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Accidentally bleached dark vinyl flooring - Help!

10 years ago


Hi everyone -

We had a major bleach accident on the dark wood-look vinyl flooring in the lower level of our home. As you can see, it looks horrible.

What's odd is, last weekend we tried wiping it down with just water, as the white "stuff" seemed to be sloughing off. And for a few days, it looked back to normal. But then overnight on the third day, it went back to looking like this. In fact, I think it actually looks worse than it did before we wiped it down.

Is this fixable? Can you stain vinyl?

Thank you in advance for your much-needed advice.

Comments (20)

  • 10 years ago

    No. I'm afraid your floor is toast. You might try some dye, but I think your floor is damaged beyond repair.

    M thanked glennsfc
  • 10 years ago

    As far as I know there is no way to repair this...looks like you'll need to look into replacement or a large rug.

    M thanked Lisa G
  • 10 years ago

    That's what I was afraid of. Thank you for taking the time to comment.

  • 10 years ago

    I have a hard time believing bleach would affect vinyl that way. Did you try scrubbing it with something mildly acidic like vinegar?

  • 10 years ago

    I've only tried wiping down with water. I haven't tried scrubbing yet. Do you recommend scrubbing it with vinegar, or are you saying that will cause more damage?

  • 10 years ago

    At this point you have little to lose. My thought is that the vinegar might neutralize the bleach and improve the appearance.

    M thanked User
  • 10 years ago

    Thanks, I'll give it a try! You're right... There is nothing to lose here.

  • 10 years ago

    Any update on your Floors?? My fingers are crossed that you were able to scrub it off or neutralize it somehow.

  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    If it doesn't work, do you know what type of floor that is? If you know the exact match you can cut out a square area and have a couple seams (one being where a plank edge would be). Would not need to replace the whole floor this way, and if this happens again then the process could be repeated easily.

    M thanked Vith
  • 10 years ago

    Thanks, all! Vith, this flooring was here when we moved in, so I don't know the brand/style/color.

    I finished scrubbing the floor with a vinegar/water solution, and it looks pretty good (knock on wood). Although, it looked like this the first time we wiped it down, and then just a few days later, it went back to what you see I'm the initial post. Here's hoping this second scrubbing worked for good!

  • 10 years ago

    Success was short-lived. :( White haze reappeared after the floor dried. Now trying Quick Shine.

  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    I have vinyl flooring like this and I use Armstrong's, Allure Matte Cleaner/polish on it... this floor could possibly have the same or similar polish on it. Use a strong ammonia solution, this looks to me that it is polish that is just whitened by the bleach, if so the ammonia would take it off. Seeing the picture after you cleaned it with Vinegar leads me to believe if you clean it with ammonia then put a coat of this polish/cleaner on it, it will look good as new, maybe better.....I attached the link in a comment below....

    M thanked MiMi
  • 10 years ago

    I've found that products that try to be both a cleaner and a polish aren't stellar at either. Cheap polishes generally don't repel soil or scuffing very well. This would be a far better option for a polish but the floor should be cleaned separately before application:

    http://www.homedepot.com/p/Armstrong-S-390-1-2-gal-Shinekeeper-Floor-Polish-00390806/100384310

    When I carried Armstrong vinyl we sold this product regularly and customers were very satisfied. The HD customer reviews rate it higher than the cleaner/polish combo also.

    M thanked User
  • 10 years ago

    I agree...Shinekeeper was the best a homeowner could use. We sold lots of it as well.

  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    I do not use the single step Allure cleaner/polish as a cleaner.... I do clean them separately with Armstrong's Once N Done.... then put the cleaner/polish down. My floors are 4 years old and still look brand new, it does repel scuffing very well.... plus they are not glossy/shiny like the Shinekeeper would be, they are Satin finish which looks more like real wood then if they were glossy....

  • 10 years ago

    Thank you all for your advice! Polishes don't seem to be working, unfortunately. Anyone ever painted vinyl flooring before??

  • 10 years ago

    That stinks. I would think it would be hard to get anything to stick to a vinyl floor but when I googled "primer to paint vinyl floor" I got 587000 results.

    M thanked User
  • 5 years ago

    so did you end up painting your vinyl floor because I have the same problem going on right now and I'm thinking about painting it also

  • 5 years ago

    The best solution is to pull up the vinyl and replace it. The paint will last about as long as the damaged vinyl underneath it...a year or so...and then you still have a badly damaged vinyl floor.