Warehouses, walkways, driveways, garages, factories, and other industrial floors take a lot of abuse. As a result, they tend to wear out faster and soil frequently. They handle everything from foot traffic, machinery movements, tool drops, chemical spills, and many others. This makes it vital to use the best flooring material. Industrial epoxy has proven over the years to perform well as a flooring solution for these floor types. The reason being that epoxy is a durable material that’s easy to clean and maintain.
Just like any other floor, industrial epoxy floors should be well cleaned and maintained to handle the traffic and pressure you throw at it. Here’s how we at Southside Epoxy help property owners with their epoxy floor cleaning.
Clean Away the Debris
Depending on where your industrial property is and what you use it for, you can find debris on its surfaces. Wind can carry papers and leaves to your place and some of the debris might be carried on the tires of vehicles or even your shoes. If you let them be, they disintegrate and become dirt, which poses new challenges. So, pick the leaves and clean away the small objects soiling your floor. Ensure you dump them safely.
Sweep and Mop Dirt and Grit
Sweeping and mopping might seem basic but not many people understand how important it is to clean dirt and grit from floor surfaces. If you move around, drive vehicles, machinery, and carry luggage on and off the floor, you’ll cause scratches and imbed the dirt onto the floor. Besides causing marks on the surfaces, that’s where the dullness of the floor begins as well. You should therefore create a schedule for cleaning your industrial epoxy depending on how easily dirt and grit develop on your floors.
The best way to get rid of dirt on industrial epoxy surfaces is by vacuuming. This method is effective than the manual approach and does the cleaning much faster. You save a lot of time, which is critical especially if you are in a commercial environment. Your vacuum should have a soft brush attached to avoid scratching the floor surfaces. Be cautious particularly when you are about to move stuff.
Spot Clean Whenever There’s Soiling
Accidents happen and you might spill grease, coffee, or any other thing on your floor. If this happens, don’t wait till the scheduled time to clean it. Instead, quickly address the situation by sweeping, vacuuming, or mopping it away. Fortunately, industrial epoxy is resistant to most soiling and will be quick and easy to clean. You can mop away anything that’s water-based and sweep solids. Again vacuuming is the fastest solution you have.
If chemical spillages are involved, ensure you follow the necessary guidelines provided by the manufacture to keep everyone safe during and after spot cleaning.
When the Soiling Needs Thorough Cleaning
Maybe you just moved into this new warehouse and need to clean the floors first to start using it. And the floors have not been cleaned for a while and are heavily soiled. You should start by removing everything that might stand in the way during the cleaning process. Get rid of the junk and all the things you can see. Sweep and Vacuum the entire floor to remove all the loose particles on the surface.
Then get a hard form mop plus warm water to scrub away the stuck dirt and grime. Make the floor clean as much as possible. Then get a mix of water and ammonia (for every gallon of hot water, use three ounces of ammonia). That should be able to get rid of all the staining to make the epoxy floor shiny as new.
Don’t Use Soap-Based Cleaners
It might be tempting to clean industrial epoxy floors using soap because it’s easily available and works well for other floor solutions. But you shouldn’t because when you clean with soap, it leaves behind a haze over the floor that builds up with time to cover the gloss of your floors. If you must use soap, find soft soap (with a neutral PH) to scrub away the most stubborn soiling. You should later thoroughly clean away any residue left behind to be sure you are not exposing your floor to cosmetic damage.
Get Rid of Stains
Though epoxy is resistant to staining, if you mishandle it you might find rust and other types of staining on some areas. And tough stains like rust need some scrubbing to detach from surfaces. Use a scrubbing sponge plus warm water by rubbing them against the stain until it fades away. You don’t have to use harsh chemicals like comet or abrasives like steel wool because they can damage the floor. Also, avoid any cleaning agents with citrus and acids. These ones don’t just scratch the surfaces of your floor but react with the epoxy catalysts to damage the floor.
Don’t Allow Car Chemicals, Oils, and Other Chemicals to Stay Too Long
If you work with chemicals like paint, household cleaners, or use your vehicles over your industrial epoxy floor, then chances are high that chemicals, gas, or engine oils spill on the floors. The best way to deal with these is by spot cleaning immediately you notice them. Chemicals will tend to react with the floor surfaces and dent them or completely damage them in case they react. Shop towels do this perfectly. But as mentioned before, make sure you understand which chemical you are dealing with and treat it appropriately to avoid hurting yourself and those around you.
Protect the Floor Against Damage
While we put our confidence in industrial epoxy to be very durable and easy to clean, preventing unnecessary soiling and damage is important. For instance, if your floor or part of it is used for welding projects, you should lay welding mats over it to keep the floor in top shape. And if your floor is going to handle heavy loads, use plywood to shield it against the weight.
Should Industrial Epoxy Peel or Chip?
Ideally, a properly installed epoxy floor should never chip or peel. It chemically bonds to the concrete surface and cures to form a very durable covering that should never dent if you clean and maintain it regularly. The contractor installing your industrial epoxy should recommend high-quality epoxy resins and do a good job installing them. The concrete slab needs to be ground down and prepped properly before epoxy installation for quality outcomes.
Invite Southside Epoxy Experts to Install and Clean Industrial Epoxy
Choosing epoxy for flooring your commercial or industrial space is a great idea. You just need to make sure the quality epoxy products are installed properly to handle all the heavy work and traffic you expect on your property. If the installation happens accordingly, you can expect cleaning and maintaining your floors to be easy. At Southside Epoxy, we offer both installation and cleaning services. What makes us different is our skilled workforce, industrial-grade equipment, and years of successful work.
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