Vinyl flooring
A polymer floor whose wear surface is often a finish rather than the vinyl itself — which is what solvents and all-purpose cleaners attack.
What not to do
Isopropyl alcohol is unsafe on Vinyl flooring
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Precautions
- Test on an inconspicuous area first
- Ventilate the area
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
Why we say this
Supported
The sheet prohibits strong solvents as a class and names three, not including isopropyl alcohol. This applies the class statement and is labelled an interpretation rather than a naming.
Sources
Maintenance Instructions: Vinyl Composition Tile Flooring
Tarkett (Johnsonite / Azrock), 2016 · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That strong solvents, naming gasoline, turpentine and acetone, must not be used on the flooring. (cleaninghq's interpretation of what it says)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — Introduction, Preventive Care, and Routine / Daily Cleaning. Supports the claim as stated.
Last reviewed by a person on .
Precautions
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
- Test on an inconspicuous area first
In detail
Vinyl flooring is a polymer, and its enemies are the ones that attack polymers rather than the acids and alkalis that trouble stone. The maintenance sheet is blunt about what to keep off it: no steel wool, no strong solvents — gasoline, turpentine and acetone are named — and no all-purpose cleaners. It also excludes two things nobody would suspect: mops treated with petroleum solvents, silicone compounds or loose abrasives, and disinfectant or insecticide sprays containing oil or solvent that settle on the floor and discolour it or make it slippery. Cleaning uses a pH neutral cleaner, and DO NOT FLOOD THE FLOOR is stated directly. One fact reframes the material: on vinyl composition tile the factory finish is TEMPORARY, applied to protect the tile in shipping, explicitly not a wear surface, and floor finish must be applied after installation. Where that is true the thing being cleaned is the finish, not the vinyl, and a cleaner that strips finish has not damaged the floor so much as removed its protection. Domestic luxury vinyl usually has a factory wear layer instead, which is why the chemical prohibitions carry across and the floor-finish regime does not.
Properties
Sensitivity
- Acids
- Not known
- Alkalis
- Not known
- Chlorine bleach
- Not known
- Heat
- Not known
- Abrasion
- Recorded
- Porous
- Not applicable
“Not known” means CleaningHQ has not established this, not that the material is unaffected.
Hacks and claims involving this
- All-purpose cleaner on a vinyl floor Does not work
Sources for this page
Sources
Maintenance Instructions: Vinyl Composition Tile Flooring
Tarkett (Johnsonite / Azrock), 2016 · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That cleaning uses a pH neutral cleaner and the floor must not be flooded, that steel wool, strong solvents such as gasoline, turpentine and acetone and all-purpose cleaners must not be used, and that the factory finish is temporary and not a wear surface. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — Introduction, Preventive Care, and Routine / Daily Cleaning. Supports the claim as stated.
Last reviewed by a person on .