While it may seem like a challenging task if you haven’t done it before, cleaning polished concrete floors is really pretty simple. A little care and common sense are a good start, but there are a few basic rules unique to polished concrete that you need to follow to ensure a long, strong lifespan for your concrete floors.
Just like maintaining any other major investment – say, an automobile – when you honor routine, scheduled maintenance steps, you usually won’t encounter major problems for a long time.
Without further ado, here are the do’s and don’ts of cleaning polished concrete floors:
Do:
- Use a dry dust mop daily to sweep up dust and debris.
- Wet mop the concrete at least weekly; plain water will usually do just fine.
- Always use a pH-neutral detergent when you do feel that soap is necessary.
- Always rinse with water after using a detergent on the concrete.
- Use cotton mops and towels whenever possible to clean the floor or wipe up spills.
- Consider having a fresh coat of stain guard applied every three years.
- Also consider having the floor re-polished every five years. The actual need for new polish will depend on how much traffic the floor gets, and how dull the coating looks.
Don’t:
- Use everyday floor cleaning products on polished concrete; always select a pH-neutral cleaner.
- Use scouring pads or steel wool to try to clean concrete floors; it’s unnecessary and will wear down the protective coatings on the concrete.
- Use mops or towels made of synthetic materials; these can also wear down the concrete polish.
- Use ammonia, vinegar, bleach, muriatic acid, or other harsh cleaners on concrete floors.
- Leave spilled liquids sitting on polished concrete; eventually, the liquid can seep into the concrete and stain it.
Unless your building experiences very high traffic, you can probably get away with a quick dust mopping most days. Wiping up spills promptly will also go a long way toward maintaining the beauty and luster of your polished concrete. During rainy or snowy seasons, you may consider placing rubber mats at entryways to prevent those areas of the concrete from being stained with repeated wet shoe traffic. Carefully selecting your cleaning products and equipment will also help keep your concrete looking great for a long time.
If you have a polished concrete floor, Titus Restoration can help you maintain it. We can seal and polish bare concrete floors, or we can establish a care plan for existing polished concrete floors. We are also happy to recommend high-quality, pH-neutral products for cleaning your polished concrete floors
Whatever your needs are, Titus Restoration can help. Call us toll-free at 888-569-3914 with your questions about cleaning polished concrete floors.