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Why Are My Vinyl Floors Sticky? (Reasons With Solutions)

Vinyl floors bring a great touch to the beauty aspects of your home. It’s affordable, quite appealing, and feels like a wooden floor. The demand for the vinyl floor was always on the rise but when it comes to cleaning and maintenance most homeowners are at a loss. 

This article will help you with information on how to deal with a sticky floor, let’s get started.

Why are my vinyl floors sticky? 

Vinyl floors are made of polyvinyl chloride, various materials, and adhesive. It may become sticky due to the excessive use of cleaning solutions and other chemicals. Not following a proper cleaning procedure and using random cleaning products may also lead to vinyl floors becoming sticky. 

Reasons why my vinyl floor feels sticky:

Using highly reactive chemicals:

Vinyl floors made with Polyvinyl materials may be water-resistant and may come with lots of outstanding quality but in presence of highly reactive chemicals they lose their durability.

It’s common sense that you are not going to use highly reactive acid, petrol, or anything dangerous on your vinyl floor but even using too much cleaning solution or using an inappropriate cleaning solution will lead your floor to become sticky. 

Not following proper cleaning procedure:

Even if you use the right cleaning solution, if you don’t follow the proper cleaning procedure all your efforts will go in vain. You will need to properly rinse the floor with plenty of water. Don’t worry vinyl floors are water-resistant so they won’t become too soggy.

How to clean and get rid of sticky vinyl floors? 

Getting rid of sticky vinyl floors will be a pretty hard task for many homeowners. Sometimes it’s beyond repair and you might have to replace the old floor with a new floor. But before getting rid of your old vinyl floor you can give these methods a try.

Use rubbing alcohol: 

you can spray rubbing alcohol on the floor and mop with microfiber cloths. Rubbing alcohol has good drying capability, It will help remove any stubborn stain and it will also deal with the stickiness.

Use vinegar:

vacuum the floor and clean all the dust particles otherwise, it will be an extra hurdle for you to get rid of.  Vinegar has an acidic nature so dilute it with water to be safe.

Once you are done with your vinegar solution, take a mop and soak it in. After you are done mopping the floor you can use water to rinse the floor properly.

Use Multi-surface cleaner or dedicated vinyl floor cleaner:

If you have already tried the previous two solutions and didn’t get any promising outcome then the only thing left to do is to use a proper cleaning solution.

You can use an all-purpose cleaning solution or any dedicated cleaning solution to get rid of the stickiness. Keep in mind that using too much cleaning solution will ruin the vinyl floor and make it stickier. 

How do I stop my floor from being sticky?

Stop using too many cleaning products:

Floor cleaning products have a bad reputation when it comes to making the floor sticky. Using too much and too many cleaning products will surely damage any floor. It might leave permanent stains or destroy the polyvinyl layer and create a sticky floor.

Avoid using too much heat:

nowadays most of the floors have polyvinyl, polycarbonate, and various materials adhesives.  If you use too much heat such as steam cleaning or waxing then it will surely damage the outer and inner layers. So avoid using any equipment or cleaning method that produces any kind of heat.

Use vinegar solution:

using bleach or too much chemical solution to clean your floor will surely lead to an unwanted outcome. Using diluted vinegar solution will be safe and help you get rid of stains and stickiness.

What cleaners don’t leave residue?

Vinegar:

you can use diluted vinegar on your floor. It’s safe and won’t leave any residue. You can use 4 tablespoons of vinegar in a quarter gallon or 8 tablespoons of vinegar in 1 gallon of water. You can use a mop to soak and clean up the floor.

Vinegar poses an acidic nature so using too much vinegar on the floor may lead to an unpleasant result. You can use a few drops of essential oil in the diluted vinegar solution to get rid of the smell.

Multipurpose cleaner:

multi-purpose cleaner or multi-surface cleaner are designed to clean various surfaces. The manufacturer tries to make it safe to use on various surfaces. 

Dedicated Floor Cleaners:

nowadays you will find floor cleaners on your specific floor type. Laminate flooring, vinyl flooring, or any other flooring these things are sensitive to certain chemical components. So the dedicated cleaning solution avoids those chemicals and creates a specific and effective cleaning solution. 

Does vinegar make floors sticky?

Vinegar has acidic quality, for some floors applying acidic solution might prove to be irritating and harmful. But when you highly dilute the vinegar with water, it will be a great cleaning solution. Vinegar is safe, non-toxic, effective, and affordable.

A highly diluted vinegar solution won’t create any annoying situation for you. It won’t make the floor sticky.  

What cleaners are safe for vinyl floors? 

Vinyl floors are made with polyvinyl chloride, various materials, and adhesive. The materials may be sensitive to various chemical components and if you use them on the floor it might lead to unpleasant results. 

Using a diluted vinegar solution might be the best possible cleaning solution for vinyl floors. If you are not satisfied with these natural cleaners you can always try a few of the dedicated cleaning solutions for vinyl floors. 

Using too many cleaning products might lead to a sticky floor or it can result in permanent damage.

Hope you get the gist of it. The goal of the article was to save your vinyl floor from any sticky situation. Changing a vinyl floor completely might be a long stretch, so proper cleaning and maintaining will surely boost its longevity.