Does anyone else have stained concrete flooring?
 

If you have stained concrete floors, what do you clean them with?

I love my floors but I have to be so careful with what I use to clean, so that I don't damage the stain, or remove the clear coat, or scratch them somehow.

I can't use bleach, vinegar, baking soda, Swiffer WetJets, almost any floor cleaners sold in stores, absolutely no floor wax, etc. There are a couple of cleaners sold at flooring stores or Lowe's that have a very low ph level that can be used but they're hard to find and expensive!! Things like Dawn dish soap can be used but you've got to rinse the floors a couple of times after mopping to get rid of soapy residue. And I HATE mopping to begin with.

I bought a steam mop that a few other YT'rs recommended and this works ok (when the cloth covers will stay on), but with 5 yorkies I feel like hot water just isn't enough to get my floors sanitary.

Do you know of anything that will clean my floors and not take me hours to mop & rinse? Help, please!!!!

Wish I could help lol but I can sympathize. My bf has stained concrete and they are SUCH a pain. I help clean them and literally only soap and water really works. Don't use pledge lol we found out the hard way. We were trying to make it shiny without having to mop (since we they had just mopped a couple days before) and we found out that it makes the floor greasy and filmy and we had to strip it and re-finish it all over again. Disaster. Anyway my bf's floor neevr looks clean to me you can see everything. Good luck!

I love stained concrete floors, and almost went that way when we ripped up our carpet. Would love to see pics of your floors, if you ever feel like posting them.

Anyway, what about using pure Borax powder w/ water?

I have been thinking about staining the concrete floors in my kennel/grooming room. Any thoughts on this? Will it withstand all the cleaning or can it be cleaned? Does the stain "wash off" or were off after awhile? I really love the look of the stained floors. Some grocery stores amd Wallmart have them and they go through alot of were and tear.

Oh no!! I hadn't thought of using Pledge, but thanks for the warning! :eek:

My floors look great after I've spent HOURS cleaning them, but within 30 minutes my furry five will have it looking like I haven't cleaned in months. I don't know if it would be different if the stain wasn't so dark.

I really do love these floors, I just wish they didn't take so much time.

I have lots of pics of the floors! :p I'll dig through and see if I can find some good shots.

I don't know much about Borax, but I'll google it and see what comes up. That's one idea I definitely haven't thought of. Thanks!!

The stain actually soaks down in to the concrete so it doesn't wear or wash off, but you can get other stains over it (bleach, for example, would be very bad). The trick is in the sealer and any top coats that are applied. These are supposed to be buffed away and reapplied every so often to help keep the floors looking nice.

My house was only 1 1/2 years old when I bought it, and the floors were put in during original construction. The previous owners didn't leave me any care/maintenance info and I don't know who the applicator was. I've done a lot of research on these floors, and learned that the care required depends on the brand of stain, sealer, etc. that were used.

I have carpet and vinyl flooring. Have thought about it though. I love the way wal-mart looks and would love to see yours. I didn't know the up keep was so difficult. I like to bleach my floors sometimes. Concrete wouldn't work for me then.

Pictures of floor
 

All of this pictures are from a couple of years ago - a few months after I moved in. The first 3 pics are just wide view pictures of the living room. The living room was also scored in a 4'x4' diamond pattern. The last pic is Alex & Becca modeling for a closer view of the scoring. I have the stained concrete floors all over the house, except for the 2 guest bedrooms. In the first picture you can see the steps leading up to our little doggie door in the window.

These are just a couple of close up shots with my sweet girl Becca doing the modeling.

Bonny - thanks for posting piccies :D. LOVE the floors, what a great job they did and the color is gorgeou - earthy and warm. I really do love the look of concrete. Did you ever find an easier way to clean them? Sometimes, I'll just type my question into yahoo or google and find some good ideas...but I'm sure you've been there, done that. :)

Thank you, I love them too! I actually did my decorating around the floors. :p Even though I'm complaining about keeping them nice looking, I would not go back to carpet ever again!!

I've been googling and researching for several months but I did read something new this week. The article recommended damp mopping a small area with a microfiber mop, then using a dry microfiber mop over that area to absorb anything that might streak. The most commonly recommended cleaner is mild dish soap - which will at least make me feel like I've CLEANED them. Hopefully, I can find a microfiber mop and it will saving me going over & over the floors to rinse & get rid of streaks.

To be honest, I think the real problem is that I don't like housekeeping! ;)

Girl after my own heart :p. I was curious if the people who installed your concrete told you anything about cleaning them...or did what they tell you not work very well (hence, the reason for your post :))?

No, the floors were done when the house was first built. I bought it about a year & a half later. The previous owners didn't leave any care information or even the product manufacturer's name. And of course, at the time I didn't know enough to ask them about it. When I mentioned at closing how much I loved the floors, the wife said all she ever did with them was use the Swiffer Sweeper. But, they were a very young couple with no pets, and they were rarely home so I'm guessing they didn't have the issues I do with 5 yorkies :D. I had just assumed that I would be using the Swiffer Wetjet like I did on the wood floors in my old house but the first article I read on stained concrete had big bold letters saying not to use it on my floors. I've called several local companies who do stained concrete application and they all recommended either just damp water or water and dish soap. They didn't tell me I'd have to rinse or deal with streaks!!!

Man, what a pain. Streaks would be annoying me too. I wonder what is more "streaky" - hot or soft water or if it even matters? It's like you need a non-residue soap, but I don't know what that'd be...I know the face "non-residue" is usually considered those cleansers w/out lauryl/laureth sulfates...for whatever that's worth....wonder if that ingredient is in dish soap? Geez, I'm really reachin' here. :p

That's ok - it's FRIDAY!!! :D

I'm off work this afternoon. I'm gonna go home, sit on the couch and look at my floors lol! Then maybe I'll go mop shopping tomorrow - yippee.

thanks for the info
 

My honey baby darlin and I wanted to do our down stairs but I cant live without my daily mopping with lysol

You guys peaked my curiosity about cement floors since I had never heard of them before.......I have to say they are gorgeous! So as I am reading this I want to add some "mop" info that might help :D

O-Cedar - Products - Systems - Systems - UltraMax™ All-In-One Mopping Kit

This is the mop that I have been using and I love it! As I'm sure you know from my fall I have laminate floor but they too are hard to keep clean and I hated the streaks from the bazillionth mops that I had purchased in the past. This one is microfiber and is washable and dryable. It is by far the very best mop that I have ever owned! I bought it at Walmart about 7 or 8 months ago with 3 extra mop pad thingies and after I mop I just toss it into the washer and then into the dryer and they look like new still. Love it! :)

Im looking into laminate floors. My mom has them and it shows everything. I want to find something that is distressed. I also think the shinier the floor the more dust, pawprints etc will show. I want something with little to no shine/sheen.

Jodi, this looks like it would be perfect!! I almost went mop shopping this weekend but now I'm so glad I didn't. I just watched the demo video & this looks so easy. Do you just use water, or do you have a special cleaner for your laminate floors?

Believe me, I understand. I had laminate installed in my previous house (I call them wood floors because mine looked so real no one believed they were laminate). I had the hardest time choosing because the one I really liked was darker and shinier & I knew it would show everything. They had another one I kind of liked called Rustic Pine. It was lighter colored, and had the dark knotholes and rings like real pine, and it wasn't as shiny. It looked like with the mix of colors it would've been much less likely to show dirt or streaks. I remember what a hard decision that was to finally choose. Good luck!!

Update!
 

I wanted to let everyone know what's been happening in my effort to get CLEAN floors. First, let me say a huge thank you to Jodi, who recommended the mop in post #18!! :thumbs up

I decided this was the mop I wanted to try. To clean the cloth pad of most microfiber mops in the middle of mopping you either have to put a new pad on, or take the pad off and rinse/wring by hand then put back on the mop base. This one lets you rinse, wring & keep mopping! :cool:

When I got my mop, I decided to try a little experiment before using it the first time. I first mopped my kitchen floor twice with the sponge mop I had been using, rinsing it thoroughly with clean water often. Then, I brought out the new mop - in just a few strokes the pad was brown from all the dirt the sponge doesn't pick up! :eek:

I rinsed the pad & mopped the kitchen again until the new pad quit showing signs of picking up dirt. Then, I stood back and enjoyed the view. My floor LOOKED clean, and there wasn't a single streak! :D By the way, the streaks are caused by the dirt your old mops don't pick up.

Sorry, I know this sounds like a long informercial, but I wanted to tell you all how great this mop is! My floors look better than ever. :happyboun:happyboun:happyboun

Thank you, Jodi!!

I have stained concrete floors in our den/office. My hubby and I did it ourselves when we built on the addition. The stain is VERY verigated, with lots of different colors, so it doesn't show much at all. The concrete took the stain in differing colors, and we loved it so we left it that way. Quite frankly the top coat we put on has worn off, and it looks just as good without it. Of course, it is in a VERY casual den - not the beautiful living area like in the pictures. The point is that I wouldn't be afraid to do it at all, especially if it is a well used casual part of the house. I just love the ease of cleaning up the "oops" that our two boys leave for us occasionally :rolleyes:

I just watched the video on the mop, very impressive! I may have to get one, I just hate the streaks my current mop leaves! Thanks for the update!

I promise you will love it :D