In this article 6 sections
We explain the most common problems with cleaning heavily soiled and hard to clean floors, from oil on a garage floor and grease in a commercial kitchen to tyre marks in a warehouse and dirt trapped in anti-slip flooring. For each one you’ll find what to use, how to dilute it, how long to leave it and how to rinse the floor so it doesn’t stay slippery.
These floors have one thing in common. The dirt isn’t just lying on the surface. Oil and grease stick to it, fine dust gets pressed into the texture and the grout, and rubber from tyres bonds to sealed concrete. A mop and a general floor cleaner remove the top layer and leave the rest behind. To get the floor clean you need a chemical that suits the type of dirt, enough time for it to work, a brush or machine to loosen the dirt, and a rinse with clean water.
Oil and fuel on garage and workshop floors
With a fresh spill, the first job is to stop it spreading. Putting degreaser or a wet mop on a puddle of oil makes the patch bigger. Cover the spill with absorbent granules, leave them for 10 to 15 minutes, then sweep them up and bag them separately from general waste. After that, clean the mark that’s left with a degreaser and a stiff brush.
Old oil is a different job. On bare concrete it soaks into the surface, and in a busy bay it builds up in layers. You’ll need a stronger mix of degreaser, hot water, 5 to 10 minutes of contact time and hard scrubbing. On old stains, plan for two rounds. A light mark may still be visible afterwards, but the floor will be clean and won’t feel slippery.
Sealed concrete is much easier to clean than bare concrete because the oil stays on top. If a workshop floor has never been sealed, it’s worth considering, because every spill after that comes off faster.
For mixed workshop floors, Ubik2000 Degreaser or Impact Degreaser are listed for concrete, painted floors, ceramic tiles and anti-slip floors.
Grease on commercial kitchen floors
Kitchen grease behaves differently from engine oil. It goes on warm and sets as it cools, so it’s easiest to remove straight after service. The worst areas are in front of fryers and cookers, around the bins and along the route to the wash-up.
Many kitchens have quarry tiles or textured tiles, which means grout. Grout is porous, so grease soaks into it and turns it dark over time. A mop slides over the grout lines without reaching into them. Use a degreaser rather than a general cleaner, leave it for a few minutes, then scrub with a deck brush along the grout lines and rinse with clean water.
If kitchen floors are only mopped, the grease builds up layer by layer until the floor is both dirty and slippery. A weekly scrub of the worst areas stops that build-up.
Tyre marks and dust in warehouses
Pallet trucks and forklifts leave black marks on painted and sealed concrete, and racking areas collect fine dust that sticks to anything damp. Always sweep or vacuum the dust first. If you wet a dusty floor, the dust turns into a grey film that dries back onto the surface.
Tyre marks need a strong alkaline cleaner and scrubbing, either with a pad on a machine or a stiff brush by hand. Scrub Kleen is a low foam floor cleaner at pH 13.5 that works by hand or in a scrubbing machine, with red pads for lighter cleaning and black pads for heavier scrubbing. Because it’s strongly alkaline, test it on a small area of a painted floor first.
Anti-slip safety flooring that always looks grey
Safety flooring in kitchens, toilets, changing rooms and school corridors has grit built into the surface. That grit is what stops people slipping, but it also holds dirt. A flat mop slides over the top and leaves the dirt between the particles, which is why these floors turn grey even when they’re mopped every day.
The fix is agitation. A stiff brush or a scrubbing machine reaches between the grit and lifts the dirt so it can be picked up and rinsed away. For vinyl and rubber floors, use a product listed for them, such as Impact Degreaser, and avoid solvents.
Floors that feel sticky or slippery after cleaning
When a floor feels worse after cleaning, the usual cause is cleaner left on the surface. A mix that’s too strong leaves a film, and if the floor is only rinsed once or not at all, that film stays. It feels slippery when wet, sticky when dry, and picks up dirt faster.
Rinse the floor again with clean warm water and let it dry. If it feels better, the dilution was the problem. Next time, measure the product rather than pouring it by eye. Impact Heavy Duty Cleaner lists mixes from 1 in 10 to 1 in 100, so you can use a strong mix on the worst areas and a weak one for routine cleaning.
Dirty water causes the same problem. Once the mop water is grey, you’re spreading dirt back over the floor. Use one bucket to wash and a second with clean water to rinse, and change the water every few areas.
A method that works on most heavy floors
Whatever the floor, the order stays the same.
- Clear the area and sweep or vacuum loose dirt.
- Soak up any fresh spills with absorbent granules.
- Apply the cleaner at the right dilution, working in small sections.
- Leave it for 5 to 10 minutes and don’t let it dry.
- Scrub with a stiff brush or a machine.
- Pick up the dirty water before it dries.
- Rinse with clean water and let the floor dry before people walk on it.
Hot tap water helps on oil and grease. Very hot water can soften some vinyl and painted floors, so there’s no need for boiling water.
Read the label, wear gloves and safety glasses, and never mix two chemicals in the same bucket.
If you’re not sure which product suits your floor, ask at our Liverpool trade counter.
