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Kathy asked: I cleaned my linoleum floors with water and vinegar, and now they squeak when walking on them. The floor doesn’t squeak, it’s the actual linoleum. I recleaned them with warm water. They still squeak. I lightly waxed the floor, and they still squeak. Do you have any suggestions?
If you cleaned your floor with vinegar, it’s possible that the vinegar acted as a stripping agent and damaged or removed the protective wax covering from your floor. If that’s the case, a light wax won’t be enough to properly protect the linoleum. When in doubt, it’s best to properly strip and then protect the floor with a high quality wax.
You Will Need:
- Ammonia
- Clean dish towels
- Nylon brush
- Water
- Vinegar
- Bucket
- High quality linoleum floor wax
- Clean terrycloth towel
- Eye protection
- Rubber gloves
- Fan for ventilation
Steps to Remove the Squeak:
- First, ensure there is adequate ventilation in the room. Use a fan and open all windows and doors. Eye and skin protection are advisable when working with ammonia.
- Pour straight ammonia on the floor in a single area.
- Use the dish towel to spread it around.
- Wait 15 minutes then repeat in a second area.
- Begin working on the first area with the nylon scrub brush.
- Repeat steps 2-5 until the entire floor is finished.
- Mop up the ammonia with a clean dish towel
- Mix ½ cup of vinegar with one gallon of water. Rinse the floor with it. The vinegar will get rid of any remaining traces of ammonia.
- Dry the floor with a clean towel.
- Apply a high quality floor wax with a clean dish towel. Avoid cheap waxes, they can cause yellowing of the floor.
- Wait several hours, then apply a second coat.
Additional Tips and Advice
- Do not machine wash the towel you used to apply the floor wax. The wax will leave a residue inside the machine that can damage clothing in subsequent loads.
- Most of the time, warm water and a mild dish detergent are all you need for routine cleaning of linoleum floors. Other solutions can be harsh and may damage the protective wax coating.
- If the floor still squeaks, it may be from moisture breaching the linoleum or it may be in the underlayment, subfloor or joists.
- If you wear shoes on your floor, the squeaking may be the contact between the shoe and the floor and not the floor itself.
I have a new home with linoleum flooring throughout. Since day one, the flooring has squeaked when walking on it, without or without shoes, barefoot or with socks. How can I make this stop?
All I ever used on my floor was Spic and Span and water. It now is so squeaky, I hate walking on it. The way stated above is not going to work for me; it’s in a confined area with no ventilation at all. Any other ideas?
Ron,
There are commercial linoleum strippers that you can buy at a hardware store, but you will need to read the labels carefully to find one that does not require ventilation. However, this is a caustic process that will likely create fumes anyway. A better idea might be to rent a respirator from the hardware store. A heavy duty fan can also be rented and pointed in the doorway to help ventilate, or a confined space ventilator can be rented from some places as well.