Polished concrete floors are sustainable and incredibly durable, to a point, but they’re not maintenance-free! When spills occur, immediate cleanup is important to prevent staining or damage to the polished floor surface. Unfortunately, we don’t always have the luxury of knowing when a liquid has spilled on a polished concrete surface and, when left behind, some liquids have the potential to etch through the surface polish allowing stains or other damage to the floor to occur.
In the event that you do know something has spilled on the floor, it’s important to clean the spill up as quickly and efficiently as possible in order to reduce the potentially damaging impact to the floor. Acidic liquids can be especially damaging to polished concrete floors. In Houston, if your polished concrete flooring has had a spill of any sort, immediate cleaning is important. Consider these tips for stain and spill cleanup if you have polished concrete floors.
Watch for Acidic Food & Beverage Spills
You might not immediately realize what beverages have acidity to them, but learning to recognize acidic liquids can help you to prevent serious damage to your floors. Acidic foods such as milk, cola products, pickles and even mustard can cause serious damage to a polished concrete floor. Left behind, the acidity can etch through the polished concrete surface causing damage that requires professional repair.
If this type of spill occurs, clean the excess up as quickly as possible. Then use clean water or a concrete cleaner to wash away any additional liquid to prevent acid etching on the surface of your floor.
Clean Alkaline Spills Quickly
Your concrete flooring installer will probably make you aware of the alkalinity in certain cleaning agents or household products. Like acidic spills, alkaline spills must be cleaned quickly in order to prevent damage to the concrete surface. Soaps, including laundry detergents and ammonia based products have high alkalinity which can result in damage to the high gloss finish of a polished concrete floor.
Clean Grease & Oil Spills to Prevent Staining
Grease, oil and things like brake fluids may be spilled on polished concrete garage floors and in workshops. When this occurs, it’s important to soak up as much of the fresh grease or oil as possible to prevent surface staining. Oil and grease remover can be used by a professional to remove any added staining on the concrete surface while deeper stains may require multiple surface level cleanings for complete removal.
Cleaning Water Spots
When water is left behind on a polished concrete floor there is potential for spotting, especially when the water is from rain or other natural elements. To remove water spots from polished concrete floors, burnishing the surface may be required. Contact a professional Houston polished concrete flooring specialist for assistance in refreshing the high gloss finish of a concrete floor surface that has hard water spots.
