Mrs. Clean's House Cleaning Forum

[vickyz]

I have a new vinyl floor and it is caked with sheetrock dust. I have washed the floor several times with a cleaner and clean water but there is still a white dusty film on the floor? how can I get the sheetrock dust off?

[mrscleannw]

Hi Vickyz,
Sheet rock dust from construction can be hard to remove, and using a mop will help, but as you?ve discovered is a very slow going process.

If the floor is dirty at all, using a mop at best only removes a small fraction of the dirt. The dust is plaster from the drywall and is very fine, sticky and gets into every crack and crevasse. Now that it?s been wet, it?s kind of stuck to the floor.

In a new construction situation, with dry dust, we would have vacuumed the hard floor very thoroughly with a canister vacuum using a bare floor attachment, though your dust is not "dry" or "loose" this should be your first step as it will likely still help and remove any loose particles on the floor that will come up easily.

Next using a steam cleaner or shop vac, and a solution of 1 cup vinegar to 1 gallon of water, wet the floor and using an appropriate attachment, suck all the water you can off the floor. The more water you remove, the better off you?ll be. You may need to do this several times. Using a towel to dry the floor after this will remove any residual dust.

If you do not have a steam cleaner handy, you can do this same process by hand. (yes, on your hands and knees) using 2 buckets, one with your new clean water, the other to collect your dirty water. Use a towel to dry each section before moving on to the next.

If the vinegar solution is not cutting it, I?ve also heard that using TSP (trisodium phosphate) might help- But it is a phosphate and you?d need to use skin and eye protection as it is irritating.

I hope that helps!

[speedster]

Get the guys that made the mess to clean it up!

[One eyed Kiwi]

There is a product called doodle pad that is effective. Similarly, use one of those green dishwashing scouring pads and after applying your water/vinegar mix, scour the surface to loosen the powder then mop up as usual.