LESLIE: Carol in New York needs some help with a flooring situation. Tell us what’s going on.
TOM: OK.
CAROL: Been down for ten years and it was very white when it was new. I steam-clean it but it’s yellow in the traffic areas. What will whiten it?
TOM: Hmm, OK. Sometimes, after all of those years, you get a chemical reaction from all of the cleaning agents and the dirt gets ground into it and it’s almost impossible to get that to go back to its original color, I’m sorry to say, Carol. If you’re cleaning it the way you describe, then I don’t think that any of that discoloration is the result of any type of dirt that’s on the surface. I think as those products wear, the oxidation that they receive through just exposure to sunlight will make them darken and change color. But that’s a typical wear pattern that you’re describing there, Carol.
I mean the good news is that these linoleum floors, the prices have come way down on the vinyl floors. And so it might just be time, if you’ve gotten ten years out of that, to think about replacing it.
CAROL: Yeah. OK. Well, thank you so much. I enjoy your show.
TOM: Well, thank you very much. Very nice of you to say. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT and good luck with that floor project.
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