Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) & Linoleum Floor Cleaning Services in Fort Wayne
Benefits of Cleaning
Vinyl or Linoleum is a popular type of resilient flooring in Fort Wayne homes and businesses. It may be in the shape of a tile, plank or a one piece sheet cut to fit. This flooring looks great, often mimicking the look of hardwood, stone, or tile. It can be easy to install and maintain if done correctly. Many vinyl and linoleum floors have texture, grooves or grain that adds to the look, but over time, soil can build up and cause the floor to look dirty.
Three Causes of a Dirty Vinyl or Linoleum Floor
All three causes have to do with a lack of or improper maintenance.
Read our care tips to learn how to properly maintain your floor.
- A steam mop, microfiber mop, wet mop, or Swiffer all have good intentions, but do not have rinsing or extraction capability. Instead, they distribute the soil or dirty mop water to the texture or grains in the floor and gravity works against it, causing the dirt to get lodged in place.
- A residue can develop if the wrong cleaner is used or too much soap is left behind, which attracts dirt and causes the floor to feel sticky. This is similar to putting shampoo in your hair to clean it, but not rinsing it out. In bathrooms, residues can develop from lotion or hairspray and perfume overspray.
- If a wax, polish, or shine is applied to the floor, it may look great initially, but over time it will become cloudy, dull and soiled.
There are many benefits to a professional deep cleaning of your LVT Luxury Vinyl Tile, LVP Luxury Vinyl Plank or linoleum floor.
Appearance – A professional cleaning will remove soiled traffic areas and spots, your floor will look great and brighten the look of the entire room! It will also feel great on your barefeet. No more stickyness, just soft, comfortable and fresh.
Health – Contrary to popular belief, hard surface flooring is not maintenance-free, it still needs periodic deep cleaning. Flooring can harbor bacteria on its surface, especially in and around bathrooms and if shoes are regularly worn across it. Learn more about what lives on the bottoms of our shoes here.
Longevity – Dirt and soils are abrasive and, over time, will affect the longevity of your flooring. A professional, deep cleaning will extract and remove deeply embedded dirt and soils, which will increase the life of your flooring.
Our Cleaning Process
- Homeowner preparation includes moving furniture and sweeping/vacuuming the floor before we arrive.
- We inspect the floor for pre-existing damage.
- We apply a cleaning solution to loosen the soil.
- Our truckmounted machine, connected by hoses, powers a specialized tool with internal jets that applies a hot cleaning solution, at a safe pressure. Immediately the cleaning solution and dirt is extracted. Water is not blasted in between or under the flooring. The bottom of the tool that contacts the floor has short soft bristles that will not scratch or damage the floor.
- Fans are used to speed dry the area.
- We provide you with free care and maintenance tips.
Bottom side of tool showing jets inside of vacuum chamber with soft bristles on the bottom
Distinctive’s vinyl plank cleaning tool
Luxury Vinyl Plank & Linoleum Cleaning Photos
BEFORE
Moping evenly distributes dirt on the entire floor. Overtime you may not even realize how dirty the floor has become.
DURING
AMAZING CONTRAST! With our professional equipment, solutions and high quality work ethic we can remove years of grime, soil and residue.
AFTER
After cleaning it looks like a totally different floor! This homeowner was so happy with our work!
BEFORE
Soiled Sheet Vinyl – Linoleum
BEFORE
Close up you can see dirt is lodged in the the texture of the vinyl floor.
AFTER
After cleaning, it looks like a different floor, brightening the look of the entire room.
BEFORE
DIRTY Vinyl Tile. Lots of sticky soap residue attraacted dirt like a magnet.
AFTER
WOW! It looks new after a professional cleaning by Distinctive.
BEFORE
A Fort Wayne Homeowner had taped their rug to the floor. When they removed the rug, the sticky tape residue was left behind on the vinyl floor.
AFTER
Distinctive Cleaning removed the sticky tape residue and cleaned the floor up like new.
CONTRAST
Clean strip where the sticky, dull hazy film was removed from a vinyl plank floor.
CONTRAST
See the contrast when removing the cloudy, white film caused by wax /polish/shine products on vinyl plank flooring
Pricing
The cost for cleaning vinyl and linoleum floor cleaning in Fort Wayne, IN goes by the square footage of each room.
Our normal rate includes moving larger furniture on sliders that is safe and practical to do so if you would like the whole room cleaned.
If we clean the open traffic areas around large furniture, we can measure the room and deduct the furniture we are cleaning around.
For totally or mostly empty rooms, the cost is slightly lower per square foot.
Wax, Polish or Shine removal is challenging and there is an additional charge for this.
Contact us with your approximate room sizes for an estimate or to schedule a cleaning appointment.
Luxury Vinyl Plank Cleaning FAQ
Different types of floors are cleaned differently and have different limitations. Therefore it is important to know what type of floor you have. Tiles and planks are common shapes of flooring. But is the flooring made from Solid Hardwood, Engineered Wood, Laminate, Ceramic? Refer to the receipt or the original flooring box if available. If you aren’t sure, it can be helpful to look at the side profile. An easy place to see this is by removing a floor air vent cover.
Vinyl plank and vinyl tile usually do not have grout lines between them like ceramic tile and planks do. Instead, vinyl planks simply click together. A benefit to vinyl plank and tile vs. hardwood or laminate is that moisture will not damage it. If excess moisture leaks between or under laminate planks, the flooring will permanently swell.
No. Distinctive does not apply wax to floor after cleaning. Most floors today are not intended to be waxed. A ‘wear layer’ is part of the flooring when manufactured. In our experience whenever a wax, polish or shine is applied, the floor eventually looks worse, it causes problems and is challenging to remove.
Moisten a white towel with a little soap and warm water. Rub it over a spot in a high traffic area a few times. Is the towel still white? If not, your floor will benefit from a professional cleaning.
The oil from rubber back rugs can cause a vinyl floor to yellow. This discoloration is usually permenant. To prevent this use our rug pad that won’t discolor vinyl floors. Direct sunlight or excess moisture can also sometimes cause discoloration.
Individual tiles or planks may be able to be changed by an experienced flooring installer if matching pieces are available. This is a good reason to always keep a few extra planks in the attic after a new floor is installed since you may not be able to buy the same exact flooring in a year or two if the manufacturer discontinues it.
Sheet vinyl or linoleum cannot be repaired since it is meant to not have any seams. A patch would result in seams that cannot be hidden.
Many vinyl plank floors are “floating” they are not nailed or glued to the subfloor. So they can move and some planks may develop gaps in between plank ends. This should be able to be repaired by an experienced flooring installer.
No. VCT – Vinyl Composition Tile – is commonly found in commercial buildings. This flooring is meant to be waxed. When soiled the wax is stripped off, the floor cleaned and new wax applied. Distinctive does not provide this service.
We prefer the areas being cleaned to be as empty as possible. We do have felt furniture sliders that can be used to move furniture that is safe and practical to do so. We can clean under or around large furniture that is not practical to move. USE CARE WHEN MOVING / SLIDING FURNITURE on Vinyl & Linoleum as it can be permanently scratched, torn or indented.
Vinyl itself is not affected by moisture like wood or laminate flooring is. However if water gets between or under the vinyl, the subfloor could be damaged and the mositure still needs to be dried out. Actual hot steam could damage vinyl. But the warm or hot cleaning solution used to clean the floor is not poured on causing a ‘flood’ of sorts, and is applied at a safe pressure to prevent pushing solution between and under the tiles/planks.
Visit our Vinyl Care & Maintenance Tips Page
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