Cleaning and caring for terrazzo floors: conservation, shine, and polish
Cleaning and caring for terrazzo floors: conservation, shine, and polish Terrazzo flooring, I’m sure you’ve heard of it … maybe this is often found in the Use coming flooring even in your home.
In everyday colloquial usage, terrazzo is a floor made of cement and various types of stone. A cement-bound screed is often used as the basis for laying a terrazzo floor.
Today’s post is all about hard-wearing and durable flooring. We tell you how you can enjoy your floor made of this material for a long time.
Besides the right cleaning, this also includes the right care for radiantly beautiful floors. Our tips below will show you which home remedies you can use and how you can make old coverings shine like new again.
The universal talent among floor coverings
Do you have a terrazzo floor? A good choice, because it is not only characterized by its enormous load-bearing capacity, but it is also particularly hard-wearing and, with optimal care, has a long service life. Since this soil mostly comprises building materials containing minerals, it hardly absorbs any water.
Did you know that with traditional terrazzo surfaces, the binder is first mixed with the aggregates on site and then mixed with water and lime or cement or marble to form a mass that applies to a carrier layer? This creates a floor as if made of one piece, without joints, which is also known as cast terrazzo.
There are also artificial stones that are called terrazzo slabs. These are manufactured in molded panels and laid on site in a bed of mortar to form a jointed floor.
No matter what type of flooring you have in your home, there are a number of home remedies and products available in stores that can be used to properly care for these floors.
How to optimally clean and care for your terrazzo floor
In principle, terrazzo can be swept, vacuumed, and wet mopped. When it comes to maintenance, always remember that this is a natural floor.
For damp cleaning, use a commercially available mop or other well-known cleaning devices and use:
- alkaline soaps
- Polymer wipe care
- Eco-friendly products
Depending on what is important to you when cleaning and caring for your floor covering, you can get special cleaning agents for terrazzo floors in stores that can prepare the floor covering in different ways. Depending on the product, the following results are possible:
- Shine
- Frosted
- Colorless
- Color deepening
Do not use the following cleaning agents to avoid sticky floors or damage:
- Waxes
- Acylate
- Silicones
- Acidic cleaners
- Cleaners with a pH greater than 9 and less than 7
- Scouring milk or scouring pads
Attention: Immediately after wiping, the floor can be quite slippery and cause a risk of slipping, especially in the entrance and stair areas. Polish: It is best to polish the damp areas with a microfiber cloth.
Which home remedies can clean a terrazzo floor?
Aggressive chemical cleaners may initially leave the terrazzo surface looking clean because of various caustic additives, but they often cause long-term damage to the floor.
Housewives rely on well-established home remedies such as liquid soft soap to clean terrazzo floors. The soft soap is simple and available in stores at a low price, for example in drugstores. It is ideal for cleaning terrazzo as it has a pH of 10-12.
Old flooring in new splendor
So-called diamond pads or diamond polishing discs can be used for old floors. These are used on cleaning machines or single-disc machines together with water. Unsightly signs of wear and tear can be removed in this way.
The cleaning process using the diamond pads is completely free of chemicals and is therefore quite environmentally friendly. The right single-disc machines or scrubbing machines can also be hired from a hardware store or from a professional cleaning service. It is best to get advice from a professional.
With the help of the diamond pad, old terrazzo floors can be cleaned and then shine in new splendor.
After cleaning, a protective treatment in the form of impregnation or sealing can be carried out. Special agents are available on the market for this purpose, with which terrazzo can be optimally processed.
The aim of impregnation or sealing is to reduce the penetration of new dirt into the floor covering and to make future cleaning much easier since new dirt does not get into the floor so easily.
Long-lasting protection: sealing or impregnating terrazzo surfaces?
The question can be answered based on various criteria. In order to make the right decision about the surface treatment, however, you should first know what the respective protective application does.
When sealing, the floor receives a kind of coating with a protective film. Coarse coverings can also be made easier to care for. However, the sealing also increases the risk of slipping.
No protective film is applied during impregnation, as is the case with sealing.
The protective agent penetrates into the floor covering, but the texture of the surface remains intact. With the help of the protective substance, for example, a deepening of the coloring can also be achieved.
Tips for making the right choice: For this reason, impregnation is recommended for wet and outdoor areas. In the interior, it can be decided individually which look and properties are to be achieved.
Both sealing and impregnation can be useful here in order to protect the floor covering from dirt and wear and tear over the long term.
Remove stubborn dirt quickly
A dirt eraser, also known as a melamine pad, can be used for unsightly stains. For example, the terrazzo floor can also be cleaned of stains such as urine.
Please note: Commercially available dirt erasers, which you can also buy in the drugstore, must first be tested on an inconspicuous, concealed area of your floor.
To do this, please moisten the floor in the area of the dirt and treat the stains with the dirt eraser WITHOUT additional cleaning agents.
There are also special melamine pads for single disc machines. This means that stubborn dirt such as shoe streaks or other everyday traces can be removed in no time at all, even on large areas.
Even heavy soiling can usually be removed in this way. Then wipe with a damp cloth and, if necessary, polish with a microfibre cloth and the floor covering will look like new.
With our tips, you now know how to properly clean and care for your terrazzo floor! Have you also read our tips for old floors? Then your floor will shine like new.
Have you had good experiences with special home remedies or commercially available cleaners? Then we look forward to your very personal experience report directly in the comments below our post!