Nothing frustrates me more than seeing a beautiful vinyl floor damaged or stained. As much as floors are expected to be resilient, it’s not easy to keep them in pristine condition unless you know how to clean up certain stains and marks. One of the most common marks are scuff marks or rubber marks. Which is probably why you’re here looking for a solution on how to remove rubber marks from vinyl flooring.
Using a mop or trying to wipe it away with water isn’t going to work in most cases. Trust me, I’ve tried.
In a lot of cases, people give up and accept these scuff marks or rubber marks as permanent. But, most rubber marks can be removed.
This is why I’ve decided to share a step-by-step process on how to remove rubber marks from vinyl flooring.
What Causes Rubber Marks On Floors?
Before talking about rubber and how it reacts with vinyl, it would make more sense for us to talk about vinyl itself.
As most of us know, vinyl flooring is largely known for being affordable with competitive durability. Due to the nature of its construction, vinyl flooring can take on the appearance of wood, concrete, plastic, and much more.
But, unlike wood and ceramic tiles made from different types of clay, vinyl flooring is largely synthetic.
This means that it consists of different chemicals and compounds. Like a form of plastic or rubber, it can be sliced and shaped easily in comparison to harder types of flooring like wood and ceramic tiles.
Now, the reason why rubber marks vinyl flooring is because of the reaction between the chemicals found in rubber and the vinyl.
This chemical reaction is brought on by heat from the sun as well as friction from walking on rubber-backed rug pads.
Most rubber marks are caused by the soles of our shoes or tires.
Rubber marks are just one of the issues faced by vinyl flooring.
Discoloration is a common occurrence, albeit in cases when certain factors are present. Excessive exposure to sunlight, pooling of liquid, unaddressed moisture issues, mildew, and other chemical reactions can all be possible reasons why vinyl flooring discolors, fades, or breaks down.
This type of damage is a lot harder to repair, whereas rubber marks can effectively be removed without much permanent damage being caused to the vinyl sheets or tiles.
With that being said, let’s get into the process of how to remove rubber marks from vinyl flooring.
Steps On How To Remove Rubber Marks
Before we proceed, I just want to mention something related to rubber marks or scuff marks. The reason why a normal mop won’t remove these types of marks is because rubber actually sticks to the floor itself.
Think of it as a coating of rubber that has been deposited on the floor when rubber drags along vinyl.
Ironically, in the same way rubber deposits mark floors through friction or force, they can be removed with modest pressure or friction.
There are a few different ways to remove rubber marks, and they are as follows:
- Use a cleaning agent.
- Use rubbing alcohol.
- Use an eraser.
- Use baking soda.
- Use mineral spirits.
Apart from using an eraser, which only requires you to rub over the rubber marks to remove them, everything else on this list is a liquid based solution.
So, the following steps could be applied to all those liquid based solutions.
Step 1: Spot test
Not all vinyl is made the same. There are different chemicals and products of varying strengths and mixtures used in the manufacturing process.
You don’t really know how something will respond to certain cleaning agents. To avoid causing any permanent damage while cleaning, it is advisable to do a spot test.
Apply a small amount of the cleaning solution of your choice onto the floor and let it sit for a few minutes.
Observe if any discoloration or damage occurs. If nothing like that happens, you may proceed.
Step 2: Apply the solution to the rubber marks
You want to make sure that you apply a good amount of the cleaning solution to the rubber marks.
Cover the entire area, extending slightly beyond the edges of the marks.
Step 3: Allow the solution to sit
Let the solution break down the rubber marks over a few minutes. In some cases, 5 minutes should suffice, and in other cases, 15 minutes is advisable.
If rubber marks don’t break down and wipe away easily after a certain product has been used on them for 15 minutes, more time isn’t going to make much of a difference.
In that case, move onto a different type of cleaning solution.
Step 4: Use a brush or cloth to wipe away the solution
In a lot of cases, I would advise you to use a cloth since it allows you to rub off the marks evenly since the pressure is distributed evenly throughout the cloth.
But, in some cases, it would be best to use a brush.
Be sure to apply enough pressure with a downward slant to remove the rubber marks. You may need to go over the same spot repeatedly before it begins to disappear.
Furthermore, wipe from the edges of the rubber marks rather than from the center of them. This way, it’s easier to lift the marks off the surface.
Step 5: Clean the floor of residual liquids
Once all of the rubber marks have been removed from the vinyl flooring, you should clean up the area that you worked on.
First, wipe off all of the mixture with a dry cloth.
Thereafter, using warm water and another clean cloth, wipe over the area that was cleaned and allow it to dry.
Alternatively, use a dry cloth to soak up any residual water from the floor.
After some time, your vinyl floor should dry up and look as good as new.
Final Thoughts
Like most things, the quicker you address a problem, the easier it is to prevent long term damage.
Using the method in this article, I’m pretty certain that you will be able to remove rubber marks from vinyl flooring.
Granted, there are some cases when the marks are too extensive to remove all of them. But, that shouldn’t stop you from trying because you won’t know unless you do.
One of the most common causes of rubber marks on floors is from the soles of our shoes.
As a rule of thumb, I don’t wear those heavy duty shoes indoors.
Either, I wear socks indoors or I wear slippers that have a flat sole. Also, these slippers are only used inside, so they are never exposed to other types of dirt or liquid from outdoors.
This helps to keep my floors clean and unstained for a much longer time.
That brings us to the end of this article on how to remove rubber marks from vinyl flooring. If you found it to be practical and useful, then be sure to check out some of our other cleaning articles linked below.
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