What You Need To Know Before Buying Concrete Cleaners

Concrete floors are loved by most homeowners and businesses because of their longevity, attractiveness and the fact that they are easy to clean. They are available in a variety of types and styles, thus giving homeowners a wide range of options on how to decorate their interiors. But for the floors to serve you well, and for you to enjoy their full benefits, it is imperative to know how to clean them properly, including what type of concrete cleaners you need to be using.

Though concrete floors may all look the same from the simple fact that they are made from concrete, this is not a guarantee that all cleaners will give the same results. To help you get the most out of cleaning your concrete floors, here is everything you need to know before you set out to buy a concrete cleaner:

Acidic cleaners

Acidic cleaners are designed to remove types of stains, dirt, and contaminations that would naturally dissolve in acids. They may not be ideal for normal cleaning in the room since these kinds of dirt are not common around the house, but they will definitely work in industrial setups where efflorescence on concrete, as well as insoluble metallic salts,  can easily find their way on the floors. The major causes of these types of stains include too much exposure of the floor to hard water, high soil alkalinity in the region where the floor is installed, and high salt content in the installed concrete.

The acid cleaner contains active ingredients that simply dissolve the alkaline dirt or salts from the floors. They are available in both ready to use formulations as well as concentrated forms which will require proper dilution before they can be used. In most cases, you will not need a lot of energy to get good results, but in cases where there are stubborn stains on the concrete floors, you may need to use some scrubbing or agitation to help you get cleaner results. Again, when using these cleaners, you should be careful not to inhale the fumes coming from the cleaning solution or the powders since it is harmful to health, and you should also take proper precautions to protect your items such as rugs, carpets, and furniture that may still be in contact with the floor.

pH-Neutral Cleaners

A pH-Neutral concrete cleaner is a mild cleaner suitable for cleaning sealed concrete surfaces that don’t normally embed any dirt. They are also suitable for cleaning exterior or interior concrete surfaces that require mild cleaning or those which have not experienced lots of dirt contamination. Most of the pH-Neutral concrete cleaners are in the form of concentrates which you will have to dilute with a certain amount of water before you can use them for cleaning the floors.

When using them, all you need to do is saturate the concrete surface with the solution and allow it to settle for a few minutes before you scrub lightly. You can then vacuum or mop the residue before rinsing with clean water. If the dirt you wanted to remove from the concrete still remains, you can repeat the process again, or use a stronger concrete cleaner to rip it off.

Alkaline Cleaners

Alkaline concrete cleaners are also degreasers, and just as the name suggests, they are designed to help remove grease, oils, and any other hydrocarbon based stains that might find its way onto the concrete floors. The alkalinity of these cleaners makes them act as emulsifiers when they come into contact with the oils, grease or hydrocarbons on the concrete. In addition to cleaning contaminants from concrete floors, the cleaners can also be used to neutralize concrete surfaces that have been contaminated with acids.

It is for this reason that modern alkaline soaps are recommended for removing acidic stains from concrete floors in instances where alkaline cleaners are not available. They are also affordable and economical, given that with just one gallon of a diluted alkaline cleaner, you can comfortably clean up to 4,000 square feet of a concrete floor.

Bacterial concrete cleaners

Bacterial cleaners are new types of concrete cleaners whose entry into the market was necessitated by the need to have cleaners that will not just clean, but also kill any bacteria that may be present on the floors. These are cleaners are designed with active ingredients that will not just attack, but also break and sometimes digest contaminants and stains that may be present on concrete floors. The formulation of these cleaners is designed to break down certain types of dirt such as protein-based stains, hydrocarbon-based stains, and starch-based stains that will not just get embedded onto the concrete floors, but will also create breeding grounds for harmful bacteria if they are not cleaned in good time. A typical example of the application of these concrete cleaners is the removal of pet urine odor. This is always a challenge for most homeowners. Using bacterial or enzymatic cleaner, the odor and stains caused by pet urine can be easily eradicated, given that the odor and the urine are nothing but proteins.

Specialty cleaners

Speciality cleaners won’t work for general applications, but they are designed to remove very specific types of contaminants on concrete floors. In most cases, they may be a combination of two, three or four of the above cleaners.

For example, there are specialty concrete cleaners for removing rust, while there are also specialty concrete cleaners designed for removing non-acid based efflorescence. Unlike the other types of cleaners, specialty cleaners are really hard to find, and before you set out looking for them, be sure that you have tried using all the above to no success.

If you are looking for a concrete cleaner in Tampa, FL, feel free to contact AmbassadorChemDryfl.com for the most professional concrete cleaning services in Florida.