Frankly, vinyl plank flooring has made homes look better, neat, and elegant. But the thought of seeing footprints on vinyl plank flooring can make you sick and tired.
Footprints can come about as people make their way in the flooring barefoot. Sometimes it’s the pets drinking water and just dripping it all over the place – causing smudges and marks.
The upkeep of a vinyl plank flooring, following abovementioned frustrations, may require plenty of effort. That’s why in this post, we’ll help you learn how to care for your flooring, especially when you want to eliminate the problem of footprints.
Why You Have Footprints on Vinyl Plank Flooring
The diversity of stains and imprints you have to deal with on vinyl plank flooring can be overwhelming. Footprints, particularly, can be the simplest form of these imprints but they are the most notorious and may be hard to control.
There are many causes of footprints on the floor. However, the most critical ones include the smears and paw prints by your lovely cat or dog. When these pets drink water and drip it in place, there’s always going to be an imprint problem.
The other major cause of footprints is when people walk on the floor barefooted. This can leave behind visible footprints that may be visually unappealing.
Also, you need to look out for your floor cleaner. This can be an important source of imprints on the vinyl plank flooring.
And, it happens more so when you use the wrong floor cleaner, for example, a wood floor cleaner rather than a vinyl flooring specific cleaner.
With that being said, don’t take footprints for granted. They can be a pressing problem if they are left on the floor for a long time.
It’s difficult to remove footprints that have stayed on the floor for some time. Eventually, footprints end up damaging your floor, leading to deeper issues that may need costly solutions.
Vinyl plank floors with imprints all over can be unsightly. This is the worst case scenario that every homeowner doesn’t want to imagine happening.
So, the moment you see footprints on your flooring, it’s super-important to clean the floor the soonest. Regular maintenance is key.
How to Clean and Maintain Vinyl Plank Flooring
If there’s something urgent that you can do to your vinyl plank flooring, it’s regular cleaning and maintenance. You don’t want to stay long before you clean the floor. Leaving the floor uncleaned for long will only make the imprints stubborn to remove.
Fortunately, cleaning footprints on vinyl plank flooring is much easier than imagined. Remember, though, that this has to be timely.
Here are the different ways how to clean and maintain vinyl plank flooring:
- Dry cleaning
Isn’t it the very basic things you do that make light of the work? That’s exactly the same situation with cleaning vinyl plank flooring. Dry cleaning is one of the basics you need to know right off the bat.
Granted, the floor should be free of footprints that result from oily and greasy substances. In this case, you don’t want to use this method.
Usually, a vacuum cleaner is just the perfect tool to handle such dirt and imprints. Make sure you dry-clean at least once a day on the light mode.
When you undertake dry cleaning, there’s no need for cleaning agents or additives.
- Sweeping
Another way to clean your flooring is by sweeping. You can use a dust mop, wet mop, steam mop, a Swiffer WetJet or a sponge mop to remove the dirt and footprints.
Sweeping is something you can do daily to avoid the problem footprints. If you wet-mop, make sure to use warm water.
It’s usually an effective way of removing stubborn footprints with oily and greasy elements. You can use a microfiber pad that absorbs dirt and grime.
- Use Vinegar as Cleaning Solution
Vinegar is a popular cleaning solution across several applications in many households. It’s actually one of the best cleaners when it comes to marinating your vinyl plank flooring.
Just have your mop dampened in the solution. Use the mop on the flooring to eliminate dirt, grime, and stubborn stains. Vinegar solution removes the imprints without leaving any streaks behind.
The other way to use the vinegar solution is by spraying it directly on the flooring in the direction of the footprints. Then, using a dry mop, clean the dirty spots out.
You can also rinse the flooring with water. Dampen a mop in a bucket of clean water and run it over the vinyl plank flooring for the best outcomes.
See also Rugs Safe for Vinyl Plank Flooring
How to Prevent Footprints on Vinyl Plank Flooring?
Besides taking steps to eliminate dirt and footprints from your flooring, you can also prevent this problem before it actually escalates.
- Don’t encourage bare feet
One of the simplest and yet practically effective way of stopping footprints on your vinyl plank flooring is avoiding walking on it barefoot. You can invest in flip flop or regular slippers to help you with this. So, anyone walking on the floor puts these on.
- Always ensure thorough drying of the floor
You may mop your vinyl plank flooring and remove the imprints, yes. However, if you don’t dry the flooring completely, you’re not going to help seeing more footprints sooner.
- Use felt pads on chair legs
Other causes of imprints are chair and furniture legs. If you want to limit these, make sure you use felt pads on the bottom of chairs. You can be guaranteed scratches and denting will be a bygone.
See also Will Office Chair Damage Vinyl Plank Flooring
How to Mop Your Vinyl Plank Flooring Without Leaving Footprints
You may think that you’re helping your vinyl flooring by mopping it regularly when in actual sense, there’s a trail of streaks left behind. This is not uncommon. It makes the floor look even much dirtier than it was before.
Is it possible to mop without leaving footprints? Definitely you can mop without leaving the footprints in form of streaks. The trick is in using the correct technique and the right cleaning agent.
Let’s find out the procedure right next.
- Always start by sweeping the floor thoroughly.
Use a broom or the hard floor vacuum cleaner attachment to sweep the floor. Ensure all dirt and debris is removed from the flooring.
You don’t want to leave even a spot of the dirt on the floor. This is where streaks or footprints start.
- Choose the right cleaning agent
For vinyl plank flooring, you can choose to use vinegar and hot water. This is the perfect cleaning solution for this kind of flooring.
Using other powerful cleaning agents can ruin your vinyl planks. If you don’t get vinegar, you can try out commercial cleaners that are formulated specifically for vinyl plank floors.
- Dampen a mop in the cleaning solution
You want to ensure that the mop is properly dampened with the solution. Then you can now start mopping.
Alternatively, you can spray the cleaning agent in the exact spot you have the dirt and run a dry mop on the surface.
The moment the mop head gets soiled, you need to dip it again in the solution and repeat the process until you finish cleaning the floor.
- Change the dirty cleaning solution
You always need to exchange the dirty cleaning solution with a fresh one. If you mop with dirty water, the chances of streaking and footprints increase significantly.
- Mop a second time with clear water
Mopping a second time ensures that even the clearer residue is eliminated from the flooring. It leaves your vinyl planks completely clean.
- Dry the floor
Using a clean towel or clothing, immediately dry out the vinyl plank floor. Don’t let the floor to dry out on its own.
When you wipe the floors just after mopping, the chances of streaks forming as a result of air-drying are minimized significantly. Sometimes the area might be large, and you need to work in smaller sections for the best outcomes.
- Mop the vinyl plank flooring daily
When you clean the floor daily with a damp mop, you’re in a pole position to prevent streaks due to dirt and dust build up. You don’t have to wait for days to damp mop your flooring.
This is a preventive step to ensure the problem of footprints or streaks after mopping is eliminated forever.
See also Pelican Creations Vinyl plank flooring reviews
Final Thoughts
With vinyl plank flooring, you have some of the best flooring types in your home. They are elegant and improve the looks of your space.
However, having footprints on vinyl plank flooring should not only worry you but also make take quick actions to remove them. They create ugly and dull floors.
Whether it’s your pets or kids or even adults in the house causing this mess, there are several different ways to ensure your floor is cleaned. You can dry-clean with a vacuum, sweep the floor, or mop it with a vinegar solution among many others.
Even better, taking preventive means can help you control the problem before it reaches the peak. As we all know, no one wants to see these things around their beautiful vinyl plank flooring.