Cleaning Polished Concrete
PennCoat, Inc. installs beautiful Polished concrete floors that require zero coatings, and utilize the color and aggregate embedded within the concrete. They leave a high gloss sheen that can create a presentable facility, that also improves light reflection within the building. Additionally, polished concrete floors are very maintenance friendly, that doesn’t involve the upkeep that typical epoxy or urethane cement floors demand. Here is a polished concrete floor that PennCoat recently installed.
But what are these low-maintenance requirements? There are daily, weekly, and even by-annual suggestions on how much care you’ll need to provide to keep your floors presentable and fresh.
Polished Concrete Maintenance Daily Suggestions –
You’ll want to clean the floors with a dust mop or a microfiber dust mop. Dirt and debris will start to collect on the floors, and when people walk on the debris, it’ll act like sandpaper against the floor. So it’s important to try to keep up with the daily dust mopping.
Polished Concrete Maintenance Weekly Suggestions –
Wet mop using clean water mixed with either a neutral floor cleaner or a lithium silicate cleaner. We have a local rep at Hillyard that recommends the Hillyard Top Clean (neutral floor cleaner) for polished concrete floors. This product won’t harm the floors, and it will help maintain the gloss. But personally, I’d go with a lithium silicate cleaner. Lithium silicate is the same chemical in the densifier that reacts with the concrete to gradually increase its hardness over time. So when you clean with a lithium silicate cleaner, it will clean the floors, while increasing the density of the floors, which is a critical feature for polished concrete floors. Here is the lithium silicate cleaner that we recommend: Ameripolish PoliSmart CS Rejuvenating Cleaner
You’ll want to apply either cleaner, and allow it to sit on the floor long enough to suspend the dust and dirt from the floor. But don’t let it sit long enough so that it dries on the surface. If you want to use an autoscrubber, be sure to use nonabrasive polishing pads.
Do not use any degreasers or acid cleaners on the floor! They will harm the floor and erode the densifier.
Bi-annual suggestions –
This isn’t as critical as the daily and weekly suggestions. But, to help return the luster that gets worn down over time, we recommend reburnishing the floor. So you’d want to apply the H&C Lithium Protective Finish with a pump spray, and then burnish with a high-speed propane burnisher. This is something we can do if you don’t feel like getting a burnisher and diamond impregnated burnishing pads.
Overall, maintaining your polished concrete floors will help preserve the longevity and performance of the floors. The light will remain reflective, the floors will sustain their hardness, and the overall presentation will continue to offer the same performance when the floors were initially completed.
PennCoat, Inc. has been providing industrial painting, commercial painting, epoxy flooring, and polished concrete services for nearly 30 years. Our experienced installers are trained and equipped with the proper knowledge and tools to ensure that every installation is installed efficiently and safely. PennCoat, Inc. provides service to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware. And we cover York, Lancaster, Philadelphia, Chester, Montgomery, Baltimore, Harrisburg, Dauphin, Bucks, Berks, and other counties in the surrounding area.