Alright folks, so this morning I tackled cleaning up the rubber flooring in the home gym. Seriously, it needed it. Looked like someone spilled a smoothie weeks ago and just pretended it didn't happen. Big sticky patch right near the treadmill. Grimy stuff.

First Up: Just Trying to Scrub

My first thought? "Easy, bucket of hot water and a stiff brush." Figured some elbow grease would do the trick. Ha. Nope. Got down on my knees and started scrubbing. Felt like scrubbing forever on that smoothie spot. Barely made a dent. The stuff was stuck good. Annoying. Felt pretty pointless after ten minutes of scrubbing hard for basically zero results.

Then I remembered my trusty old vacuum – the one with the brush attachment. Dragged that out. Whirred around the whole floor surface real quick. Picked up dust, little bits of rubber mulch, crumbs, the usual stuff you don't see until you zoom in. Good first step. Definitely needed doing.

Breaking Out the Machine

Seeing the brush wasn't cutting it, I hauled out my rotary floor scrubber. Not the giant industrial type, just a decent one for the garage and gym. Needed to use it smart on the rubber though. First, grabbed my usual cleaning solution. Poured a capful into the machine's clean water tank. Filled it up with warm water. Secured the pads – used a medium-grit blue pad first. Didn't want to chew up the rubber.

Started the machine. Gentle pressure. Slowly pushed it over that stubborn smoothie patch. Went over it multiple times. Saw the pad instantly getting dirty. Okay, progress! It was definitely lifting stuff off. Good sign. Went over the whole gym floor twice with this method. Tank water got seriously cloudy fast.

Okay, That Didn't Get It All...

Pulled the machine off. Floor was wet. Took a towel and started drying it down. Halfway done and... huh. The smoothie patch was still faintly visible. Just a shadow of its former self, but enough to annoy me. Still sticky too. Not perfect.

Thought, "Fine, you win." Dug deeper into the cleaning supplies. Found this specialized rubber floor stripper solution I'd bought ages ago. Okay, let's try the big guns. Mixed it according to the tiny label instructions into a spray bottle with warm water. Sprayed a good amount right onto the leftover patch.

Put a fresh blue pad on the scrubber. This time, used a bit more pressure than before. Really worked the spray into that one specific spot. Kept the machine moving though, didn't let it sit. Circled the pad right over the gunk. Watched like a hawk. This time... bam. Sticky residue just melted away. Satisfying!

The Final Touches & What Actually Worked

Wiped the whole floor down again with fresh towels. Made sure it was bone dry. Then, just for good measure and to bring back that nice matte finish rubber has? Damped a microfiber cloth lightly and wiped it over the entire surface one last time. Not soaking wet, just damp. Helped pick up any leftover streaks and made the surface look even.

Final result? Spotless. Smoothie ghost banished. Rubber feels clean and looks great. No residue.

My top two tips hammered home today:

• Vacuum First. Skip it and you're just pushing dirt around. Big mistake.
• Be Gentle First, Pull Out the Chemicals Only When Needed. My usual solution on its own didn't kill the deep gunk. The specific stripper stuff did. But start mild! Those pads do work wonders on surface grime if you're patient. Only bring out the heavy-duty spray for the truly stubborn stuff.