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Thinking of making your own homemade floor cleaner for your linoleum floors? You might be making the right decision. Most commercially available floor cleaners have chemicals that are harmful not only to the environment but to the people living inside the house as well.
There are numerous studies that show that men and women exposed to chemicals that are being used indoors are at risk of developing a variety of health issues in their lifetime. You can lower the risks by replacing chemicals you often use with natural products that are safe for humans. Some of those chemicals we use come from the cleaning products we use for our homes, including the floors.
In this article, I’ll show you how to make your own linoleum floor cleaner, made from ingredients commonly found in your pantry or cupboards. If you also have hardwood floors in your homes, you might also want to check my other article on making your own natural hardwood floor cleaners as well.
If you’re looking for the best floor cleaning tools and materials, check out the best-rated products here on Amazon.
How To Make Your Own Linoleum Floor Cleaner
Making your own linoleum floor cleaners is actually easy. I’ll explain first the steps how you can do them, and then I’ll share with you some of the best recipes and mixes of floor cleaners used by other people.
Here are the steps:
1. Prepare Water, Boiled and then Cooled, in a Bucket or Bowl
Water is normally used as the base component to mix all ingredients together. It also dilutes some of the components to make them less harsh, especially components such as vinegar that are acidic in nature. Water is preferably boiled first to remove some of its impurities. Then cooled down to room temperature or just a bit warm.
2. Mix in Your Disinfectant or Cleanser Ingredient
These are ingredients that will act as your natural disinfectant, cleaning agent or those have some antimicrobial properties that will not only cut through grease, dirt, and grime, it will also disinfect the surface from bacterias.
Vinegar is a common ingredient to use as a disinfectant or cleanser, but you can also use natural liquid dish soap, lemon juice, or rubbing alcohol. You can also try others that you know are natural cleaners or disinfectants as well.
3. Mix in Your Abrasive Ingredient
This is optional and its purpose is to add a little bit of abrasion to the solution to help remove any stubborn and sticky grime.
Baking soda is a popular choice but borax can also be used as well for an abrasive ingredient.
4. Mix in Your Favorite Essential Oil for Fragrance
This is optional as well. If you want to apply some fragrance to the linoleum floors your cleaning, or if you want to mask the smell of vinegar or some other ingredient, you can add in your favorite essential oil.
You don’t have to add any essential oils if you want your floor cleaners to remain unscented. It doesn’t really contribute to the physical cleanliness of the floor, but it can enhance the perception of a clean floor if it also smells good as well.
Popular choices to use as essential oils include peppermint, lemon, orange, and tea tree, but you can literally use any essential oil for fragrance.
5. Place the Mixture in a Specific Container on How You Plan to Use it.
Once you’ve completely mixed everything well, think of how you plan to use it to your linoleum floor. If you plan to use a mop, you can either put your mixture into a bucket, or in a spray bottle.
If you’re using a bucket, dip your mop making sure
If you plan to use a mop, you can either put it in a bucket or in a spray bottle. The solution can also be placed in a small container with folded cleaning cloths for use as homemade wet wipes.
16 Homemade Floor Cleaner Recipes for Linoleum Floors
I’ve compiled some of the best mixes for homemade floor cleaners you can make and use for your linoleum floors below. These were compiled from other websites on the internet, and the books that I’ve read in the past. You can follow exactly the recipes or use them as guides when you make your own.
Also, feel free to modify any of the homemade solutions here as you wish. As you will see below, you can literally mix and match different combinations of the components I’ve discussed above to create different linoleum floor cleaner.
1. Just Warm Water
Let me start with the simplest and safest cleaner you can use to clean your linoleum floors. Just fill your bucket with warm water and that’s it. Most of the time, mopping with warm water is enough to remove a small amount of dirt and grime build-up. This is especially true if you regularly sweep and mop your linoleum floors.
2. Warm Water, and Essential Oil
This is very much similar to the one above but with an added fragrance.
Just add 2 to 5 drops of any essential oil of your choice to the bucket of warm water. Then apply with a mop as usual.
Try adding 5 drops of peppermint essential oil, 5 drops of pine essential oil, and 5 drops of tea tree essential oil to 1 gallon of warm water.
3. Rubbing Alcohol
Another simple cleaning solution that can be used as-is is isopropyl or rubbing alcohol. You can use this on areas of the floor that has stubborn dirt or stain that can’t be removed with just water.
Soak the stain with alcohol for approximately 10 mins. Then, using a toothbrush, carefully work at brushing the stain off. Wipe the area down again with rubbing alcohol. Just repeat the process until you eventually get all the dirt or stain out.
4. Warm Water, and Liquid Dish Soap
Here’s a simple floor cleaner you could easily mix. In this mixture, liquid dish soap is added as a cleanser and disinfectant. It will also help breakdown any sticky substances on you linoleum floors.
In a bucket, mix in 2 gallons of warm water and 1/4 cup of any liquid dish soap, preferably a natural variant. Then apply it normally with a mop.
5. Warm Water, Liquid Dish Soap, Pine Essential Oil, and Cypress Essential Oil
This mixture uses the same ingredients as the one above but with the addition of some essential oils for fragrance.
Following the same proportions for warm water and liquid dish soap above, just add in 10 drops of pine essential oil, and 5 drops cypress essential oil.
Using the mixture, mop as usual. Then let it dry. Rinsing the floor afterwards is not necessary.
This cleaner will leave a light scent of pine trees off your linoleum floors. You can adjust the scent’s strength by adding or decreasing the number of drops of essential oils.
6. Warm Water, Liquid Dish Soap, Lemon Juice, and Sweet Orange Essential Oil
This solution will leave off a citrus smell off your linoleum floors. A nice floor cleaner to use on your kitchen.
Combine 1 gallon of warm water, 2 tablespoons of natural liquid dish soap, 15 drops of sweet orange essential oil, and 1/4 cup of lemon juice.
The lemon juice will not only add to the citrus fragrance, but it will also act as a disinfectant along with the liquid dish soap.
Mop this floor cleaner as usual. Then leave it to dry. Rinsing is not necessary.
7. Warm Water, and Borax
This floor cleaner can be used to rub out any stubborn sticky substances off your floor. The proportions of the ingredients used is best for deep cleaning, and for a spray bottle application.
Add to cups of warm water, and 1/4 cup of borax in a spray bottle. The borax will act as an abrasive substance to help rub off any dirt sticking on the surface of your linoleum floor.
Spray the floor cleaner and work on a small area of your floor at a time, or the area of the floor that needs attention, then mop normally. Once you’ve removed the dirt you’re trying to remove, rinse the floor using a mop with clean water.
8. Warm Water, Borax, and Lemon Essential Oil
This mixture is very similar to the one above but with a less amount of borax, and with the addition of essential oils for fragrance. This floor cleaner is good to use for your regular scheduled mopping of your fairly clean linoleum floor.
In a bucket, mix in 1 gallon of warm water, 1/4 cup of borax, 5 drops of lemon essential oil, and 5 drops of orange essential oil.
Mop the floor as usual. Rinsing is not necessary.
9. Warm Water, and Baking Soda
Aside from borax, baking soda is one of the popular choices of ingredients to be used as an abrasive component. This mixture is very similar to the mixture at no. 7, and with a similar purpose as well. Use this mixture for deep cleaning your linoleum floors.
Mix equal amounts of baking soda and warm water into a spray bottle.
Spray areas of the floor that have a thick build-up of dirt. Then rub the dirt off using a clean microfiber cloth or with a mop. Rinse the area off with a damp cloth or mop.
10. Warm Water, Vinegar, and Liquid Dish Soap
Here’s a simple floor cleaner using vinegar. Vinegar is used as the main cleaner and disinfectant component of this linoleum floor cleaner. The liquid dish soap also aids to breakdown any grime build-up on the floor.
Add a 1/4 cup of liquid dish soap, and 1/2 cup of vinegar to 2 gallons of warm water. Then apply it with a mop to your floors normally as usual.
11. Water, Vinegar, and Baby Oil
Baby oil is added to this homemade floor cleaner to make the linoleum shine. Try it out first on a small area of your floor first, depending on the current condition of the floor, it might make it slippery afterwards. If that’s the case, better not to add the baby oil anymore.
To make this cleaning solution, mix 1 gallon of warm water with 1 cup of vinegar, and a few drops of baby oil. Then simply apply it with a damp mop.
12. Water, Vinegar, and Baking Soda
Vinegar is one of the popular choices to use for a natural cleanser and disinfectant. Baking soda on the other hand is a popular choice to use as a mild abrasive substance to help with scrubbing off grime from surfaces.
This is for a spray bottle application, and to be used for cleaning small portions of the floor that has sticky substances that are difficult to remove normally with just water.
In a spray bottle, mix 1-2/3 cups of baking soda, 2 tablespoon vinegar, and 1/2 cup warm water.
To use it, just spray in the mixture to the area of the floor affected. Let it sit for 5-10 mins. then with a clean cloth or with a mop, wipe the area clean.
13. Water, Vinegar, Baking Soda, and Lemon Essential Oil
It’s basically similar to the one above but with an added a clean citrus fragrance.
This recipe is to be used for a general mopping session. Fill a bucket with 1 gallon warm water. Then mix in 2 tablespoons of white vinegar, 3 tablespoons of baking soda, and 10 drops of lemon essential oil.
This is a good linoleum floor cleaner to use for your kitchen as it leaves a nice clean and fresh lemon scent afterwards. You can also use this mixture to wash your kitchen countertops as well.
You can replace the lemon essential oil with peppermint essential oil, or combine it with a few drops of clove essential oil. Feel free to modify the fragrance as how you want it.
14. Water, Vinegar, Alcohol, Lemon Essential Oil, and Peppermint Essential Oil
You can also try using rubbing alcohol instead liquid dish soap to help breakdown stubborn grime off the floor.
This mixture is for a spray bottle application. In a spray bottle, mix 3/4 cup of water, 3/4 cup of vinegar, 3/4 cup of rubbing alcohol, 3 drops of lemon essential oil, and 2 drops of peppermint essential oil. You can substitute the essential oils with another scent that you prefer to use.
It’s a spray and wipe application. Work on small areas of your linoleum floors at a time, spraying and then wiping with a clean cloth or with a mop.
15. Water, Vinegar, Orange Essential Oil, and Tea Tree Essential Oil
If you have a wet wipes sweeper type mop or an electrostatic mop, you can actually make your own floor wet wipes that you can attach to it.
This is a simple mixture you can use to saturate your homemade floor wet wipes with.
You’ll need 16 ounces of warm water, 3 teaspoons vinegar, and 2 drops of any essential oil for fragrance. You can try lemon essential oil, orange essential oil, or tea tree essential oil.
And then use washable cloths such as microfiber cleaning cloths or cellulose cloths, for a more natural product, cut into rectangles. You just simply fold a batch into a sealed plastic bag or airtight container, or maybe coiled in a can filled with your mixture. Make sure the pile of cleaning cloths get moist with the mixture.
Just add in just enough mixture to your cloth container just enough for them to become moist. Adjust the amount of mixture to add in depending on the volume of cloth you will be using.
Just simply pull out a cloth from your container, and then attach it to your mop to clean your linoleum floors. Don’t throw away the cloth afterwards. Wash it and reuse it again for your homemade floor wet wipes.
Feel free to replace the essential oils to this mixture as well. You can try as an alternative, replacing the orange and tea tree essential oils with the combination of rosemary and geranium essential oils.
16. Water, Red Clover Tea, Vinegar, Grapefruit Seed Extract
Here’s something different. You’ll be adding brewed tea and grapefruit seed extract to the mixture.
Use this for your homemade floor wet wipes as well.
Brew 2 teaspoons of red clover tea, steeping it for 10 mins. Strain out the leaves, leaving the liquid afterwards. Then mix together 1/4 cup of water, 1/2 cup of the brewed tea, 1 cup of vinegar, and 10 drops of grapefruit seed extract.
Contain it with your cleaning cloths for your homemade floor wet wipes. Then use it normally as usual.
Tips on How to Use Your Homemade Floor Cleaners on Your Linoleum Floors
- If you have bucket of your homemade cleaner and you’re cleaning with a mop, make sure to wring it well. The mop should not be soaking wet and just damp to the touch. Avoid soaking your linoleum floors with your cleaning solution as excess moisture could penetrate through the seams and get underneath the floor and make some serious damages.
- Start cleaning from the end of the room opposite the door. Starting from one end of the wall end corner to the other end. And working your way towards the door. That way, you don’t have to walk on the newly mopped floor when you exit the room.
- Replace the bucket of your cleaning solution when it gets dirty and murky, otherwise it may leave some unsightly streaks on the floor when it dries up.
Recommended Books on Natural Homemade Cleaners for your Homes
Below are my recommended books on natural homemade cleaners you can us to clean your homes. Some of the mixtures listed above came from these books. You can check them out on Amazon.
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