This is a feared topic when it comes to how to clean wooden floors because it is somewhat complicated with many steps. It also requires some tools and supplies normally not stocked in a commercial buildings facility for cleaning and maintenance.

The procedures below are designed for Dry Preparation of the wooden floors. This is one method to clean wooden floors. The other is a wet abrading process which will be addressed in another article.

Quality Cleaner, Equipment and Tools

• Personal Protection Equipment – Gloves, Dust Mask, Eye Protection, Etc.
• Wet Floor Signs And Barriers
• Plastic Blunt Putty Knife
• Dust Mops – Microfiber Preferred
• Push Brooms
• Automatic Scrubber
•  Single Disc 175 Rpm Floor Machine With Dust Control
• Vacuum
• Floor Cleaner
• Blue Pads
• White Pad
• 120 Grit Screen
• Tacking Solution
• Tacking Cloths/Towels

Procedural Steps

Cleaning

• Put on Personal Protective Equipment.
• Place “Wet Floor” signs and/or barriers.
• Set up equipment and prepare cleaning solution.
• Dust mop floor with untreated mop to remove surface dust, removing adhered debris using a blunt plastic putty knife.
• Clean floor with automatic scrubber using standard blue cleaning pads and floor cleaner mixed at the proper dilution with the pressure set at 50% and flip pads over after 2,500 square feet.
• Let floor dry completely before dry screening.

Dry Screen Disc

• Work in small areas by laying the screen grit discs in a pattern of 10 feet by 25 feet (250 Square Feet).
• Using a Single Disc 175 rpm floor machine equipped with dust control and a 120 grit screen on a white pad.
• Inside these 10 foot by 25 foot sections of the floor, screen across the grain, then with the grain until all gloss is removed from the floor. Make sure you flip the grit screen disk every 250 square feet and replace with a new grit screen disk every 500 square feet.
• Continue until the entire wood floor is completed and making sure to screen the gloss off the floor on the edges and corners.

Dust Removal

• Using a vacuum remove dust from confined areas like edges and corners.
• Using the automatic scrubber equipped with blue scrub pads and properly diluted cleaner to scrub the floor.
• Allow the floor to dry completely and check floor for any glossy or shiny areas. If any of the floor areas are still glossy or shiny, screen disc the floor again until the floor is uniformly dull.
• Once the floor is uniformly dull, tack the floor with a push broom and towels/cloth dampened with a Tacking Solution. Repeat tacking until floor is clean and dust free being sure to cover the entire floor including edges and corners.
• Allow the floor to dry completely for 30 minutes before applying finish being sure to applying finish to the wood floor within 2 hours of tacking.

Reference Websites

The Maple Floor Manufacturer’s Association

National Wood Flooring Association

Bona floor cleaning products clean a wide variety of floors. They also have a good selection of tools. Bona believes and they are correct in their product development thought process that a floor cleaning system produces better results, reduces overall cost and is good for the environment.

Bona floor cleaning products utilizes microfiber technology as an important component to their floor cleaning systems. If you are a regular visitor to keepingfloorsclean.com you will know that we are big proponents of microfiber cleaning.

Bona also manufacturers and markets a professional line of floor cleaning products for the commercial marketplace as well as other floor maintenance products such as polishes. We will be writing additional articles covering different topics on bona floor cleaning products in future articles but as stated earlier this discussion is dedicated as an introduction to Bona floor cleaning and provide a top-level overview of their systems and what type of floor their systems clean.  So Bona can provide the residential homeowner with a total floor maintenance system including daily cleaning and periodic maintenance with polishes.

Products and Tools

The following is a list of the type of floor cleaning products that Bona markets. It should be noted that the product descriptions below come directly from Bona’s website.

• Hardwood Floor Cleaners – Bona’s Hardwood Floor Cleaners are specially formulated for effective cleaning. The residue-free formula protects your hardwood floor investment and is safe for your family, pets, and the environment.
• Stone, Tile and Laminate Cleaners – Bona’s Stone, Tile & Laminate Cleaners are the effective and easy choice for cleaning sealed hard surface floors. Safe for your floors, family, and the environment.
• Hardwood Floor Mops & Accessories – Bona premium spray mops are durable, efficient, effective and easy to use.

Reference Websites

Bona Products

For the purpose and objective of this article we will be addressing the residential home market and discussing the option of using a Steam Floor Mop to clean slate floors.  We will explain the advantages of using a steam floor mop to cleaning slate floors but also will discuss and advise why using a steam mop is a viable alternative to cleaning with a standard wet mop.

If you were more interested in cleaning slate floors with a standard wet mopping method for routine or daily cleaning in a home, please click on the following link which will take you that particular article. (How to Clean Slate Floors – How to Clean – Residential)

Why Use a Steam Floor Mop

There are many reasons to sue a steam floor mop to clean slate floors but the primary reason is because they work. Slate has basically two different types of surfaces; smooth and split. The smooth surface is exactly what it says. The split surface is a rough uneven surface. A steam floor mop will clean well and deliver positive results on both surfaces. In fact a steam floor mop actually performs better than other standard methods to cleaning a split slate floor.
This because the steam mop combined with the microfiber pads they use can penetrate the soils trapped in the rough surface whereas other mopping methods can glide over the high spots of the uneven rough slate surface.

Advantages of Steam Floor Mops

Steam cleaning provides a form of floor cleaning that works well. The following is a brief list of the advantages of using a steam floor mop to clean slate floors.

• Steam floor ops are relatively inexpensive. Some models are more expensive than others but as a whole, they are affordable
• Steam floor mops are a green and environmental way to clean slate floors. They use only water that converts into steam to clean the floor. Additionally because it uses steam to clean, the steam floor mop uses less water to clean slate floors. This also makes it a green way to clean slate floors.
• There is a cost savings with steam floor mops because they do not require a cleaning product or detergent to clean the slate floor.  So the homeowner can save money on floor cleaners.

Reference Websites

Haan USA

Bissell

Consumer Search Reports

But there is good news; you can remove 80% to 99% of the stains by following some simple and effective steps. The goal of this article is to provide you with the steps to eliminate the frustration of stain removal when cleaning cement floors.

If you were more interested in routine cleaning of concrete or cement floors instead of stain removal, please click on the following  link information on this topic (Concrete Floor Cleaning – Routine or Daily Cleaning – Residential).

Stain Removal Steps & Tips

• Cleaning cement floors will be easier if you pick up and clean stains on the cement floor ASAP. The faster the removal of the soils of the stain, the easier it will be to clean because the soil or oil has not had time to penetrate too deep into the pores of the cement.
• Always use a quality degreaser when cleaning cement floors; one that rapidly penetrates soils and oils and goes deep into the pores of the cement floor.
• When cleaning cement floors, always allow a long dwell time of the cleaner on the stain and many cases up to 24 hours. This may seem hard because of the cleaning product drying out before that time but it is easy if you follow the next steps.

1. Apply a very liberal amount of the cleaning solution on the stain(s); keep it wet for at least 15 minutes, and then scrub with a wire brush from the outside edges of the stain toward the center of the stain.
2. Wipe up the solution with paper towel or rag. Inspect to see the results. If it appears relatively clean, rinse the stain with clear water, pick up the water and repeat the rinse process again. Allow to dry for as long as it takes. A fan will speed up the drying process. If the stain is still visible or the shadow of the stain is present to the point you want to try to remove more of the stain, then perform the following steps.
3. Repeat Step 1. And then reply the cleaning solution to the stain again. Using a rayon or synthetic cloth or mop head, soak the cloth or mop head with the cleaning solution and lay over the top of the stain making sure that it is completely covered. Tape a plastic bag over the cloth or mop head to the cement floor. Duct Tape and a normal trash can liner work well for this step. This will seal the cleaning solution and not allow air to dry it out. Now leave the cleaning solution on the stain for 24 hours.
4. After 24 hours, remove the tape and plastic. Remove the cloth or mop head. Scrub the stain as you did in step one.
5. Repeat Step 2. This should remove 80% to 100% of the stain. Most people can live with a slight shadow of the stain, especially if it is only a shadow of the stain.

Website Information

Diversey Plaza Plus Sealer

Krud Kutter Cleaner Degreaser

Regarding cleaning cement floor, it is important to also understand what a cement floor is. Cement floors also commonly called concrete floors are a mixture of aggregates such as crushed stone, sand and cement. There are other materials as well but these are the main components of cement floors. Cement floors are a poured floor meaning that when the components are mixed together along with water, the slurry is poured into a form and allowed to set up and dry.

So proper daily maintenance and periodic heavy or deep limestone floor cleaning is an absolute must to maintain great looking limestone floors. The correct and proper maintenance of limestone floors will also extend the life of your floor.

Heavy or deep cleaning process for cement floors involves proper chemical, dilution, brushes and equipment.  The following deep cleaning procedures describe the cleaning process for using hand-held equipment.  For larger commercial floor areas an automatic scrubber can be used to save time and labor.

Deep Cleaning Unsealed Cement Floors

Products, Tools, Equipment and Supplies

• Perform heavy cleaning using the following tools and cleaners
• Swing machine
• Flo-Pac scrub grit brush (make sure the proper clutch for your swing machine is included on the scrub grit brush)
• Wet dry vacuum
• Flo-Pac scrub grit doodle bug with handle
• Heavy-Duty Cement Floor Cleaner such as Diversey’s JonCrete Concrete and Floor Restorer
• Neutralizing solution
• 3 wet mops
• 3 mop buckets

Heavy Deep Cleaning Procedures

1. In one mop bucket mix according to label directions of the heavy-duty cleaner (mop bucket #1).
2. Flood mop floor with heavy-duty cleaner (clean approximately 50 square foot section at a time).
3. Scrub the heavy-duty cleaner solution into cement floor using swing machine and Flo-Pac scrub grit brushes, making 3-4 passes in each area is in most cases sufficient.
4. Using wet dry vacuum pick up the heavy-duty cleaner solution.
5. Flood rinse floor with cool clean water (bucket and mop #2).
6. Using wet dry vacuum pick up rinse water.
7. Flood rinse floor with neutralizing solution (bucket and mop #3).
8. Using wet dry vacuum pick up neutralizing solution.
9. Flood rinse floor with neutralizing solution (bucket and mop #3).
10. Using wet dry vacuum pick up neutralizing solution.
11. Damp mop the floor with neutralizing solution (bucket and mop #3).

Reference Websites

Diversey, Inc.

Amano Pioneer Eclipse Corporation

Please make sure never to use, harsh chemicals when cleaning marble flooring such as vinegar, ammonia or bleach. These common household cleaning agents can damage the marble flooring to a point where it cannot be repaired.

What is wonderful about using the following special pad to deep clean the marble floor is it can be performed using a neutral cleaner which not only safe to use on the marble but it is also safer and more friendly to the environment.

If you are more interested on cleaning marble flooring for daily cleaning, please click on the link for a prior article written on this topic (Cleaning Marble Floors – Commercial–Steps for Daily Cleaning Unsealed Marble).

Best Methods to Clean Marble Floors

The key to improved performance for deep cleaning marble flooring is a special pad from Unichem Marketing, called “That’s Amazing” Floor Cleaning Pad. This pad employs a foam material that grabs the floor better than a random woven floor pad such as a traditional red or green cleaning pad. This foam material grips the floor resulting in a better cleaning result.  The pad provides incredible cleaning power and because the pad is doing the majority of the cleaning, so only a neutral cleaner is required to deep clean the marble floor.

Dry Cleaning Procedures

• Dust mop the marble floor with a yarn dust mop or Microfiber Dust mop. Microfiber is the recommended method for the best results in removing dust and loose debris from the floors. Use a blunt plastic scraper to remove attached gross debris.

Wet Deep Cleaning Product & Procedures

• Using the “That’s Amazing Floor Cleaning Pad attached to an automatic scrubber and a quality professional grade neutral cleaner, double scrubbing the floor. On the first pass scrub the floor with the solution valve half-open, pads on the floor, squeegee up and vacuum motor off. On the second pass, keep the solution valve half-open, pads down on the floor, squeegee down and vacuum motor on.
• Allow the floor to dry thoroughly before allowing foot traffic on the marble floor.

Reference Website & Contact Information

Unichem Marketing, Inc. – The “That’s Amazing” Floor Cleaning Pad

Contact Name: Donna Alm Telephone: 708-296-7408 E-Mail Address: Unichem@scbglobal.net

But the goal of this article is to provide our residential homeowner readers with the second question that is asked how simple and easy it to use is. We will address this question in further detail below.  The again the short question is yes.

Steam floor mops are simple and easy to use. They are extremely effective. Later near the end of this article, we list a couple of websites of the more popular brands of steam floor mops. We also list a website link on the consumer research reports on the steam floor mops for those readers that might want to do more research on which model or brand of steam floor mop they want to purchase.

How They Work

Steam floor mops use a highly effective way to clean floors. If you are a regular visitor of keeping floors clean.com, you most likely have read the four basic principles of cleaning which include the principle of Temperature. Of course, steam is water that is converted into steam by the use of heating the water to a high temperature.

It is the combination of the high temperature (Steam) and the microfiber pad that provides the cleaning. This is accomplished with little agitation and no cleaning chemical. Just the steam and microfiber pad provide enough cleaning power to get the job done.

Simple

Steam floor mops clean a variety of floors in a home. So it makes it a versatile cleaning tool. Below is a list of the floors it cleans. So it is simple, you need one tool to clean all the floors in your home.

• Hardwood Sealed Floors
• Ceramic Floors
• Stone Floors
• Vinyl Floors
• Linoleum Floor
• Cork Sealed Floors
• Rubber Floors
• Asphalt Floors
• Vinyl Composition Tile Floors

Easy

Steam floor mops are easy to use. Simply fill the water reservoir with water, put on the microfiber pad to the head of the machine, plug the electrical cord in the outlet, turn the steam floor mop on and allow the unit to heat up to create steam.

It is as simple and easy as running a vacuum cleaner and is a greener way to clean your floors because it requires no cleaning chemical to clean. So, it is easy, simple and good for the environment.

Reference Websites

Haan USA

Bissell

Consumer Search Reports

Laminate floors come in a variety of colors and types including wood and vinyl to surfaces.  If the laminate is true wood and not a faux vinyl wood, please make sure you use precautions when cleaning with the most important being to not over wet the wood laminate floor.

It is always a good idea to check with the manufacturer of the laminate flooring to insure that the cleaning method you select will not void any warranties. The flooring manufacturers can be very specific on what can be used and not sued on certain flooring types. The following recommended best way to clean laminate flooring will not harm the laminate floor as long as you follow the label instructions of the products used to clean the floor.

But, if you were more interested in regular cleaning procedures for laminate floors using a steam floor mop, please see a prior article written on routine cleaning for residential laminate floors (Best Way to Clean Laminate Floors – Residential).

Microfiber Cleaning System

• Dust mopping is the first step prior to any wet cleaning. Dust mopping removes all loose soils from the floor and we recommend a microfiber dust mop such as from Bona or Swiffer.

• Wet cleaning is best accomplished to achieve excellent results by using a flat mop microfiber wet mopping system like Bona or Swiffer. These systems can be used with pre-mixed cleaning agents in a cartridge and because it is dispensed directly in from the mop handle, it allows you to control the amount of cleaning solution on the floor and thus assisting in over wetting the floor in case you are cleaning actual wood laminate flooring. The microfiber cloth does a superior cleaning job over conventional floor mops. The small microfibers grab and hold soil trapping it so it can be discarded when the cleaning task is completed.

Reference Websites

Swiffer Cleaning Mop System

Bona Cleaning System

If you are interested in how to clean marble floors for commercial daily cleaning, please click on the link for a prior article written on this topic (Cleaning Marble Floors – Commercial–Steps for Daily Cleaning Unsealed Marble).

Clean Marble Floor – Three most Common Ways to Restore Marble

There are three basic ways to treat a marble floor to restore it. They are typically…

• Polishing
• Crystallizing
• Coating
• Combination of the 3 Methods

All three methods have their own individual advantages and disadvantages. In every case to restore a damaged floor, grinding with diamond pads is required though top coating may allow you to forego this step if the floor isn’t in bad shape. A top coating can also be stripped off and crystallization done later. This is a good choice if quick results are required and if you do not have the time to perform a full restoration and crystallization process.

• Polishing:  Polishing requires much more effort to bring the floor to an acceptable gloss level. To restore a damaged floor, polishing is worked with a series of small hard diamond-resin pads on the bottom of a rotary machine. These pads get progressively finer until a shine is achieved. This usually takes seven grinding steps and each step is extremely labor intensive but delivers a great look when completed correctly.

• Crystallizing: Crystallizing is a chemical process which will give a really high gloss. Typically a floor is polished as mentioned above but not to the same fineness then it is crystallized. The process of crystallization changes the surface of the marble and works synergistically with polishing to provide a high gloss and smooth surface. This method is also extremely labor intensive. But delivers a great look when completed correctly.

• Top Coating: Coating with a floor finish probably gives the least natural appearance and requires more general upkeep compared to the other two but also doesn’t require extensive restoration beforehand. You can just scrub and clean the floor followed by coating with a product suitable for a difficult surface to adhere to like marble. A floor finish and/or seal designed to be used on marble floors which are formulated to adhere specifically to marble floors is critical. This process is less labor intensive to restore the marble floors and the top coating floor finish and/or sealer will protect the marble floors. Coating also helps prevent stains and acid etching. The results will provide a high gloss with less initial labor.

• Combinations: Most products on the market, in a sense, are a combination of what is mentioned above.  Many crystallization products come as a slurry or powder you make into a paste which contain an abrasive for polishing and include an acid for crystallization. In some cases these also include a waxy material which helps provide some sheen and offers some stain resistance. These types of products are used on a periodic basis and if used regularly the floor won’t need restoration for quite a long time. Using these types of combinations to restore a marble floor are more popular outside North America and far more common in South America and other parts of the world.

Clean Marble Floor – Maintaining Marble Floors after Restoration

On a more frequent basis, there are products used which can be classified more as maintainers. These products typically include acid for crystallization and a waxy material to help protect and give a improve gloss. These products are near water thin liquid and are buffed onto the floor much in the same way as a spray buff. These products can give good results if used a few times a week.

For pure polishing there are pads on the market which contain an abrasive in the pad. 3M markets this type of pads. This is used on an auto scrubber during daily cleaning and helps to keep the floor polished. I think this product works the best with floors that only received polishing.

We recommend if you have the budget and time to maintain a marble floor to use a periodic crystallization step followed by a buff with a maintainer product which contained a polymer floor wax material.

Clean Marble Floor – Website Information

DuPont Stone Tech Professional Heavy Duty Sealer

Diversey Plaza Plus Sealer

3M Marble Floor Pads

However, there are some things to consider when deciding how to clean bathroom floors. The type of flooring is an important consideration. Another consideration is when to clean the bathroom floors in the total bathroom cleaning process. This might seem like a question or consideration that has not direct effect on cleaning bathroom floors but it does and it is a simple but perhaps the most important consideration when cleaning bathroom floors.

What we mean by total bathroom cleaning process, is when you clean the bathroom floors. Do you clean them first, second, last etc? Usually total bathroom cleaning includes all the bathroom surfaces including toilet bowls, sinks, mirrors, light switches, countertops, floors, etc.

The proper step is to clean the bathroom surfaces starting from the highest from the floor toward the floor itself. Meaning that for best results, you’re last cleaning task when cleaning a bathroom would be the clean the bathroom floor last. This will allow you clean up any mistakes, soils, drips, etc that may have occurred during the cleaning of the other bathroom fixtures and surfaces. This is will allow the homeowner to minimize any extra work in touching up the floor since it is already done last. Seems simple, right? But over the years we have discovered that many people clean the bathroom floors first.

If deep cleaning of ceramic tile and grout is the topic you are interested in, please visit a prior article written on deep cleaning ceramic and grout floors – (Cleaning Ceramic Tile Floors – Deep Cleaning and New Product Innovation).

Daily Cleaning Procedures

1. Dust mop or Sweep Floor. Using a putty knife or scraper, scrape any debris adhered to the floor such as gum, labels, etc.
2. Fill a bucket with quality grade Neutral or disinfectant Floor Cleaner using according to label directions. Using a wet mop, damp mop the cleaner solution uniformly on floor with the mop or manually scrub the floor with a Magic Eraser type cleaning hand pad like Mr. Clean or the “That’s Amazing” Cleaning Hand Pad.
3. Inspect floor after it has dried. If any residue is present, repeat rinsing step by damp rinsing with a mop and bucket filled with clear potable water.

Equipment, Tool and Chemical List

• Buckets and Wringers
• Wet Mops
• Neutral or Disinfectant Cleaner
• Foam or Fiber Cleaning Hand Pads
• Dust Mop (Untreated) or Broom – (Microfiber is Preferred)
• Putty Knife
• Dust Pan
• Water
• Personal Protection Equipment

Reference Website & Information

Unichem Marketing, Inc. – The “That’s Amazing” Pads

Contact Information: 708-296-7408; unichem@sbcglobal.net

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

Lysol Clean Flip Sweeper

Mr. Clean Floor Cleaner