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DIY Floor Cleaner for Linoleum and Tile

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Cleaning Tips· Essential Oils

1 Feb
2.5K9 

Sharing a recipe for any easy DIY Floor Cleaner that works amazingly well, with hardly any effort at all.

DIY Floor Cleaner Title Image

Last week, I revealed our laundry room makeover, and while it looks pretty amazing at the moment, there were some dirty jobs that had to be completed… like washing the floor under the washing machine. So gross! Let me show you a picture of what our linoleum looked like… but prepare yourself. It is not pretty…

Linoleum floor under washing machine prior to cleaning with a DIY Floor Cleaner recipe

I decided to try a new floor and tile cleaner this time around… mainly because I had bought a bottle of Sal Suds to make my own dish soap, and wanted to try it out in other areas of my house.

What You Need To Make DIY Floor Cleaner

Items needed to make floor cleaner: Sal Suds, Essential Oil, Small Bowl, and Measuring Spoon

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  • Water
  • Sal Suds
  • Essential Oils (Optional)- I used Pine & Lemon. Not sure where to buy essential oils? Check out this post.
  • Sponge or Mop
  • Cleaning Bucket


How To Make DIY Floor Cleaner

I made a 3 gallon solution of this floor cleaner, however, you can adjust the amounts based on how much you are making.

Start by adding 1/2 Tablespoon Sal Suds to a small bowl. (This equates to 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of water you are planning to use. Truly. You don’t need much.)

Adding Sal Suds to small bowl in order to make DIY Floor Cleaner

This next step is completely optional, however, I love adding essential oils to my cleaning products for a little extra cleaning power. Sal Suds already has Fir and Spruce Essential oils in it, so I enhanced it with few drops of Pine and Lemon (10 drops of each). Give this a little stir. You will notice the consistency of the Sal Suds change as you stir.

Adding essential oil to Sal Suds in order to make DIY Floor Cleaner

You can now fill your cleaning bucket with warm water. I added about 2 gallons of water and then poured the Sal Suds/essential oil mixture in as I added the last gallon. Make sure to rinse the bowl as you fill in order to get all the cleaning solution in the bucket.

Combining Sal Suds mixture with water to make floor cleaner in a cleaning bucket

Grab your mop or sponge and start cleaning. I actually found this solution to work with hardly any effort at all.

Using a sponge to clean floor with DIY Floor Cleaner

Ready to see the results… achieved in about 2 minutes?!

Linoleum floor after cleaning with DIY Floor Cleaner

Before and After of Linoleum floor after using DIY Floor Cleaner

This DIY floor cleaner is not only incredibly easy to make, it works so well!

 

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This DIY Floor Cleaner works wonders on tile and linoleum. The floor pictured was underneath a washing machine and the homemade floor cleaner tackled the mess with little effort.

This DIY Floor Cleaner works amazingly well with hardly any effort.

20 Comments

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Comments

  1. Bernadette says

    February 25, 2021 at 3:20 AM

    There are very great tips. Thank you for the post.

    Reply
  2. Scott says

    November 30, 2019 at 4:41 PM

    Great solution. It seems to work great. Based on a suggestion from my scientist wife, it could be made even better by removing the baking soda, and adding a disinfectant like isopropyl alcohol. The vinegar and baking soda in your solution would combine to form CO2 and water and a salt, sodium acetate. After the reaction is done, there isn’t much left of the good cleaning properties of the vinegar or baking soda.

    Reply
  3. Hira says

    April 19, 2018 at 3:06 AM

    Hi thank you so much for this solution.
    If we don’t have dawn dish liquid can we use like any other dish soap(eg- Ajax)
    Your reply is much appreciated.
    Thank you!!

    Reply
    • Erin says

      April 19, 2018 at 7:38 AM

      Yes. You can use any dish soap you happen to have 🙂

      Reply
  4. Karenzo says

    November 8, 2017 at 11:45 AM

    I just mopped my kitchen and bathroom floors & I have the cleanest floors now. I did make one addition. I added some thieves essential oil to disinfect and add scent.

    I think I will use this formula to clean my wood floors minus one ingredient:and exchanging another: I will omit the baking soda and exchange the Dawn for castile soap.

    Reply
    • Erin says

      November 8, 2017 at 11:50 AM

      I created this recipe before I had ever tried essential oils. Now that I have them, I’ve been working on incorporating them into my cleaning recipes (and updating my posts as I do). I just got a bottle of Pine, and I’m going to try that in this recipe next time, but Thieves is a winner any time! Glad to hear it worked well for you!

      Reply
  5. Christin says

    July 9, 2016 at 5:34 PM

    I tried this today and my floor looks cloudy. Am I supposed to rinse with clear water? Perhaps my floors are just too old.

    Reply
    • Erin Meyer says

      July 11, 2016 at 9:44 AM

      Hi Christin-
      Thanks for the question. I have never experienced the cloudiness you describe, but here’s what I would try just to see if there is an improvement: Remove the baking soda from the formula. Baking soda creates a mild abrasive, but could also cause a little residue. If that doesn’t do the trick, rinsing with plain water should help, but I have never needed to do this, and who wants to go over their floors twice? I’m hoping the removal of the baking soda does the trick for you.

      Reply
  6. Leanne says

    June 16, 2016 at 11:54 AM

    I use this same recipe but instead of baking soda I add 1 tbsp each borax and washing soda. It’ll strip grease and goo off of stoves, cabinets, etc without using a lot of elbow grease. There’s going to always be a jug of this solution under the kitchen & bathroom sinks from now on. If anyone else tries my method, just make sure to shake the jug or spray bottle ocassionally because I have had it form crystal chunks at the bottom… It also works great on linoleum. It’s just a great multi-purpose cleaner!

    Reply
  7. Jenny says

    February 7, 2016 at 2:48 PM

    I DEFINITELY HAVE to try this right now!! Thanks for your DIY IDEAS, they are SO GREAT!! Thanks for subscribing me TODAY??

    Reply
    • Erin Meyer says

      February 8, 2016 at 11:08 AM

      Hi Jenny! So glad you found some ideas you can use. And thank YOU for subscribing to the blog. Happy to have you following along!

      Reply
  8. Nancy says

    November 8, 2015 at 9:38 PM

    Can you use this solution in a steam mop? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Erin Meyer says

      November 9, 2015 at 7:28 AM

      Since steam mops are meant for use with water, I would contact the manufacturer. While I have heard that vinegar performs better when heated, I wouldn’t want the small amount of dish soap to harm your mop in any way. Thanks for your question! Hope that helps.

      Reply
  9. Mary, Living a Sunshine Life says

    October 3, 2015 at 11:35 PM

    I might have to give this solution a try. I feel like every other cleaner I use leaves my floor sticky. Homemade, store bought, I can’t figure it out! I’ve never used one with Dawn, so maybe it will cut whatever oil reside seems to leave my 10 year linoleum gross. Oh, and your 14 year old looks better than my 10 year old.

    Reply
    • Erin Meyer says

      October 6, 2015 at 7:13 AM

      I know what you’re talking about with the sticky residue left behind with certain cleaners. I didn’t notice that at all with this one. Hope it works for you!

      Reply
  10. Sandra says

    September 16, 2015 at 10:46 AM

    You’re right, mopping on your hands and knees is no fun! My knees and I thank you for this tip.

    Reply
    • Erin Meyer says

      September 16, 2015 at 11:51 AM

      Amen! Glad I could help.

      Reply
  11. Ellen from Ask Away says

    September 15, 2015 at 12:33 PM

    Oh my gosh i have to try this! thank you sooo much!

    Reply
    • Erin Meyer says

      September 15, 2015 at 8:23 PM

      Ellen- you seriously brighten my day with your enthusiasm! Thanks for always putting a smile on my face… and I’m happy to share all the DIY cleaning solutions I have found to work well for me. Happy a wonderful evening!

      Reply
      • Kristy says

        August 18, 2018 at 5:23 PM

        Hello! love this floor cleaning- what do you recommend for cleaning hard wood floors? thank you

        Reply

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Hi there! I'm Erin. Welcome to Lemons, Lavender, & Laundry, where we believe you can create a home you love... on a budget. [Read More...]

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