What's the best way to clean "pitted" sheet vinyl floor?

[newbury]

Wife bought new vinyl floor a few years ago.

Armstrong Flooring Iron Point Dark Earth
It has a nice 3D visual texture. But that texture has numerous little pits. Her method of cleaning it is Swifter based, which works fine on our other floors (tile, vinyl plank, wood) but the little pits won't let go of the dirt.
SFgate has a decent article on cleaning that type of floor (How to Get Embedded Dirt Out of Pitted Vinyl Flooring) but it's basically a pain.
Besides normal mopping I've tried the "Armstrong once and done concentrate floor cleaner" (the flooring mfg. solution), Mr. Clean, vinegar, vinegar and baking soda. Rubbing too hard will remove the vinyl's surface.
I think what I need is a "micro" pressure washer surface cleaner. Something that would blast the dirt out and I could mop up the remains.
So I'm probably looking at a "steam mop" but there are hundreds of them with prices all over the place and I've no experience with them.

Does anyone know of a pressure washer surface cleaner made for "micro use"?
Any recommendations for small "steam mops"?

 

[2manyrocks]

I have a steam mop, but haven't used it that much. My impression is that the heat helps loosen grime, but I doubt that the flat mop head on it would reach into the pits/pores you are having trouble with any better than a swiffer.

I wonder if something like a vinyl siding brush would be able to reach into the pits, but gentle enough to not damage your floor? Unger Lock-On Multi-Angle Wash Brush 975820 - The Home Depot

 

[oosik]

My kitchen and dining room have an unglazed quarry tile floor. Lots of valleys, pits - etc, etc. I have tried just about everything - short of dynamite.

The very best results are obtained by using a car wash brush. It has a very soft, long bristle head and an extendable handle. Five gallon bucket - half full of hot water and liquid soap. Scrub until everything is clean.

Then a couple day later - vacuum the floor and seal with a good polymer tile sealer. For me - this will last, at least, a full year. I dry mop the floor weekly to get rid of the dirt, dust, sand and associated crud.

 

[bigtiller]

Wife bought new vinyl floor a few years ago.

Armstrong Flooring Iron Point Dark Earth
It has a nice 3D visual texture. But that texture has numerous little pits. Her method of cleaning it is Swifter based, which works fine on our other floors (tile, vinyl plank, wood) but the little pits won't let go of the dirt.
SFgate has a decent article on cleaning that type of floor (How to Get Embedded Dirt Out of Pitted Vinyl Flooring) but it's basically a pain.
Besides normal mopping I've tried the "Armstrong once and done concentrate floor cleaner" (the flooring mfg. solution), Mr. Clean, vinegar, vinegar and baking soda. Rubbing too hard will remove the vinyl's surface.
I think what I need is a "micro" pressure washer surface cleaner. Something that would blast the dirt out and I could mop up the remains.
So I'm probably looking at a "steam mop" but there are hundreds of them with prices all over the place and I've no experience with them.

Does anyone know of a pressure washer surface cleaner made for "micro use"?
Any recommendations for small "steam mops"?

That sounds just like the new flooring my uncle put in his kitchen back in the 70's. He hired the local "Merry Maids" to clean it weekly. No one wanted to scrub his floor because of the texture, pits and bumps were about an eighth inch apart.

When everyone refused to scrub his floor, he did it himself, once. The next week he tore it out and put kitchen carpet down.

Merry Maids or carpet ????

 

[newbury]

Actually since I can't find a micro-pressure washer with vacuum pickup I'm now thinking of a handheld steam cleaner, like a McCulloch MC1275 Heavy-Duty Steam Cleaner
and a wet-dry vac, like my DeWalt.

 

[ponytug]

Actually since I can't find a micro-pressure washer with vacuum pickup I'm now thinking of a handheld steam cleaner, like a McCulloch MC1275 Heavy-Duty Steam Cleaner
and a wet-dry vac, like my DeWalt.

What about one of the many Bissell type floor scrubber/washers? You could rent one from your local store and decide what you do/don't like and buy accordingly. Then make steam versions as well, but I have no clue what would work best on the floor that you have. Perhaps I am missing something; do you have of the floor and pits?

Personally, I would run from a floor with built in pits. I realize that your wife choose this, and in the interest of marital harmony, I won't suggest my #1 choice which would be to rip it out. I would respectfully suggest that as she chose it, she should clean it. Bissell, Roomba, scrub brush by hand, whatever. It is kind of my house rule for marital harmony; if my trip wire for something is lower than my wife's, it is my chore. We are pretty much 50/50, so it works out.

Just for the record, I don't get tile counter tops in kitchens, either. That is a pretty much a guaranteed citation from any health inspector in a commercial kitchen.

All the best,

Peter

 

[newbury]

Perhaps I am missing something; do you have of the floor and pits?

do I have what?
It's the pits, with a pen cap for scale

 

[oosik]

I'm sorry Newbury but that pic of your floor looks like an install done by a mas*chist. From a pure personal health standpoint - I would replace it with something that CAN be kept clean. I think you are fighting a loosing battle with that existing flooring.

 

[newbury]

It wasn't the install, it's the surface.
The surface is about what you have for an unglazed quarry tile floor.
The surface is really nice to walk on, fairly thick (~2.8mm), relatively soft.
I need about 22 lineal feet @ ~$15/lineal foot, NOT INSTALLED.
So I'm looking at a minimum $300 for material cost, plus glue, taxes etc.
I was hoping to find a "micro" pressure washer surface cleaner, which I could use for other things.
So right now it looks like a small handheld steam cleaner (which we could use and need for furniture spot cleaning) , plus my wet-dry vac will be my best and least expensive solution.
Then a couple days later - vacuum the floor and seal with a good polymer tile sealer. As you do.
/edit - plus it should last another 15 years

 

[ponytug]

It wasn't the install, it's the surface.
The surface is about what you have for an unglazed quarry tile floor.
The surface is really nice to walk on, fairly thick (~2.8mm), relatively soft.
I need about 22 lineal feet @ ~$15/lineal foot, NOT INSTALLED.
So I'm looking at a minimum $300 for material cost, plus glue, taxes etc.
I was hoping to find a "micro" pressure washer surface cleaner, which I could use for other things.
So right now it looks like a small handheld steam cleaner (which we could use and need for furniture spot cleaning) , plus my wet-dry vac will be my best and least expensive solution.
Then a couple days later - vacuum the floor and seal with a good polymer tile sealer. As you do.
/edit - plus it should last another 15 years

(Sorry for the dropped word in my prior post.)

I think that the steam clean + vacuum plus sealing (multiple coats?) seems like a good way forward at minimal cost. I would use a vinyl specific floor sealer though as the vinyl flexes unlike stone tile. E.g. https://www.amazon.com/Zep-Commercial-1044994-Resistant-Sealer/dp/B005SSGT7C

Zep also makes polish to go on top of the sealer.
https://www.amazon.com/Zep-Wet-Look-Polish-ounces-ECZUWLFF1282/dp/B07M93Q3QY/

All the best,

Peter