We strongly discourage anyone from steam mopping
You'll just use a mop and a bucket of water mixed with a mild cleaner. Don't use ammonia, bleach or any highly acidic substance on polished or stamped floors. Some good cleaners include Castile soap, liquid dish detergent, stone cleaners and mild floor cleaners.
You can use a steam mop or a pressure washer to clean unsealed concrete floors. The high heat and pressure of the steam will remove all the dirt, grime, and stains from the floor.
Avoid Hardwood and Laminate Floors
It's common for steam-mop manufacturers to warn against using steam mops on "unsealed" floors, a vague direction.
Sealed hardwood floors can withstand the moisture and heat from a steam mop, and they clean really nicely with a streak-free finish. However, avoid using a steam mop on unsealed hardwoods, as they're more vulnerable and easily damaged by excessive moisture.
Steam cleaners are generally safe to use on any type of linoleum floor, ceramic or porcelain tile, and on some forms of hardwood and laminate flooring. Steam mops are not appropriate for many types of luxury vinyl planks due to the possibility of steam getting through the joints.
Which is better at removing stains and mopping spills? Our testing has found that all steam mops remove stains fairly well, with marginal differences, and are likely slightly better than a regular mop and bucket due to the heat and vapour produced by the steam.
To tell the difference in a pinch, just rub your finger across the floor. Be sure to do this on a clean floor. If no smudge appears, the floor is surface sealed. If you do create a smudge, the floor has been treated with a penetrating seal, oil finish, shellac, varnish or lacquer, and then waxed.
Short answer: Yes, if it's sealed and you're using dry steam vapor. Whenever you use a new cleaning method, no matter what your floor type, you should check with your manufacturer's warranty and then do a spot check in an inconspicuous area to make sure your cleaning tools don't cause any damage or discoloration.
The heat of the steam kills any germs, bacteria and dust mites on the floor. The steam also loosens up any dirt and grime on the floor using sharp and focused heat. The mop pad then absorbs the dissolved dirt, leaving your floors sparkly clean.
Steam mop For a deep clean of your concrete floor, a steam mop is most effective — and most expensive. Steam mops plug into an electrical and heat up an internal water reservoir. Without using soap or chemicals, steam is released from the mop head as it glides across your floor.
The best way to clean concrete floors in your home is with microfiber, which grabs onto dirt and other particles — including bacteria — and holds onto them until you wash them out. Curious about how microfiber cleans with just water? Read our comprehensive guide on everything microfiber to find out.
Microfiber Mop: Microfiber mops are great for concrete floors as they are gentle on the surface and can effectively trap dirt and dust particles. They can also be used dry or dampened with water or a cleaning solution.
Harsh detergents and cleaners commonly used for other types of flooring (such as Pine-Sol, bleach, and vinegar) are not the right pH and should not be used on concrete floors with a sealed surface. We recommend our own pH neutral, no-rinse cleaner specifically created for sealed concrete floors, CPI DecoClean.
A pH-neutral cleaner is always a good option for a final cleanse or to routinely mop with. No matter what is used to clean, it's crucial to allow the unsealed concrete to fully dry.
Recipe #3 – Mix 1/3 cup Tide to 1 gallon of warm water. Any of these should work well for cleaning unsealed cement garage floors. SCRUB THE FLOOR – Pour your warm water solution onto a section of the garage floor and start scrubbing. Begin at the back of the garage and move outward.
A steam mop doesn't damage sealed grout. So, you do not have to reseal grout after steam cleaning a tile floor. BUT there are a few popular floor cleaners that can damage your grout sealer. Check out 8 Popular Cleaners People Use That Damage Your Grout (and Grout Sealer) to see which cleaners to avoid.
You'll get a deeper clean with a steam mop because the high temperature of the steam actually sanitizes your floors—something a traditional mop can't do without the use of chemicals. The power of steam can help break up those stubborn stains that a mop can't.
Steam cleaners are particularly helpful for allergy sufferers, because not only do they clean surfaces of dust and other allergens and debris, but they also disinfect and deodorize without the use of harsh chemicals that could trigger allergies, asthma, and multiple chemical sensitivity.
The most basic sealed concrete floor is simply an acrylic sealer installed over bare concrete, which costs between $1.20 to $1.75 per square foot. However, sealed concrete also includes all types of stained concrete as well as commercial coatings such as epoxy and polyurethane.
Sealed wood floors have an extra layer of protection that prevents the majority of water damage, whereas unsealed floors are much more sensitive to moisture. (You can find out which one you have by placing a drop of water on the floor. If it keeps its shape, your floor is sealed.
Decorative concrete sealers are available as solvent or water based products and can last anywhere from 6 months to 3 years. Solvent based concrete sealers will last longer than water based concrete sealers. Keep in mind that if you like the decorative look you are going to have to pay to keep it up.
Avoid Using Too Much Soap
Soap only lifts dirt and oil into water, making them suspend in water. Therefore, the more soap you use, the more your mop gets saturated with dirt. So, if you do not remove all the soapy water from the floor, the dirt remains, forming streaks on the floor.
Do: Wipe up excess dirt before steaming. Steam mops essentially employ steam to loosen grime, which the mop head then clears away, but there's no suction element in this appliance. This means that surface dirt will need to be vacuumed or swept up before you begin or you'll only succeed in pushing dirt across the house.