Many businesses, warehouses, factories, office buildings, and schools throughout the Twin Cities have polished concrete floors. Nearly every day, someone is having their existing floor touched up or they are having a brand new polished concrete floor installed. This brings about a valuable point and that is the soap that should be used for polished concrete floors.

It is true that polished concrete requires very little maintenance. Many times, all you need is a sweep. Regardless of the type of coating, it is important to lay down a maintenance plan that includes the proper chemicals. Unfortunately, many floors have been ruined to the point of needing redone or completely replaced because of maintenance crews that cleaned the floors with the wrong chemicals. While some chemicals may seem safe in your home, they may not do well with the coating that is on the concrete. This is something that is more common with floors that have been dyed and then further protected with a stain sealer product.

Some may say, “just clean that floor with water,” but chances are no one is going to even clean their car with just water, let alone a floor.

Here are some details to help:

• Soap is a surfactant that helps pull dirt out of the floor and helps the mop or cleaning pad glide over the surface easier. Most soaps also have a complete system for polished concrete floors. There are even some that have small amounts of densifier to make sure the floor remains as hard as possible, thus offering more durability and abrasion resistance.
• There are soaps that are made to work well with the protectant that is put on polished concrete floors. This is typically known as a “guard.”
• With any polished concrete floor, it is highly suggested to simply go with what the manufacturer’s instructions are or the chemical that was used to densify and harden the floor. Sticking to the manufacturer’s soap program will make a significant difference.

While the soap may not be the only thing in the world that is going to keep the floor looking great as long as possible, it is certainly part of the system. You can talk to your Minneapolis and St. Paul polished concrete professionals about what is recommended for the flooring so that you can make sure the flooring lasts as long as possible.

The moment that something happens that the maintenance plan is deviated from, causing damage to the floor, it is best to have it rectified as soon as possible instead of allowing it to persist. That way minimal damage can be taken care of before it becomes major damage and costs more than it would if it was just taken care of early. As long as you are vigilant about your flooring and what is put on it, you can get the most out of your polished concrete floors and ensure that they last as long as possible.