One of the most annoying parts of having gorgeous, tiled flooring is how easily it can get scuffed, especially when you have a busy home filled with busy feet. However, with the right cleaning materials and instructions, you can remove these scuff marks from your tile floor in no time.
What Causes Scuff Marks on Tiled Floors?
The most common cause of scuff marks on flooring in the home comes from dark-soled shoes. When you have a lot of foot traffic in a home, like kids, teenagers, friends, and family, and they wear dark-soled shoes, they can leave scuff marks or dark streaks on your flooring. Scuff marks can also be left when you move heavy furniture around without properly lifting it.
Scuff marks are most visible when they are dark, and the flooring is lighter. A scuff mark is essentially an oily mark left by the dark rubber of the shoes or furniture feet.
5 Ways To Remove Scuff Marks on Floor Tiles
Depending on how dark and how thick the scuff mark is, we pretty much guarantee that one of these four ways will work for removing scuff marks on the floor.
#1 - Spray The Oil With An All-Purpose Cleaner
We recommend first trying an all-purpose cleaner on the scuff marks. The Handy Andy Cream Cleaner range is a great scuff mark remover product that works wonders for most flooring types. This cream cleaner range uses 100% natural cleaning particles to clean even the toughest dirt and doesn’t leave any residue behind, making it an ideal scuff mark cleaner to use.
Pour a small amount of Handy Andy Cream Cleaner on tile, laminate, wood, or cement floor and gently rub it in with a soft cloth before rinsing off.
#2 – Make a Homemade Paste
There are a few homemade pastes you can concoct that work well to remove scuff marks from most flooring types. Mix two tablespoons of baking powder with a tablespoon of acetone or hydrogen peroxide to create a paste. Rub this paste onto the scuff mark and leave for 10 – 15 minutes. Rinse and wipe off.
#3 – Try An Eraser
Because scuff marks are generally made from rubber soles, the thinking is that rubber should be able to erase rubber, right? For smaller, lighter scuff marks use an eraser from your stationary cupboard and rub it over the mark to remove it.
#4 – WD-40
WD-40 is a lubricant that can be found in most garage cupboards. It’s generally used as a lubricant for sticking or stuck chains, locks, and other mechanisms. However, it can work wonders for removing oily, rubbery marks from flooring. Spray a little amount of WD-40 on the scuff mark and rub it with a soft cloth in a gentle, circular motion. Rinse and wipe away immediately.
#5 – Avoid Acidic Cleaners or Bleach
Ideally when removing scuff marks left by dragging shoes or furniture, you want to stay away from any kind of acid or bleach cleaner. This type of cleaner could discolour your flooring, leaving a bleached streak on the floor and not even cleaning the scuff mark very well either. So, you might end up with two problems, when you only started with one.
When cleaning any flooring type, it’s best to have a plan of action ahead of time. Read our blog on How To Create A Floor Cleaning Checklist for more tips and tricks.
How Not to Damage Tile Floors When Removing Scuff Marks?
Here are our top tips for cleaning scuff marks without causing any damage to your flooring:
Always test a small area on your flooring first to make sure the cleaner you choose does not have an adverse reaction like discolouration on the floor. Choose an area that is in the corner or hidden by furniture, so if there is a problem it can be easily hidden.
Never use an abrasive cloth or scrubbing brush on flooring as it can scratch and mark the flooring permanently.
Clean the scuff mark as soon as possible so that it doesn’t settle in and become harder to remove later.
Stay away from acidic cleaners and bleach when cleaning floors.
For more cleaning tips and tricks, visit Cleanipedia today.