PRODUCTS TO USE WHEN CLEANING AND MAINTAINING POLISHED CONCRETE FLOORS

February 21, 2018

Crete Colours International has developed a range of maintenance and cleaning products to be used on any polished concrete flooring surface to maintain, clean and enhance floors, keeping them looking stunning for years to come.

In cleaning hard surface floors there is 3 common ways of cleaning polished concrete floors.

Sweeping on a regular basis depending on traffic volume. Sweeping removes parties that act like sandpaper to polished concrete floors with standard foot traffic.

Mopping is used for spills or smaller areas. The key is to mop up any spills as soon as possible. C2 Maintenance and C2 Clean satchels have been designed to use in a 20L bucket of water where mopping is the best possible method.

Auto Scrubber. Across commercial, industrial and warehouse floors an AutoScrubbber is the most common cleaning tool. Auto scrubbing machines give a strong consistent clean and take 1 -2 of the C2 Maintenance or C2 Clean satchels per clean.

The best cleaning product for polished concrete floors hIperfloor - from All Preparation Equipment

All Preparation Equipment in working with Crete Colours International from America, sister company to Prosoco and Consolideck product lines, this impressive cleaning, maintenance and concrete floor degreasing system offers an effective, affordable cleaning system which can in turn be used on any polished concrete flooring surface

.Advantages of the C2 Crete Colours MAINTENANCE and CLEANING products;

Maintains concrete floor hardness and shine
Flexible dilution for both surface cleaning and deep cleans
Readily biodegradable. Low toxicity.
No rinsing needed for routine surface cleaning of floors.
Available in convenient pre-measured 120mL packages for easy dilution
and use in commercial / industrial cleaning in auto scrubbers
Ideal for use in residential, commercial and industrial
Removes most common soiling

All Preparation Equipment distributes the C2 range of products throughout Australia. With a showroom based in Sydney and Brisbane and an Aust wide freight network you can receive C2 products in a very quick turnaround time.

Talk with one of the team today to discuss how you can be making your cleaning and maintenance of polished concrete floors, more effective.

Maintenance and cleaning products for mechanical polished concrete floors

UNDERSTANDING YOUR FLOOR AND WHAT’S IMPORTANT

Finished Concrete Floors contain reactive sites where calcium hydroxide has been exposed even after the initial finishing. Calcium hydroxide is produced during the concrete hydration process and migrates to the surface of the slab throughout its life. The calcium hydroxide, if not treated, reacts with carbon dioxide to chemically form calcium carbonate, dust, even after densifying and finishing the floor.

New sites are exposed through abrasion normal foot traffic from rocks embedded in shoes, scraping, dropping hard materials, scratching, etc. on the finished concrete floor surface. These new reactive sites need to be treated.

Concrete throughout its life has a pH range of 10–12. Most cleaners on the market are considered neutral, which means they are in the 6-8 pH range. This is considered acidic when the surface has a higher pH range. We recommend a cleaner that includes silicates to react with those sites. C2 MaintenanceTM was developed with a lithium silicate along with neutral pH of 10 to address both situations.

Visually, you cannot see what is happening on the floor. Concrete floors provide numerous advantages, but to maximize the benefit an understanding of the substrate and what it takes is the best way to start. First of all, when a finished concrete surface was decided to be used it provided an immediate saving over the use of floor coverings, not only from an installed cost perspective but environmental value.

Concrete sealer for mechanically polished concrete floors - Shop the Crete Colors chemical cleaning range

First, you need to understand concrete is a reactive material. It has a pH of 10–12. Normal cleaning materials are closer to neutral. Applying a lower pH material will chemically affect the surface and appearance. Even after the initial application of liquid hardeners and protective coatings, the concrete remains reactive.

The reactive sites begin with concrete hydration and generate calcium hydroxide, which is a reactive material. Liquid hardeners react with the calcium hydroxide to make calcium silicate hydrate that is the hard part of concrete. Calcium hydroxide is a very reactive material and if you don’t treat it with liquid hardener then it will react with carbon dioxide and produce calcium carbonate, or dust.

The polishing process provides a series of scratches to the surface in ascending order of fineness till the remaining pattern is uniform and invisible to the naked eye. This is much like sanding wood. You use progressively finer sand paper to make it smoother.

When someone introduces new scratches to the floor a reactive site of calcium hydroxide is revealed and makes the surface appear dull. The “shine” produced by polishing is valued as spectral gloss. Introducing new scratches that are not polished changes the refraction of light and appears as dullness.

Concrete sealer for mechanically polished concrete floors - Shop the Crete Colors chemical cleaning range

The C2 MaintenanceTM was developed with a lithium silicate that reacts with those exposed sites converting them to calcium silicate hydrate and sealing the site. The protective sealer C2 SealTM creates a microfilm on the concrete surface. It is breathable and will allow water to pass both ways through it.

However, standing water should not be allowed for the first 72 hours after installation. If water does stand you need to remove it from the surface immediately. You will see a dark wet spot under the sealer. If it should appear white other action will be required. Otherwise, in 30 minutes to an hour, it should disappear. Other liquids will not penetrate the sealer because of their molecular size. However, if they are left to sit on the surface for some time they may penetrate and will require corrective action.

We recommend during the first 2 weeks of operation, the surface is cleaned every day with an auto- scrubber using C2 MaintenanceTM diluted solution of 120 ml / 10 L of water. If whiting does appear, contact your applicator that will need to burnish the floor.

WHAT WILL AFFECT THE FLOOR?

As we described concrete floor is a reactive surface. Acidic fluids; pickle juice, vinegar, milk, fruit juices, soft drinks, etc.; oils; olive oil, grease, vegetable oil, etc.; water; mineral deposits, spotting, etc.; deicers, rocks from the parking lot via shoes or wheels on carts or tires, etc. These substances do present problems, but most can be mitigated by good housekeeping procedures.