No matter who you are, everyone loves a flooring that is both easy to clean on a daily basis and maintain when the time arises. Epoxy flooring takes both of those benefits and makes it much easier to maintain than any other flooring on the market today. So, you just had your epoxy flooring installed and have waited the 72 hour cure period for cleaning or maybe you’ve had your epoxy flooring system for years and want a refresher, no matter what we have all the knowledge to care for your epoxy the way it deserves down below:
The first step in the maintenance of your epoxy flooring is the removal of all large and small foreign objects that have found their way onto the flooring system. Where larger objects can be picked up by hand to avoid scratches from dragging, smaller objects should be swept using a soft bristle broom or dust mop. We recommend the soft bristle sweeping device as they are much more efficient at cleaning smaller objects like dirt and dust than the stiff bristle broom. A stiff bristle broom can even scratch the surface of the epoxy.
After all of the foreign objects have been removed, we can move on to the next step which is the cleaning of the epoxy floor coating. This can be done in many different ways but don’t worry, we are going to cover the most popular. To start off, we are going to talk about the most basic and well know, the standard wet mop. With a standard wet mop, the process is very straight forward but there are some things that you should avoid doing to keep your flooring in pristine condition.
For one, avoid overworking areas in the flooring as overworking the top coat can make it dull compared to the glossy finish of the rest of the flooring system. The other thing to look out for when mopping the flooring is using unknown cleaning agents on your flooring. While our contractor will leave you a list of approved cleaners, always test products that are not mentioned on the list. To test products, simply mask off a small portion of the flooring in a hidden area like a corner, under furniture or machinery. Apply a small amount of the chemical and leave it for five minutes. If the chemical leaves the flooring unchanged, your good to go but look out for bubbling, cloudiness in the top coat and any peeling of the top coat.
A way that you can clean your garage floor epoxy is very simple and time-saving as well. If you don’t have any objects in the garage that can be affected by moisture, you can simply use your garden hose to wash down your epoxy. Just like mopping, make sure to keep the hose moving as over rinsing an area will also turn the top coat dull. Also, make sure that your water isn’t too hot, water should be under 115 degrees F to avoid delamination. You can either air dry the flooring if time is not an issue or you can use leaf blowers, towels or a squeegee to dry off the flooring in a time pinch.
What about stains that stick around after the initial maintenance? Don’t worry, they are not a big deal with epoxy flooring! To remove the pesky stains that stick around, we recommend that you use a mixture of warm water and a cleaner known as CLR in a bucket with a nylon brush. To remove the stain, apply some of the CLR mixtures to the stain and work the nylon brush on the stain with circular motions and the stain won’t last long!
Now that you know all the tips and tricks for maintaining your epoxy flooring system, you are well on the way to a system that can last your home or facility well over 30 years! Keep up the good work!