Does your epoxy garage floor need a little attention?
Epoxy flooring is a popular choice for garages for it’s shiny, sleek appearance and durability. But that’s not all. Epoxy floors are also a favorite for the fact that they’re incredibly low maintenance.
Cleaning epoxy garage flooring is a simple task, but there are some things you need to know to ensure you’re doing it correctly. Before you set to work, take a few minutes to check out this comprehensive guide on how to clean your epoxy flooring the right way.
What is Epoxy Flooring?
The first part of effectively cleaning and maintaining your epoxy flooring is to understand what you’re working with.
Epoxy refers to the coating that is applied over concrete, wood, or tile. Concrete is the most popular choice for garage flooring as concrete is already a strong and durable option. With an epoxy layer on top of it, it’s even more resilient.
Epoxy is a combination of resin and hardener mixed together that form a tight bond to the surface it’s applied to.
The hard, shiny, plastic-like surface protects the flooring below while lending additional strength and durability.
Why It’s Important to Clean Your Epoxy Garage Flooring
Cleaning your epoxy garage floors is about more than just keeping them looking nice. Yes, regular cleaning helps to maintain that beautiful shine and professional appearance, but there are a couple of more compelling reasons you shouldn’t slack on this important chore.
Health
A lot of work takes place in garages. From chemicals to dirt and dust, all of these things wind up on the floor.
For those with respiratory conditions such as asthma or allergies, this creates an unhealthy environment that can trigger respiratory events.
Longevity
Keeping your epoxy floors clean significantly increases their lifespan.
As a general rule, epoxy floors are expected to last 2-3 years in a heavily trafficked location. With proper care and routine maintenance, this increases to 10 years.
Cleaning Your Epoxy Garage Flooring
Cleaning these floors really is simple, but there are some important things to keep in mind. Here is a basic breakdown of how often you should clean your flooring and how. This may, of course, be altered if your floors require more cleaning due to the work done in your garage.
Every 3 to 4 Months
Your epoxy garage floor needs to be cleaned every 3 to four months, though it may require more frequent cleanings depending upon the type of work you do in the garage or if you have a high volume of foot traffic.
Start by moving everything off the floor to make it easier to clean.
Next, you’ll need to remove the loose dirt and particles from the floor. You can do this by sweeping or with a shop vac. Follow up with a dust mop to pick up any smaller particles that may have gotten left behind.
Once the floor is clear of dirt and debris, it’s time to mop. Fill a bucket with about a gallon of hot water and add 3 to 5 ounces of ammonia. Ammonia is the best cleaning solution for epoxy floors as it’s gentle enough to not etch the surface and won’t leave a film behind.
Scrub the floors with a mop or microfiber cloth dipped into the ammonia solution. After you’ve cleaned the floor completely, follow up with a rinse. Use a hose to rinse the floors or pour buckets of clean water onto the floor and squeegee the excess away.
Leave the floor undisturbed to air dry or hurry it along faster using clean, dry towels.
Weekly
Sweep and dust mop your epoxy garage flooring a couple of times a week to pick up the dirt and grit.
Epoxy flooring is susceptible to scratching, so it’s important to not leave dirt and grit on the floor for any length of time to be ground into the floor under shoes.
Again, you’ll need to assess the state of your specific floor and decide how often it needs to be swept. If your garage sees a lot of foot traffic or the kind of work that dirties the floor quickly, you may need to consider sweeping daily.
Spot Cleaning
If areas of your floor become dirty in between cleanings, sometimes all that is needed is a simple spot clean.
If the reason for the spot clean is due to a spill, clean up the mess first. Spills on epoxy flooring are fairly easy to remove, due to the water-resilient nature of the epoxy coating.
It’s important to address spills on your flooring as soon as possible. Some chemicals and substances can eventually damage your floor if left to sit for any length of time, in addition to creating potential health problems for those in your garage. Certain chemical spills can lead to headaches, nausea, and respiratory issues.
Some substances that require a little more urgency in addressing include:
Gasoline
Paint
Antifreeze
Abrasive household cleaners
Engine Oil
Carburetor fluid
Diesel
Brake fluid
If batter acid gets on your flooring you’ll need to clean it up as soon as possible this can quickly damage your epoxy coating leading to discoloration.
Be sure to follow any manufacturer’s instructions for cleaning up chemical spills, using gloves and protective gear if necessary. Wait for the area to dry completely.
Next, sweep the soiled area and mop it with the ammonia and water solution. Rinse and let it dry again.
If the area is stained, you’ll want to take specific precautions and care to handle different types of stains.
How to Remove Stains from Epoxy Flooring
Some stains may not come up with a simple cleaning. Garage floors encounter a lot of different substances. Some stains will be harder to remove than others. Some of the more common stains you may encounter are:
Tire Marks
Tire marks are a common sight in busy garages. Get rid of them with a little bit of degreaser.
Apply the degreaser to the stain and let it sit for up to ten minutes. Scrub the area with a brush. If the stain is still there, reapply the degreaser and start again. Repeat until the tire marks are gone.
Once the stain is no longer visible, rinse the area with water and dry it off with a towel.
Rust
Mix a lactic acid-based cleaner, such as CLR with water in equal parts. Use this solution to scrub away the stain with a sponge or a scrub brush.
Don’t let this solution sit on your epoxy flooring for longer than 2 minutes. Rinse the area thoroughly with clean, cold water. Repeat as necessary to eliminate the stain.
Oil and Grease
Oil stains cause epoxy floors to dull over time. Eventually the oil can cause the epoxy to crack and disintegrate, allowing the oil to seep through the epoxy coating and reach the concrete below. This makes it especially important to clean these stains up promptly.
The easiest way to eliminate these common garage floor stains is with a degreaser.
Start by blotting up any oil or grease with paper towels or newspaper to remove as much as possible. It’s important to blot, rather than wipe to avoid spreading the oil any further.
Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for use along with a stiff-bristled brush. Rinse the floor with clean water and allow it to dry. Repeat if needed until the stain is gone.
Special Considerations
Though epoxy coated flooring is lauded for it’s durability and resilience, it isn’t completely impervious to damage. Damage doesn’t always come from heavy objects falling onto it or wear. Sometimes it’s the simple result of improper care. Here are a few important tips to keep in mind when it comes to caring for, and cleaning, epoxy garage floors.
Use The Right Cleaners
While dish soap and water are great for cleaning most things, you’ll want to avoid using soaps and detergents on your epoxy floors. Soap leaves behind residues that not only dull your floors shine, leaving a haze behind, but eventually wears down, and becomes incredibly slippery.
This film also collects dirt and grit, which, if left on the floor can lead to scratches.
Vinegar is another popular cleaning solution. People like vinegar for it’s natural cleaning abilities, but vinegar is acidic. The acidic nature of vinegar is damaging to epoxy, leaving the concrete underneath susceptible to further damage. This is also true of citrus-based cleaners.
Abrasive household cleaners and cleansers made with hash chemicals are also unsafe to use on epoxy flooring as these can scratch or deteriorate the epoxy.
The best cleaners for epoxy flooring are:
- Ammonia
- Simple Green
- Windex
All of these are gentle on the epoxy surface, yet strong enough to remove dirt and grime.
Avoid Abrasives
Abrasive cleaners leave scratches behind on the surface, but they aren’t the only culprit. You’ll also need to be careful of what you’re cleaning with.
Avoid using things like steel wool and coarse bristled brushes are too harsh for epoxy flooring and will leave scratches behind. Instead, use softer, gentler cleaning tools such as microfiber mops, dust mops, and sponges.
Take Some Precautionary Measures
A few simple preventive measures can go a long way when it comes to keeping epoxy garage floors clean and extending their lifespan.
If you weld in your garage, invest in some welding mats to keep the sparks and grit off the floor. Place these anywhere welding may take place.
Place door mats at entryways. Door mats help to catch a lot of the dirt and debris that would otherwise be tracked inside. The more you can keep off the floors, the less you’ll have to worry about cleaning, and the longer your floors will last.
Create a cleaning schedule. One of the best ways to ensure your epoxy floors remain clean and shiny is by regular cleaning. Create a schedule based off how much dirt gets tracked in by work or foot traffic and stick to it.
Pressure Washing
A common question regarding the cleaning of epoxy garage flooring is whether or not it’s safe to pressure wash them. Though this method isn’t always necessary, the answer is yes. And in certain situations, pressure washing is the best method to clean epoxy garage floors.
Heavily soiled epoxy floors, with multiple areas of caked on dirt and grease, are the ideal candidates for pressure washing. Areas with stubborn grime and stuck-on dirt would require scrubbing, which is both labor intensive and potentially damaging. Give your arms a break and consider a pressure washer for these situations.
Start by clearing the floor to move everything off of it. Give the floor a quick sweep or dust mop to remove the grit and debris.
Make sure your pressure washer is on level ground with the hose attached. Keep the PSI under 1500.
When you’re done, there’s no need to rinse as you never used any cleaners to begin with! Simply walk away and allow the floor to dry.
If you aren’t skilled with a pressure washer, you may want to consider calling in a professional to get the job done.
Professional Power Washing Services in Houston
For over 20 years, our power washing experts at Advantage Pro Services have been helping out our Houston neighbors with pressure washing projects around the home.
Give us a call and we’ll come and take a look at your flooring and make a recommendation on how to safely and effectively get your floor clean. With our state-of-the-art pressure washing equipment, expert technique, and commitment to excellence in every job we do, we’ll have your floors gleaming in no time.
Call us today with any questions you may have or to set up an appointment!
