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I'm trying to remove these brown bicycle tire marks from my kitchen floor (see pictures). I've searched the internet and I have tried the following recommendations:

  • White spirit
  • Bike degreaser (Muc-off)
  • WD-40
  • Soda crystals
  • Scrubbed using abrasive scourer
  • Flash Magic Eraser
  • Rubbing alcohol
  • Bleach

However, nothing has worked at - not even slightly. It looks like the stains may be permanent, but as I have nothing to lose (rented flat) I'm willing to try anything in order to reduce the stains and salvage some of my deposit.

I have two questions:

  1. Is there anything/product that may help that I have not yet tried?
  2. Is this actually vinyl flooring? The floor seems to be a continuous material, where I have seen vinyl flooring on the internet as square blocks that are fitted together.

enter image description here

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  • Most vinyl flooring is installed in a 6' wide sheet. You may have one with a urethane wear layer on top. The problem with rubber stains is that you're dealing with natural oils that (presumably) soak in and stain. I'm not sure what will help here.
    – isherwood
    Commented Mar 7, 2017 at 15:41
  • Try concentrated orange oil.
    – Jim Stewart
    Commented Mar 7, 2017 at 20:15
  • 1
    You may want to follow the Housework Stack Exchange site in Area 51.
    – Notts90
    Commented Mar 14, 2017 at 13:01
  • Only other things I might try is using a pink eraser or maybe brake cleaner? You may want to be careful with the brake cleaner though. Maybe try it on a portion of your floor that isn't seen to make sure it doesn't harm your floor.
    – bigmike7801
    Commented Mar 14, 2017 at 18:52
  • Goof Off is likely to remove it.
    – fixer1234
    Commented May 28, 2017 at 11:41

7 Answers 7

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I too had tire marks on my PVC floor. After trying everything, I found a solution. It's a bit cumbersome but yielded a positive result. You'll need hydrogen peroxide and a UV lamp.

I applied a cream containing hydrogen peroxide to the affected areas. You can buy such a cream at a hairdressing supply store. Normally, it's used to lighten hair. Then, I exposed the areas to a UV lamp. I did this for about 10 days and reapplied the cream once a day.

The stains became progressively less visible and eventually almost disappeared. I'm satisfied with the outcome.

Before: Before

After: After

If anyone is curious about how I came up with this idea: A similar method is used to whiten yellowed plastic. It's called Retrobright.

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Since you have nothing to lose at this point. Try making a baking soda paste and smothering it on a stain. Keep it there for a day or two. Then try to rub/scrub it off (non abrasive scrubber).

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acetone. it gets most rubbers off of most surfaces. try an inconspicuous corner somewhere first to ensure the acetone doesn't attack the flooring surface.

just curious how you got brown bicycle tire marks all over your kitchen floor? since most bicycle tires leave black marks, are you sure they are from a bike tire?

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  • Nothing worked! I got off incredibly lightly with a £25 charge out of the deposit.
    – nf313743
    Commented Jul 14, 2017 at 13:44
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I think its linoleum not vinyl flooring.

Try Turpentine or kerosene or silver polish or linseed oil or paste wax... Scrub with steel wool.

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  • TBH, it's highly unlikely that it's linoleum unless it's really old or in a hospital. Many people call it "linoleum", but it's actually usually vinyl flooring. Real linoleum is antimicrobial (because of the linseed oil, apparently) and is commonly used in hospitals because of that.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Aug 11, 2021 at 13:01
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Old post but if you're going to try everything I did not see lighter fluid a/k/a naphtha mentioned. I've used it on stains before.

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The only things I see you haven't tried are vinegar and nail polish remover. With the vinegar - just put some on the stain let it sit a bit, then wipe off. I'm not sure it'll help you as you already tried bleach. About the acetone in the nail polish remover, I'm more optimistic - it cleans everything (just first test it on a part of the vinyl that is hidden under a cupboard or something so you know you won't damage further). Good luck! :)

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After trying everything list (except for silver polish) I gave up. There wasn't a single product that could removed the stain even slightly. I have to assume that the stains are permanent.

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