It’s best to steam clean concrete floors if you want an efficient cleaning alternative. While there are a bunch of alternate methods of cleaning concrete floors, steaming cleaning remains the best. This gives your home an elegant and professional look.
Concrete floors are very popular in homes, hotels, industries, and retail spaces. Even if you don’t have one in your home, your garage or patio should. Even though concrete floors can be very durable, no floor is resistant to stain and dirt.
Read: Best way to clean stained concrete floor
How to steam clean concrete floors
Table of Contents
Step 1. Vacuum the flooring then steam clean the floor using a cleaning head. If you encounter a heavy stain then it’s advised to use a microfiber cover on your steam cleaner.
Step 2. Clean corners and baseboards using a nylon brush. Tackle grouts, joint lines using a jet nozzle, or a metal brush. You can then finish the floor cleaning using the microfiber attachment on your steam cleaner.
There are three major ways of cleaning concrete floors. We have chemical, mechanical, and steam cleaning method. Steam cleaning seems to be the best of all methods mentioned for dirt removal on concrete floors.
There are a lot of chemical products out there but concrete is porous thereby not allowing this chemical to reach the entirety of the stain.
This limits the chemical to just the surface of the concrete floor. Some chemical processes can even make the stain worse by causing further stain.
This is where a steam cleaner comes in, a steam cleaner penetrates to the thinnest of the crevices to lift dirt, grease, gums, stains, etc.
Read: How to clean grease off hardwood floor
How Steam Cleaning Concrete Floors Works
Concrete floors can be steam cleaned using a water steamer process. The surface of the floor is cleaned with low water pressure.
Steam floor cleaners are readily available for purchase or rental purposes or as a homeowner, you can use a professional steam cleaning services.
Steam cleaning concrete floor doesn’t have any negative impact on the floor but ensure to clean the surface when there’s a likelihood of temperature change before it dries.
Cleaning Standard Concrete
It is advised to sweep or vacuum standard concrete to remove debris or dirt. Get a water hose with a spray attachment and set it to its strongest settings.
Using broad strokes, spray the floor and while the surface is wet, sprinkle it with a nonabrasive cleaner. Get a push broom and scrub the floor then rinse using the water hose and spray attachment, allow to dry.
Cleaning Decorative Concrete
Decorative concrete floors are stained with a specific color accent and have gained popularity due to its durability and resistance. The best way to maintain this surface is to regularly sweep with a broom to remove dirt and debris.
Fine particles can be removed using a dust mop. Simply mix a gallon of water with a dish soap into a bucket, dampen the mop and clean small sections of the concrete floor. Repeat this process for the entire floor, rinse and wring out the mop during this process.
Once you’re done mopping, empty the bucket and refill with clean, warm water for rinsing. Mop floor again to clean soap residue.
Read: How to clean rough concrete floor
Cleaning Stains
Even after cleaning concrete floors, some stain remains. To remove these oil stains, apply bleach to the area, and allow to sit for about 20 minutes. Once the time elapses, scrub the area then rinse.
As for a grease stain on a standard concrete floor, spread the area with fresh kitty litter, and allow to sit for 3 days. After that, sweep the area using a wet/dry vacuum cleaner.
If a kitty litter doesn’t work, you can alternatively use a dry concrete mix, allow to sit for 3 days then vacuum away.
FAQ: Can You Steam Clean Concrete Floors?
Yes, you can steam clean concrete floors. Are you planning on steam cleaning your garage or patio floor? Then you’re good to go. If you plan on cleaning a decorative concrete, we’ve also got a guide on them.
Note
Steam cleaning concrete floors using a moderate-to-high pressure water blasting technique and low blasting pressure and steam and very efficient yet simple.
Regardless of being simple, this technique needs to be carried out by steam cleaning professionals.
Water-cleaning steam cleaning method is a lot friendly with concrete floors and is least harmful to the surface of the floor.
That said, there’s still a possibility of damage if the concrete floor goes through a temperature change while wet.
Before you decide to clean a concrete floor with a steam cleaner, make sure it works for that particular spot. The same applies to other methods of cleaning concrete floors.
For example, mechanical cleaning method isn’t needed if there is nothing wrong with the concrete floor or if the floor lack stains.
We’ve written a complete guide on the best steam mop for a perfect shiny floor. Check it out and make your choice based on the feature that suits your need.
Read: How to clean oil off garage floor
Conclusion
Steam cleaning is popularly known to be the most efficient method of cleaning a concrete floor, yet simple.
This makes concrete a good choice due to its durability and affordability, compared to other flooring types. As long as you clean your floor regularly, spots and stains shouldn’t be a problem.