So not a cake decorating question but I didn't exactly know where to put a clean up question.
My cake studio has lineoleum floors and for the life of me, I can not keep them unsticky! Which is really a nuisance since its the door we use to the back yard unless I'm working on a cake so all the back yard grime sticks to the floor... I know it's from the powdered sugar and altho I sweep, vacuum, mop, steam and even cover my mixer with a towel when I'm mixing, it's still all over the floors. I've tried bleach, odoban, Lysol etc. you name it it's been tried. I've even used my steam mop and gone thru 10 tanks of water and changed the pad 3xs and still sticky floors. Hubby's sooooo aggrivated. His poor shoes are forever making sticky noises to the point where he changes his shoes in the car so he doesn't stick to his work floors.
Please tell me someone's found a solution that doesn't involve a sponge and me on the floor for hours!
The only thing I can think of:
1. Get the floor super-clean.
2. Lay down big sheets/painting drop cloths (fabric, not plastic)/other and tape down in a few places so there aren't any bumps/humps for you to trip on.
3. Make your baking project, frosting, etc.
4. Fold the drop cloths in toward the center. Bundle it all up.
5. Machine wash and dry.
6. Replace on the floor of your cake studio.
It might work.
It might be time for a new floor. One of my other jobs was cleaning beach rental cottages. (Huge houses on the ocean!)
Sometimes when the floors get old, they get sticky and nothing you do seems to help.
The only other thing not already mentioned would be to try a degreaser.
If the floor is that aggravating, I would seriously think about replacing it. It's something you have to deal with on a daily basis. There are probably affordable alternatives at your local home improvement store.
You might even be able to find something more suitable to your needs.
My floor is professional grade linolium squares like in a physician's office. They were in perfect shape and I had them professionally stripped and finished before opening.
I rarely use powdered sugar, but I have a large national wholesale business producing historic candy for museums. I found that the more sugar work I do, the stickier the floor. I doesn't come up with the cleaner from the floor finishing company.
I have also discussed it with the HD who found my floors to be perfectly clean, but sticky. It's only enough to make a slight noise with my shoes.
My theory is that with the volume of sugar work I do, the air is filled with the evaporating sugar. There is plenty of steam from the highly heated sugar and all burners are used and are filled with big pots. Since the floors don't have spilled sugar and the whole 1000sf is sticky, far from the stoves too, this is my only explanation. It gets worse after those heavy sugar work days and on humid days.
Other floors may fare better, but these don't. My floor cleaning company has checked them and suggested periodic stripping and cleaning, but since it comes right back, why bother.
I just make sure my floors are clean. I spot clean every day and my housekeeper deep cleans the entire bakery which includes another huge display area for my buffets. Sometimes that area, covered in laminate wood type floors, gets slightly sticky too.
We have tile floors and they are easy to clean. No stickiness ever. I can't even imagine how annoying that would be.
If you redo your kitchen floor, look into tile. I don't know about where you live, but in S. Florida there are tile stores everywhere. Home Depot also carries tile.
Have you tried distilled vinegar? Mix 1cup with 1 gallon hot as you can stand water and mop with that it works for me. And my uncle who is a floor guy swears by it. HTH.
that's my "cleaning" agent as well! Works like a charm; is environmentally friendly and cuts grease with little to no effort. If that doesn't work, I'd suggest there's maybe something wrong with your lino. It really shouldn't be doing that after everything you've tried.
Have you tried cleaning the bottom of your shoes?
Our floor guy said not to use water. We have a special cleaner just for linolium. But mine are the thick, pricey ones used in professional buildings like hospitals, not sheet goods or thin squares.
I would have to ask, but I think I'll call about the vinegar.
I had this issue in my old house... it drove me nuts and made me so embarrassed!! Every time someone came over i had this uncontrollable urge to run through everything I had tried to get the floors clean! haha. Once i did get them clean... but very very dangerously.. (i didnt realise it at the time.. very very BIG blonde moment!) i mixed bleach and ammonia together and mopped the floors.. they had never been cleaner, thank fully nothing bad happened.. but would not recommend it! Im not sure what eventually fixed mine.. sustained cleaning efforts and a dwindling interest in making cakes maybe!
I also use vinegar to clean my work area. In addition to that, I purchased several vinyl chairmats to cover my immediate work area.
I clean houses for a living.......My go to cleaner when all else fails is......Mr. Clean Magic Erasers!
I was going to suggest re-sealing your vinyl/linoleum floors. Most stuff we call "linoleum" is actually vinyl, and can be sealed and resealed to extend its life.
If you DO consider putting a new floor down, for the sake of your feet and legs, I'd recommend NOT getting tile. Drop something and it shatters into a billion pieces. I'd recommend cork tiles or a timber floor. Both can be maintained with yearly sealing/varnishing.
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