How to Clean Concrete Floors and Maintain Concrete Floor Coatings
If you want your concrete floors to stand the test of time, you must look after them regularly. Though concrete is durable, its porous nature makes it prone to moisture intrusion, chemical damage, abrasion, fracturing, and more. Without proper protection, your concrete floors will require significant maintenance and repairs – even the most rigorous cleaning schedule won’t be able to keep up with all the factors that threaten them. But even after you shield your concrete flooring with quality coatings, you cannot let your guard down. The more you care for these coatings, the longer they’ll protect the concrete underneath.
Here, we’ll outline how to clean concrete floors and maintain concrete floor coatings so you can enjoy sturdy, beautiful floors for decades to come.
Start By Removing Dust
Dust is an unavoidable nuisance for any type of flooring. Even the most dust-resistant floor coatings will accumulate dust over time, just at a much slower rate than their non-dustproof counterparts. If allowed to linger, dust particles and other debris can scratch your concrete floor coatings, creating shallow grooves for more dust to settle in. Enough of this activity can shed the sheen of your initial floor coating, prompting a resurfacing job that may cost significant time and money. So, it’s best to pick up the dust and dirt as quickly as possible. Quality dust mops and microfiber cloths will do the trick, quickly picking up particles with the aid of static. And if your floor features joints, vacuum inside these nooks and crannies to pick up any dirt and debris that’s ended up in them.
Wet Clean Periodically
Removing dust and other small particles from your floors is important, but this task alone won’t truly clean your floors or neutralize any bacteria that might be hanging out on its surface. This is where wet cleaning comes in – and the right materials and methods matter. At the very least, you’ll want hot water and a mop on hand. As for your cleaning solutions, you must avoid any substances that might corrode your coatings (steer clear of acidic solutions). Soap-based cleaners should be avoided as well, as they can leave a streaky film of residue behind after the fact and make your floors slicker. The best cleaning solutions are pH neutral and streak-free. Finish your wet clean job by rinsing your floors with clean water and allowing them to dry. It’s best to mop and rinse your floors about once every two weeks.
Be Prepared to Spot Clean
When your concrete floors are well-protected by durable coatings, semi-regular sweeping/dusting and wet cleaning will make up the majority of your maintenance tasks. Still, accidents happen, so you must be prepared to clean up spills on the spot. If you wait too long to pick up a spill, it can turn into a stubborn stain and do long-term damage to your concrete floors and coatings. Fortunately, most liquid spills are easy to pick up if your floors are covered with epoxy concrete floor paint, polyurea coatings, or other moisture-resistant coatings of similar quality. Sometimes a rag and some warm water are all you need to make a simple liquid spill go away (even if it’s a chemical or oil spill). Dry spills can be easily cleaned up via vacuuming and dusting.
Scrub Stains Away Strategically
If your floors do suffer stains, don’t fret – there are ways to remove them. Once again, however, you must be careful not to scratch or otherwise damage your coatings or the concrete underneath. Some scrubbing will be required to lift these stains, but don’t opt for steel wool or harsh chemicals for the job. Rather, start with warm water and a soft kitchen sponge. If this method doesn’t work right away, repeat the process by continuing to wash and scrub the stain. You might need to graduate to more abrasive methods if all else fails, but starting gently will minimize damage to your floors and still get the job done in most cases (especially if your floor coatings are stain-resistant).
Invest in Low-Maintenance Concrete Floor Coatings
Periodic cleaning is part of the deal with any floor, but the less time you have to spend on concrete floor cleaning, the better. This is why it’s wise to invest in highly durable, low-maintenance concrete floor coatings from the very beginning. At Anderson Painting, we recommend and install Penntek polyurea coatings for Raleigh, NC, homes and businesses. These floor coating systems offer superior durability, low maintenance, customization, and more.
To learn more about us and all we do, call today at 919-610-1855 or email us at info@andersonpaintingnc.com!
