How to Clean Concrete Basement Floor | Quick and Easy Approach
Concrete basement floors are bare now as they need less effort to clean and take care of them. These are now becoming an essential part of every basement and another place near the cellars. But at the same time, you need to learn how to clean concrete basement floors as it is necessary to make your floor shiny and new.
In this post, we came up with some concrete floor cleaner ways, and some of these are easy to implement even at your home as a remedy. In this way, you can’t only get rid of the smell, stains, and debris, but your floor surface looks shinier than before.
Let’s now learn how to clean concrete floors without waiting for more!
How To Clean Concrete Floor In Basement- 6 Steps Procedure
1. Start Cleaning by Big Large Elements
The first and foremost step is to clean the floor just like you prepare your home to clean and remove all the things from that place. It should be a regular part of your cleaning process.
Remove all the debris and other concrete items by using a sweeper or any other relevant substance. You can even remove it by hand if you find anything useless.
2. Sweep the Floor or Use a Vacuum Cleaner
Using a sweeper or vacuum cleaner to remove thin debris and dust particles is the second step essential, as all other clear processes are.
Most people miss this step thinking that it won’t affect much or is unnecessary, but it’s not true. Using a sweeper and vacuum to suck all debris and dust is essential and is recommended by professionals.
The sweeper will sweep away all the other thin debris and dust. Or, if you don’t want to use a sweeper, you can use a carpet vacuum.
Don’t use standard hardwood floor cleaner as that is hard and can impact your concrete floor. Using carpet floor can remove dust without losing shining of the concrete floor and without any damage issues to the floor.
3. Remove All Stains
The next step is removing all stains which could affect the floor negatively. These stains can be removed by soaking the cotton cloth in the baking soda solution and then scrubbing the fabric on the bottom.
After cleaning the floor, allow it to dry for some time. Or you can also try a product such as a stain cleaner recommended by your plumber who made the concrete floor basement at your home or office.
4. Apply Cleaning Products
Now it’s the step where all dust, chemicals, and harmful microorganisms are swept down using a concrete floor cleaner. These cleaners are very easy to implement, as we mentioned in the following steps.
Note: Scroll down to see some best cleaning products and their usage.
5. Rinsing the Floor
It’s the second last step where you have to rinse the floor using hot water. It effectively removes all the dust particles and toxic effects of the cleaners and all the products used on the floor.
Furthermore, it also removes the chances of bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms growing on the surface and doing painful effects.
Using a power washer during this process is helpful to add ease to your efforts.
6. Allow the Floor to Dry
Now it’s the last step where you use a floor dryer if it’s available. In other cases, don’t move or place anything on the floor for about an hour and allow it to dry.
Drying the floor would enhance its shine and won’t let the wet create the smell and grow microorganisms on the surface.
Best Cleaners to Clean Concrete Basement Floor
Here are some cleaners homemade and others that are useful and recommended to use at concrete places. Although there are a lot of cleaners that you can use, trying the best one should be your primary purpose.
Don’t ever go for each type of cleaner or too high acidic or basic cleaners, as they can negatively impact your concrete floor.
Here are some cleaners that we recommend using as the best concrete basement floor cleaners!
Baking Soda
Baking soda is one of the potent chemicals which are readily available in every home. Due to its neutral nature and minor chemical nature, it is one of the best products which you can use at any time.
Gently it removes all the stains and spots from the concrete basements. However, could you not use it as a powder? Mix some amount of soda with warm water.
You can also add some amount of a detergent or specific cleaner if it’s available. However, it’s not a necessity.
Degreaser
If you are facing greaser and other stains, then using a degreaser is another critical choice. It reacts directly on the floor and penetrates the concrete to remove and rinse unwanted particles and grease.
Furthermore, it’s easy to use as you need it to implement on the surface and then wait for the results.
Trisodium Phosphate
One of the most significant chemicals is trisodium phosphate, which removes all nasty chemicals and harmful microorganisms from the concrete basement. To use it:
- Make a mixture of one part of this chemical and three parts of water.
- Pour the whole mix on the floor and wait for 15-20 minutes until it affects the floor firmly.
- Later, rinse the floor with warm water and allow drying.
Dry Cement
If you face rust damage issues on your skin, then dry cement is the best solution ever. The best and most positive thing is that you don’t need to mix or soak in water.
Put the cement on the floor where you want to get rid of rust and smut. Now take a bush or any other thing to scrub the cement on the surface thoroughly. Rinse the floor with water and allow it to dry.
Pressure Washer
A pressure washer is a machine to clean the basement floor and is the fast and most effective way to clean the concrete floor.
However, it is costly as you need to hire a pressure washer machine and an expert in cause if you don’t know how to use it.
Fill the pressure washer tank with water and thoroughly clean the floor starting from the edges of the room or basement. You can increase machine pressure if there is much dust and debris on the floor.
Cleaning Agents to Avoid
Although many varieties are available in the market for cleaning concernment floors, you should always use them by taking the advice of an expert or professional.
Here we provided some substances and chemicals that are not recommended to use even if these are easily accessible.
1. Ammonia
Although it’s a well-reputed chemical and is used in most cleaning agents as important content, we don’t recommend using it. The reason is that it is harmful to the concrete floor.
It can make holes by removing the roots of the concrete from the lower floor surface, which is a permanent reason to damage the quality of the floor.
Ammonia may give your positive results at the start, but later, it causes great damage to later.
2. Bleach
Bleaching powder or bleach is highly recommended for cleaning as most of us use this to wash the floor and many other house elements.
It is a reason to disintegrate the floor with other house parts, including walls and earth surfaces.
Bleaching powder has excellent power to absorb the concrete floor, which is not a positive point. So, we don’t recommend using bleach to clean your concrete floors.
3. White Vinegar
As we mentioned above that all acidic and basic substances should be avoided using. White vinegar is highly acidic, and it can cause the highest risk chances to damage the floor.
So, don’t use white vinegar or any other acidic substance as it can leave stains and colorful spots on the concrete floor surface and decrease the shine of the floor.
How to Clean Concrete Basement Floor | FAQs
Can you use Swiffer on concrete floors?
No, the sniffer is not recommended to use because of its wet nature. It can affect all the concernment basement floors negatively.
So, don’t try to use a snuffer or any other wet substance on the concrete floor.
What kind of wax do you use on concrete floors?
Wax is the substance used to remove stains and spots from the floor surface.
There are many waxes, but we recommend using cherry was as it is of high quality and also stops the stains and other particles from grabbing on the floor.
Can you use Pine-Sol on stained concrete floors?
No, don’t try it as it’s acidic and can create negative effects on the floor.
Final Summary
Hence, here are some ways how to clean the concrete basement floor smoothly. All these ways and steps we mentioned above are based on our experience and test. When a user tries to clean the concrete floor, he is often overwhelmed by a lot of choices.
Above are some limited but effective and proven ways. So, don’t worry; try implementing these steps and see how your concrete floor becomes as new as it was at the time of installation.