How to remove dents on linoleum?

Despite the fact that linoleum is considered a budget coating for flooring, however, it has repeatedly proved itself in terms of high performance and durability. Unfortunately, even such picky material can be deformed if improperly maintained. One of the most common defects is dents after furniture. Accordingly - with a rearrangement or a small repair, these defects will be striking. Therefore, if you do not want to completely change the flooring, we will tell you about how to remove dents on linoleum in more conservative ways.

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The main causes of dents

The most malicious enemy of linoleum is heavy furniture, especially if it has metal legs. To create dents or worse - a torn hole, you just need to move it inaccurately at least once.

Important! On the metal legs of large pieces of furniture, it is imperative to wear special plastic caps, and it is better to pull it to another place when it is weighed.

In addition, dents on linoleum can occur after a long stay of heavy furniture in the same place. Therefore, if you can not rearrange them, in order not to damage the coating during installation, it is imperative to use wide support legs.

Important! Pay attention to the fact that the wider the supports for furniture, the less visible dents on the surface of the floor decorative coating.

Mostly soft and thin types of linoleum suffer from damage. However, dents may also appear on material with a thick backing on a felt or foam base. It goes without saying that such a floor covering is very pleasant for the feet, but it won’t forgive you for using dimensional furniture.

Important! Subsequently, insufficiently fixed linoleum to the rough surface, there is a risk of bubbles, wrinkles and other defects due to the constant use of chairs on wheels.

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How to remove a dent in linoleum from a heavy object?

If you moved furniture to another place and saw dents on the surface of linoleum, do not despair right away. Fortunately, today thanks to repeatedly tested methods, it is possible to achieve the initial appearance of this coating without resorting to its complete replacement. Further, each of these methods we will consider in more detail.

Conservative ways

In order to remove dents from furniture on linoleum, you can use the tools that you will definitely find in everyday life.

Important! Pay attention to the fact that the effectiveness of conservative methods depends entirely on the degree of damage to the surface of linoleum.

These methods, although simple to implement, nevertheless require accuracy and patience. The most popular and effective include:

• Weight. This is a great way to remove small defects from linoleum. You need to roll this subject over bumps for some time. Particular attention should be paid to the edges of the recesses.
• Heavy roller and hair dryer. Thanks to heating the surface with a hairdryer, linoleum becomes softer and more pliable for further exposure.In this case, as in the previous method, a roller or other heavy object must be carefully rolled over the heated coating. This method, although effective, but quite lengthy, so be prepared for the fact that you have to tinker with at least an hour.

Important! Pay attention to the fact that the surface needs to be warmed up well, only very carefully so as not to melt the linoleum.

• Roller ammonia and iron. In principle, this method resembles the previous one with a hairdryer. The only difference is that on the floor surface you need to put a rag soaked with ammonia, on top of which it will be possible to attach an iron in order to directly heat the linoleum itself. This is such an effective method that sometimes there were times when it was possible to cope without resorting to using a roller.

Important! If possible, it is best to use an iron with a vaporization function, since thanks to this, the desired effect can be achieved much faster.

• A heavy item and a wide wooden board. The essence of this method is counteraction. To do this, you need to put a board on the damaged area, and on top of it is a heavy and large object, such as a box, a stack of books or a weight. Unfortunately, this method is not suitable for soft material, as in the end you can get even more dents.
• Needle. This is the simplest and most effective method. If the dent is small, you just need to make a puncture in the center of the defect with a needle. Thus, the air will escape and the coating will even out on its own.

Radical methods

If more gentle methods have yielded absolutely no result in the fight against dents, and such visible defects have already begun to “call off” your eyes, you can resort to more radical methods.

Important! Pay your attention to the fact that far from everyone may approach radical methods, therefore you must first carefully think over and choose the one you should resort to.

These include the following:

• Complete dismantling of linoleum with its re-laying, only in the opposite direction. Such a solution is effective only if the room has the correct geometry. Otherwise, you simply ruin everything. Thanks to this method, you can swap the location of deformations so that they simply do not catch the eye.
• Cut a deformed piece. If the dent is very large, you can remove it simply by cutting it out. To implement this method, you need a piece of linoleum of the same color as previously laid, as well as carefully selected according to the drawing. You just need to use a sharp knife to cut out the deformed piece and put a similar one in its place, fixing it to the rough surface with double-sided tape or glue. Of course, such a patch will stand out slightly, but it will not be as noticeable as a large dent.

Important! If desired, you can seal the joints using a method such as “cold welding”, which will make them less noticeable.

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Proper linoleum care

In order not to further wonder how to smooth linoleum from dents, it is very important to establish the correct process of care and maintenance of this coating in advance. We offer you the basic rules for care, adhering to which you can save linoleum in the integrity and safety:

• It is best to purchase furniture on wide legs or special stands.
• If the furniture is rather bulky and heavy, you need to put special felt coasters under its legs. Moreover, the larger their size, the better the weight of large pieces of furniture will be distributed.
• If you have pets, you need to train them from infancy to turning claws in a special claw point from infancy. If you did not succeed, your favorite places in the animal can be treated with whiteness or vinegar.

Important! Although linoleum and withstands the impact of the dog's claws, it is still better to play it safe and purchase special caps.

• Periodically conduct surface treatment with special compounds, such as wax or mastic. They will create a protective layer that will prevent premature abrasion, burnout and significantly increase the operational properties of this decorative coating.
• Before you start cleaning floors, they need to be cleaned from dust of small debris with a vacuum cleaner.
• All stains that have appeared on the surface are best removed immediately so that they do not have time to absorb.
• During cleaning, avoid abrasive detergents, as well as hard sponges and scrapers, as they can scratch and significantly spoil the appearance of the decorative coating.

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Stock footage

Removing various defects from the surface of linoleum is a task, although not difficult, but requiring a lot of patience and dexterity, so as not to spoil the material even more. We hope that our tips will help you not only recreate the old look of this decorative coating, but also to avoid such unpleasant situations in the future.