mold through the house.
Remove room furnishings. Carry uncontaminated items to a mold-free area. Stuff molded furnishings, such as throw rugs or magazine racks, into garbage bags. Seal and take the bags outside immediately. Always throw away easily replaced items once they are infected with mold. Put clothes, washable carpets and furniture in the sun and treat them after the house is complete.
Bag linoleum, vinyl or carpeting and padding for disposal. Inspect hardwood flooring carefully. If it is in good condition and you choose to treat it, pile it to one side until the subfloor is treated.
Things You Will Need
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Overalls or long protective clothing
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Change of shoes
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Tape or nails and hammer
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Large garbage bags
Dry Out The Affected Area With Fans And Heaters
The first step in removing mold is removing its source: the moisture. Set up a room fan or turn on the overhead fan or furnace to allow air to flow through the area and evaporate the moisture. Just be sure to not place them directly in front of the mold as it will only irritate the fungus more. Allow them to run for 3 5 hours.
- Keep in mind that increased air flow will prevent future mold growth.
- Do not begin cleaning the area until it is completely dry.
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Tools And Protective Gear
Black mold removal requires a few household tools and some more advanced protective gear. Youll need a bucket, bleach, disposable rags, rubber gloves, heavy-duty garbage bags to dispose of contaminated material, and a wire scrub brush. Its also necessary to use good protective gear. For black mold, an N-95 respirator is the minimum advised. Youll also need goggles to protect your eyes from spores in the air.
# Using Steam Cleaner
The steam cleaner is the safest way to get rid of the stubborn stain and spots from your floor. The powerful device can lift-off any fruit, wine, or bloodstains within the quickest time from different types of floors. It uses high-temperature steam to kill bacteria, virus, germ, etc. from the surface without any chemical solution. Here is how to use the steam cleaner for removing the stain from the linoleum floor.
Step-1:
At first, prepare the floor for cleaning by removing the loose dust and dirt. Start with removing things like books, toys, and small furniture from the floor. Then you can use a traditional mop to broom the surface. You can also utilize a vacuum cleaner for this purpose. This step will help you to clean the floor smoothly without causing any damage to the floor.
Step-2:
You can end up damaging the linoleum floor if used with the wrong device. So, go for a steam cleaner or steam mop that is safe for the linoleum floor. Connect the device with an electric outlet. Now fill the water reservoir with either distilled water or usual water as per the manufacturer recommendation.
Step-3:
Turn on the device and set the machine in the preferred mode. You will need to wait around 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the devices model for letting the water become steam. Start cleaning the floor from one side of the surface and cover the whole area.
Step-4:
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Limit Your Exposure To Mold
Its important to limit your exposure to mold and mold spores. Keep them out of your eyes and try not to inhale any.
- Wear a mask or an N-95 respirator to avoid inhaling mold.
- Wear gloves that extend to the middle of your forearm. If youre just using water and a mild detergent, household rubber gloves work fine.
- Wear goggles that dont have ventilation holes to avoid getting mold or spores in your eyes.
How To Remove Mold From Concrete Floors
- Written by Chris Nickson on Apr 15, 2010To ensure our content is always up-to-date with current information, best practices, and professional advice, articles are routinely reviewed by industry experts with years of hands-on experience.Reviewed by
Mold can be harmful to your health, so it is important to know how to remove it from all sorts of surfaces, including concrete floors. If mold appears, it is vital to get rid of it quickly, as the longer it sits, the more it will spread and the harder it will be to get rid. However, unless the mold has been sitting on the concrete floor for quite a while, removal is not an especially difficult job.
Step 1 – Scrub With a Broom
Put on rubber gloves and a dust mask before you begin to remove mold because cleaning can stir up harmful spores that can be detrimental to your health. Then, mix up water and detergent in a bucket at a ratio of four parts water to one part detergent. Pour about half of this solution on the concrete floor and work it over the deposits with a broom. This will help loosen the mold and make it easier to remove. Cover as large an area as you can.
Step 2 – Mop
Empty the bucket and refill it with clean water. Mop the area, allow it to dry, and see how much mold is left. You will have removed quite a lot by adding the solution to the floor but it is unlikely you will have cleared all of it. If any remains, you will need to take further action.
Step 3 – Add Bleach
Step 4 – Use Trisodium Phosphate
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How To Identify Black Mold Under Flooring
There can be key indicators that moldy areas are growing inside of your home. A huge telltale sign is when a room in the home has a musty smell. If you notice this happening in one specific area, this can be a cue to check the room for traces of it.
This is especially true if you notice an area with visible signs of water damage. If there is a scent of mustiness accompanied by water damage, you may need to look deeper than the surface to discover the source.
Recommended read: How to identify black mold
Will Bleach Kill Mold In Crawl Space
Yes, bleach will kill mold in a crawl space, and it will also kill almost everything else that is causing a problem. Bleach is almost pure chlorine with only a few other things mixed in, and organic life cannot survive in this mixture of chemicals, which is why people often use bleach to disinfect items.
You can use bleach to kill almost all types of mold on any surface throughout your home, with many people using bleach to control the mold in their bathrooms. We recommend doing this as well as it will keep your shower and toilets as clean as they can be without resorting to more dangerous chemicals.
It is vital to understand that bleach is one of the strongest chemicals you can use, but it is not the strongest. When going to hardware stores or specialist chemical providers, you can often find dangerous chemicals to handle without gloves but completely eradicate all mold within seconds.
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Why Does Subfloor Mold Develop
Subfloor mold usually develops due to an undetected moisture intrusion between the different layers of flooring, especially when the finish flooring is sheet vinyl, laminate flooring, or ceramic tile. I say especially only because if your flooring is carpet, the moisture is much more apparent and quickly and easily discovered.
Unwanted moisture can originate from many different sources such as a slow supply line leak on a faucet or toilet. Another common, and usually harder to determine source of excess subfloor moisture, is a faulty wax ring seal under a toilet that allows water to escape from drainpipes and affect the subflooring. Anytime you have warm temperatures , a source of water, and organic food materials like plywood or OSB, it is possible for mold to develop.
Wear Protection Equipment During The Process
Because the fans will be blowing around the air, the mold will release spores to affect other areas. These spores are what will trigger allergies and breathing problems if you are not wearing eyewear or a breathing mask. Make sure you are properly protected.
You can also open all windows and doors to ventilate the spores out of the area.
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How To Remove Ingrained Mold From Wood Floors
Ingrained mold penetrates the wood and causes much more significant, harder, and expensive to remove damage. In most cases, there are professionals needed to restore your floors in good shape. Sometimes the mold is very deep, and you will need to change part of our floors. They are too damaged to be safe, and you will prevent mold from spreading as well.
With ingrained mold this steps should be followed:
1. Testing Depth
The first thing you want to do before removing ingrained mold is to test the affected area because sometimes you dont know how deep did mold penetrate in to the wood.
To do this, use a sharp tool and press it into the affected area. If the sharp tool is going deep into the wood, and it feels soft, then the problem is not that simple.
If Wood feels spongy, then it is rotten and cant be saved.
2. Dry your Wood Floors
Mold spread when moisture is present so we will need to get rid of it before going forward.
This is is necessary step when removing ingrained mold
3. Remove Upper Layer
- or you can use metal hand scrapper
4. Spray Cleaner
6. Restore Wood Color
7. Use Vacuum
How To Remove Mold From Concrete
The good news is removing black mold on concrete surfaces is fairly easy and straightforward. The main difficulty in removing the mold is the potential health hazards. Mold reproduces through spores released into the air, making it necessary to take precaution when cleaning the surface. Although some household molds will only irritate allergies, black mold can be very dangerous and cause severe health conditions. Removing black mold is just like any other form, it just requires extra care. Its recommended that you start with the minimum protective gear, such as a mask and heavy-duty gloves. It also requires an N-95 respirator to protect you from spores and goggles. This gear is recommended by the EPA when cleaning mold and will protect you from any spores released into the air.
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Use Soap And Water To Remove The Mold
Mix up a solution of dish soap and hot water. Rather than using a huge bucket that could spill on the hardwood floor, mix it in a spray bottle. This will work better for cleaning the mold anyway.
Dish soap will not kill the mold, but it is a good first step because it can remove most of the mold and cannot damage the finish on your hardwood floor.
Spray the dish soap solution on the moldy area until it is covered. Let it sit for 1 minute and wipe it off with a rag. Press down firmly and try to wipe up all of the mold in one swipe.
Dispose of the rag with mold on it immediately. Repeat if necessary.
Black Mold Removal Using Vinegar
White vinegar is a mildly acidic product that cleans, deodorizes, and disinfects. It can also kill 82% of mold species, including black mold, on porous and non-porous surfaces. You can use it safely on most surfaces, and its offensive odor goes away quickly.
Pour undiluted white vinegar into a spray bottle. Because white vinegar contains only about 20% acetic acid, adding water makes it less effective. Spray the vinegar onto the moldy surface and leave for an hour. Finally, wipe the area clean with water and allow the surface to dry. Any smell from the vinegar should clear within a few hours.
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Learn Why White Vinegar Removes Mold Better Than Bleach
Vinegar is a bold mold killer. According to ServiceMaster Restoration and Cleaning, the mild acid in vinegar kills about 82% of known molds and can help prevent future outbreaks.
You can clean small amounts of mold with vinegar yourself, but know when to call professionals. Besides a crisis, such as a flooded home, the Environmental Protection Agency advises hiring professionals when the moldy patch covers about 10 square feet or larger.
In this video, learn more about mold remediation from out senior editor, Brad Holden.
How To Remove Mold From Concrete Patio
The three steps you can follow when removing mold from your concrete patio are: clean the patio, scrub and clean with a mold-killing detergent. Rinse with hot water and let the wind dry your patio. Voilà, all mold removed. Follow our detailed 3 steps removal guide below for the best result and lasting effect.
- Step 1: Clean your patioThe first step is to clean your concrete patio. You can use a vacuum cleaner and a feather duster to clean your patio. The cleaning process will help you get rid of the visible mold.
- Step 2: ScrubThe second step is to scrub your patio to get rid of any traces of mold. You can use the ordinary home cleaning detergents with warm water to clean your patio. If there are stubborn stains, consider using a wire brush to clean them.
- Step 3: Use vinegar/bleachOnce you have scrubbed the surface, use a bleach solution or vinegar to spray your concrete patio. The mixing ratio of your bleach with water should be one cup of bleach to a gallon of warm water. When cleaning, make sure to wear personal protective gear to protect yourself from the effects of the vinegar or bleach.
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