How To Clean Textured Vinyl Flooring

A reader wants to know whether there is a way to clean and seal this vinyl flooring. (Reader photo)

Q: We installed Armstrong black-and-white checkerboard vinyl almost two years ago. I can't keep it clean. I vacuum and then use a Shark steamer with either vinegar and water or floor cleaner (including Armstrong's own floor-cleaning product) without success. The floor seems to have little pocks that hold dirt. Is there any way to clean and then seal it?

Woodstock, Va.

A: It's true that the style you purchased has a textured surface. Michele Zelman, who works in public relations for Armstrong (armstrong.com), said it provides added scratch and scuff resistance as well as "a more realistic look and feel." "However," she wrote in an email, "this texture can present some additional cleaning challenges on a white background."

During our phone conversation, Chris Grow, a commercial-flooring customer-service representative for Armstrong, looked at the picture you sent and identified the style as one with squares about 18 inches wide. Armstrong also makes textured checkerboard vinyl with 12-inch squares, but those have streaks of color across the black and white to mimic the look of marble. Armstrong included those to make cleaning less onerous, knowing that dirt would stand out on the white squares. "But customers would complain about the marble-y look," Grow said. So the company came up with the style you bought.

But when Armstrong removed the marble look on the new style, it kept the texture. That was a choice made by the designer, Grow said, adding that many styles of Armstrong vinyl do not have this much texture. Armstrong wouldn't have tested whether the texture made the flooring more difficult to clean because the materials used are the same as in the other styles, he said.

Flooring warranties don't cover a customer's disappointment over cleaning issues. But customers who bought flooring from certain companies less than 30 days ago could qualify for a free replacement. Grow said Carpet One Floor & Home (carpetone.com ), Flooring America (flooringamerica.com) and ProSource Wholesale (prosourcewholesale.com) are part of a cooperative marketing program offered by CCA Global Partners (ccaglobalpartners.com). Through this, they and Armstrong share the cost when customers change their mind and want a different style. Home Depot and Lowe's are doing small test programs to see whether they can make a similar offer work for them, he said.

If you were to choose new flooring, you could switch to vinyl composition tiles, also known as VCT, if you wanted a smooth surface. VCT tiles would also allow you to stick with a checkerboard look — just buy half white and half black pieces. Or, if you wanted to stay with sheet vinyl, the best way to select a style that's easier to clean is to run your hand over the surface of various samples, said Susan Stoeckal, another commercial-flooring customer-service representative for Armstrong. "If you feel a drag, it might let dirt lie in there," she said. Also, avoid choosing a style with a lot of white. It's easier to keep darker colors looking clean, she said.

However, it's probably a safe bet that you'll need to live with your flooring for now. Zelman suggested these steps for effective cleaning: Use a clean, well-rinsed sponge mop. "If the mop head is worn or soiled, replace it with a new one," she said. Use Armstrong's Once 'n Done or Multi-Surface Floor Cleaner Concentrate, but increase the strength, using up to three capfuls per gallon of water instead of the usual half-capful per gallon. (Armstrong also makes its Multi-Surface Floor Cleaner in a ready-to-use formula, labeled as a "refill," and as a spray, but there is no way to increase the concentration in these.) Dribble the cleaning solution on tough spots and let it soak for two to three minutes, and then wipe the area with the sponge mop. For stubborn stains, scrub the spot with a soft brush or non-scratch nylon pad. And place a mat at all outside doors.

My granddaughter decided to wash a stone in my new bathroom sink, and the stone left scratches. The sink is black vitreous china. Is there any way to remove light scratches?

McLean

Unfortunately, there is probably no practical way to remove scratches from vitreous china.

Vitreous china is clay underneath, topped by a hard, thick glaze. Vicki Hafenstein, who works in public relations for Kohler, a manufacturer of vitreous china sinks, checked with the company's engineering team and said the only way to get rid of scratches in this material is to put the sink back into a kiln at 2,100 degrees. That would soften the glaze and cause the surface to ooze back into a level finish, but, even if you could find someone willing to do it, it would probably cost more than a new sink.

Trying to rub out the scratches with a mild abrasive isn't a good idea because it would probably make the sink look worse. "Ceramic glazes during curing in the kiln tend to trap small air bubbles," Hafenstein wrote in an email, "so if you try to buff the scratch out, you might expose or pop small bubbles under the surface and then have small defects/pits that will hold stain after trying to polish an area (so not a good idea). Also, trying to polish out a scratch would most likely dull the area surrounding the scratch."

There are, however, a few things you can try.

First, make sure that the glaze really is scratched and that you aren't just seeing bits of stone embedded in the surface. Try smearing the surface with dish soap and leaving it overnight. Rinse in the morning. If you're lucky, the scratches will be less noticeable.

You can also try waxing the sink, using a paste wax like the kind you'd use on furniture. Wax makes all sorts of scratched surfaces look better because it fills shallow divots, allowing light to reflect off the surface more evenly. If the scratches look white, that's probably because of how they affect reflected light, Hafenstein said. She said there is virtually no chance the scratches are deep enough to expose the white porcelain underneath; the glaze is just too thick and hard.

Touch-up paint is probably not a good solution in your case. It is an effective way to fill deep chips and scratches, but with light scratches, there aren't many gaps to fill. You could wind up just smearing paint on the surface. That would change the gloss level, probably making the sink look worse.