How To Care For Your Polished Concrete Floors – Maintenance & Cleaning

If you have recently installed polished concrete floors at your business, your home garage or kitchen, chances are you have already noticed the many benefits of this type of flooring. When it comes down to durability and value for money, a polished concrete surface is a great choice and does not require excessive maintenance.

Advantages with polished concrete

Durability and resistance to staining are some of biggest reasons to consider a polished concrete floor. By mechanically polishing a concrete floor the surface will be effectively sealed, making it very difficult for grease, oil or other contaminants to penetrate and get into the pores of the concrete.

But, did you know that a polished concrete floor option is also one of the easiest to care for and maintain, and requires no waxing or sealing? With proper care, a polished concrete floor will not fade or discolour and will last you for decades to come.

By following our easy guide, you will learn how to not only extend the service life of your flooring system, but how to also ensure your floors maintain their rich, vibrant finish.

Avoid Doing This

Here are a few things you need to avoid if you want your polished concrete floor to last as long as possible.

• Don’t use ammonia, bleach, vinegar, hydrochloric acid, or any citrus solution to clean your floor.
• Avoid applying any cleaning agents that are either acidic or alkaline on the pH scale.
• Avoid using rubber products as these can leave permanent marks on the surface of your concrete floor and this includes rubber backed mats and rubber floor protectors.
• When removing dust and dirt from your concrete floor, avoid using a vacuum cleaner. These devices can be abrasive to your floor’s surface.
• Don't let cleaning solutions dry on the surface of the concrete.
• Don't use steam cleaners since they can trap the dirt in your floor’s surface instead of removing it.

And Do It This Way

Dirt can scratch the surface of a concrete floor and make it look dull. 

To keep a concrete floor clean, you should regularly dust mop it to remove dirt. 

• Use a microfibre pad for small dirt particles.
• When wet mopping, use clean water and mops, and a neutral cleaner that suspends dirt.
• Wipe up spills and stains right away to avoid discoloring the floor.
• Give cleaning solutions enough time to break down contaminents before mopping but don't let them dry on the surface.
• Clean one area at a time and move on to the next area once finished.
• For small areas, a mop and a bucket should be enough but for larger areas, you might want use an automatic floor scrubber fitted with a non-abrasive pad. 

How to weekly clean polished concrete

Like with other flooring solutions, you will have to give the floors a general clean on a regular basis (once a week) for best result, or as often as required. High traffic areas of the floor usually need more attention than just regular cleaning. The best product to keep your polished concrete in good condition is a ph neutral cleaning solution followed by clean warm water. Using only water will leave much of the dirt on the floor where it will eventually abrade and discolor the surface.

If you don’t want to use water or floor cleaner in every clean, you can instead use a microfiber dust mop to get rid of any dust or dirt particels. Remember, soil and harsh chemicals act an abrasive and can ruin the clarity and shine of polished concrete, so it’s important to give the floor surface a rigorous go-over every so often.

How to maintain my polished concrete floors

It’s not unusual for many conventional flooring systems to start to chip or crack within only a few years of use. Because the process of concrete polishing involves taking an already durable but porous material and then reduce the porosity of it, polished concrete lasts significantly longer than conventional concrete flooring systems.

With professional concrete flooring installation, regular maintenance and occasional deep cleaning, a polished concrete flooring system can last 20 years or more. To ensure its longevity, you will need to reseal the grind and seal every 2-10 years, depending on the quality of sealer you have selected. If left too long you will need to have the floor re-grinded and sealed again. For mechanically polished concrete solutions you generally only have to reapply the protective sealer every 10 years.

Psst: If you have any cleaning or maintenance worries, our flooring experts can work to develop a customised care and maintenance plan for any system we install.

Polished concrete floors in the Brisbane & Gold Coast area

With the right polished concrete floor supplier and installer, combine with a proper maintenance plan, polished concrete floors can last for two decades or more.

Whether concrete or epoxy, industrial flooring systems last longer when they’re provided and installed by experts. If you are looking for a durable and easy-to-maintain flooring solution, contact Signature Substrates. We offer concrete floor polishing on the Gold Coast and are the leading polished concrete contractors in Brisbane.

Call Queensland's Concrete Floor Professionals on 0423 080 270 or send an enquiry to schedule an assessment and take the first step.