Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cleaning and vinyl

How to deep clean vinyl floors

otherwordlyglow — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 11:03:52 -0800

What's the best way to deep clean vinyl floors? We have a vinyl floor in our kitchen - you know the kind that's supposed to look like individual tiles but is actually a rolled out sheet of faux tiles. It's a rental, not my choice of floors but it'll do. I'm kind of lax about regular cleaning though I've been trying to be better and at least use a Swiffer Wet Jet every other week on account of the baby crawling all over the floors. It's hard to ignore the state of the floors when the evidence is smeared all over the knees of your child.

Occasionally I do the old hands-and-knees service with a bucket and a scrub brush. However, it seems to me that there's a layer of grime that I'm not getting to. I've heard all kinds of things to try: ammonia, borax, vinegar, isopropyl alcohol but really have no idea what I need to do to strip the floors of grime. Hopefully this is the kind of thing I can do once or twice a year and then return to my swiffering for more regular maintenance. And then, once I really have them clean, do I seal them somehow? With what?

Ideas? The less toxic the better.

homemade vinyl LP record cleaner?

kuujjuarapik — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:36:23 -0800

Does anyone have a recipe for homemade vinyl LP record cleaner? I just got an USB turntable and I have been converting my records to digital. I have one or two 45s that are a little dirty and I would like to clean them, but I don't really want to spend the time or money ordering professional record cleaner online. I am not an archivist, and not necessarily an audiophile, but I don't want to experiment on cleaning fluids and destroy the records.

I have considered 90% Isopropyl and a soft cloth. I thought briefly about Windex. Even thought about Grey Goose straight from the freezer. Anyone got a dirty record made clean success story?

Removing ink from vinyl

kar120c — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 11:55:02 -0800

How do I remove ballpoint pen ink from vinyl? I purchased a really cute purse recently from Queenbee, after finding out about this company from a previous askmefi post.

I've had it about a week now. It's cream colored vinyl (bad choice, given that I'm a clumsy, mucky pup) and I've somehow managed to get small but noticeable ballpoint pen stains all over it.

I've tried soapy water, and I've tried rubbing alcohol. No luck.

Any suggestions? Someone suggested hairspray, but I'm worried about ending up with a sticky mess of a purse, still covered in ballpoint pen. Has anyone here actually tried this and had a successful result?

Stain Removal

tomharpel — Mon, 13 Dec 2004 22:09:55 -0800

In the small kitchen, the gas range is butted up against the refrigerator. After a few years of cooking, a brown stain mars the otherwise-white vinyl side of the refrigerator. How do I remove the brown stain?