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I agree. What a great surprise! Most linoleum that is unearthed is an eye sore. I also second the Ajax. It works every time. Good Luck!

wow!!! This is so cool!

Good luck! Please post again and let us know how it works out!

It's going to be fabulous. Please send "after" photos.

Theres a great How-To on retrorenovation.com about how to clean and restore vintage linoleum floors.

Congrats and Good Luck!

Second the "after" photos!
So exited, hope it will be clean and white!

Neat! I agree--send in pictures of the results!

I love that design! What a cool discovery.

*SO* cool! Does anyone know of a company that makes reproduction linoleum? I want to do a retro laundry room and this is an inspiration!

That is some very cool linoleum! I'm glad someone who can appreciate it discovered it. Most people would get rid of it. I hope you can get it looking back to new so you can use it!

What a great find! As with the other posters, I would love to see the "after" pictures as well.

I'd love to see how you style the bedroom with that cool floor!

oooo yes I want to see the "after" as well!

Ummm...that is the most awesome linoleum EVER. Lucky! I hope you can get it all spiffy again!

cool! I hope you can get it clean!

I am so glad you asked this question! I have linoleum in my kitchen. It is not good looking, but I can live with it. What I have not been able to live with is how dirty it always looks, I thought the only solution was getting rid of it at this point! And of course, I have been using Mr. Clean on it! I hope this trick works for my kitchen too! Thank you for the help!

I have a friend who thinks WD-40 can clean anything. Who knows?

AMAZING FLOOR!!! So glad you chose to restore it!!
Contact this place for info about cleaning/maintainence :
Linoleum Ciity
linoleumcity.com

They've been in biz for 60 years here in Hollywood, Ca. They're open to the public and cater to the movie/TV biz. They know EVERYTHING possible about linoleum.

Good luck!!

What a great find--can't wait to see it later!
I was considering getting new linoleum for my kitchen (which currently has peel n stick vinyl tiles on cement), but I read it can have a strong aroma and I am highly sensitive to odors. Also, considering installation issues I am thinking tile may be more prudent.
Any linoleum aficionados out there with new installation?

How cool! I agree with you about trying to keep it.

years ago, my mom and I were helping my grandfather clean out his house and giving it a very thorough scrubdown. in the kitchen, there was linoleum from the 60s that was very dingy and yellow. we scrubbed and scrubbed with cleaning products we'd brought with minimal results. then we started nosing around his cupboards and found a box of very old ajax-type powder cleaner (possibly also from the 60s). we started using that and it looked great in no time. it was probably terribly toxic or something, but at that point we were just happy to see the original colors of the floor!

I swear I read somewhere that linoleum could be sanded, but I could not track down that tidbit. Maybe that is why the abrasive ajax works? (Something to do with the color being throughout the material instead of stamped on top)

Oh that is aMAZing! If any of the old glue is still sticky, you might want to try some GoofOff or similar adhesive-remover before the scrubbing commences. Also, for the old paint splatters, I'd try covering them with a very wet sponge for a while, and then see if you can scrape/pop them off with a plastic scraper (or a razor-blade scraper, if you're both desperate and very careful). I'm betting you can get that floor looking good again...but if you end up with any unfixable areas, just throw a fun-shaped rug over it. That pattern is just way too cool to cover up.

ValHalla- check out Marmoleum http://www.forbo-industries.com/ we had it installed in our kitchen, the roll did have a slightly plasticky odor when we picked it up, but it dissapated in literally hours, zero smell/odor once installed. Lots of great patterns (though nothing as fantastic as those starbursts) but lots of installers can do cut out type embellishments that are similar.

Hi everyone!! Thank you so much for all of the suggestions. I did try the Goof-off and that didn't seem to work, but I'm going to buy some Ajax after work... I've never been so excited to clean & scrub. I will definitely post pics again when it's complete.

Another quick question:
I noticed above that Gregory suggests using vinegar after rinsing the bleach away in order to neutralize it.... won't this cause a toxic cloud of fumes???

You might try a more gentle brand of powder cleanser first (like Bon Ami) and only move on to Ajax if it does not do the trick.

sara565, I think it's bleach and ammonia that cause the toxic gases.

Be caareful with those abrasive cleansers! I installed real linoleum in my kitchen recently, and adore it (made by Armstrong. No chemical odor and made just like it originally was, so it's easy on the envirornment).

Please proceed carefully. These floors can seriously scratch from scrubbing with texturized cleansers like Ajax!
You'll cry if your efforts backfire. And so will I.

Yeah, it's bleach and ammonia that you should never, ever mix. Household bleach contains sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), ammonia is NH3 (pretend that 3 is a subscript). Mix them together in equal molarities, and you get NaONH3... and Cl2, chlorine gas, one of the most toxic gases around. (To make things more fun, if you try to add water, you get hydrochloric acid.) If you mix them three parts bleach to one of ammonia, you get sodium hydroxide and NCl3 - and nitrogen trichloride is not only poisonous but a volatile explosive. Yet another reaction can produce hydrazine - and a STRONGLY exothermic reaction. Meaning it's ALSO liable to explode in your face.

There you have it! Three ways mixing bleach and ammonia can kill you.

As far as I know, ammonia and vinegar (ethanoic, or acetic acid) shouldn't produce anything too nasty, but don't quote me on that.

Back on topic, that lino is FABULOUS ^_^

I had beautiful vintage lino under an archeological dig of flooring, but they had glued, screwed and nailed through so many times it was destroyed. So sad.

I suppose that if it's too damaged to save, you might be able to rescue a few sections and frame them as art. It would be interesting, anyway!

pdx-R: Thanks so much for the info on the forbo (esp the reassurance that the odor dissipates). I looked at it in a showroom this weekend and was blown away.