How to Clean Concrete Floors in Warehouses, Shops and Garages

How we made this guide: picks, prices and specs come from our catalog and the makers' published specs, owner quotes come from customer reviews on our product pages and every guide is checked and edited by Trevor Hall.

To clean a concrete floor, sweep or dust-mop it first, treat oil and grease with a degreaser used at its label's dilution and dwell time, then scrub and pick up the dirty water in the same pass so it does not dry back onto the slab. On a shop or warehouse floor that means an automatic scrubber, and the Dapper Supply cordless walk-behind at $1,065, at 23.4 lb with a 13.75 in path, is the smallest machine in this guide.

Tools and equipment

The kit depends on the floor size. A garage needs a push broom, a degreaser, a stiff deck brush, a mop and a wet/dry vacuum to pull up the rinse water. A shop or warehouse needs a sweeper, a scrubber with a squeegee and a stock of pads or brushes. Our guide to commercial wet/dry vacs covers the small-floor pickup tool.

The Minuteman Kleen Sweep 25W has a 25 in sweeping width, a 16 in main broom, an 11 in side broom and a 1.06 cubic foot hopper. Its dust filter is a polyester panel rated 99.97% at 3 microns. That is a rating at 3 microns and not a HEPA rating, so treat it as a dust filter for sweeping and nothing more. Sound level is listed at 63 dB and the weight is 112 lb with batteries. Minuteman lists a maximum gradient of 2%, so it is a flat-floor machine, not one for ramps or dock slopes. It is a walk-behind sweeper at $3,425.04; browse all the sweepers we carry if your aisles are wider.

Step 1: Know your floor type

The right cleaner and pad depend on what is on the slab. Check which of these you have before you buy anything.

If you are unsure whether a floor is sealed, find the coating or sealer maker's data sheet and read its cleaning section first. That sheet beats any general rule in this guide.

Step 2: Clear and dry-sweep the floor

Move pallets, bins and cords out of the area. Sweep or dust-mop the whole floor before any water touches it, so the scrubber deals with soil and not loose debris. In a warehouse a battery sweeper does this in a fraction of the time of a push broom; in a garage a push broom and a dustpan are enough.

Step 3: Treat oil and grease first

Do not scrub oil with plain water. Apply a degreaser made for concrete, mixed at the dilution on its label, and leave it for the dwell time the label gives. Work it into stained spots with a stiff brush. A deep stain may need a second application. We do not sell degreasers, so follow the label of the one you buy; no cleaner removes every trace of oil from porous concrete.

Step 4: Scrub the floor

Scrubbing loosens the soil that the degreaser has lifted. On a small floor use a deck brush and work in sections. On a larger floor an automatic scrubber lays down solution, scrubs and recovers the water with a squeegee and vacuum in one pass. Mopping alone moves dirty water around and leaves it to dry on the slab, which is why the recovery step matters.

Pick the pad or brush for the floor type. Colors are a common industry code and makers differ, so check the chart for your pad brand. For example, 3M's floor pad chart lists its Red Buffer Pad for everyday cleaning and light scrubbing, and its Blue Cleaner Pad for heavy-duty scrubbing that removes 1 to 2 coats of finish before recoating, so the blue pad is not for routine cleaning of a sealed floor.

Source: 3M's floor pad wall chart. Other makers use other colors for the same job, so check your pad brand's chart. On bare, unsealed concrete there is no finish to protect, so a scrub brush or a more aggressive pad is fine; on sealed, coated or polished concrete use only the white, red or autoscrubber pad unless you mean to remove the coating.

On textured or saw-cut concrete, a cylindrical brush reaches into the grooves better than a flat disc. Use the brush the machine's manual lists.

Step 5: Pick up the water and let it dry

Squeegee or vacuum the floor right behind the brush so the dirty water does not dry in place. 3M's floor pad chart lists the same order for every wet job: dust mop first, scrub, then pick up the dirty solution before it dries. Go over the area a second time with clean water if the first pass leaves a visible film. Let the slab dry before it is sealed, coated or driven on. Our guide to using an auto scrubber covers setup, the squeegee and end-of-day care.

Step 6: Match the machine to the floor area

Makers list a productivity figure in square feet per hour. Only Minuteman lists both an actual and a maximum rate for the Max Ride 26; the other makers give one figure without saying which, so treat them as best-case numbers and compare them with the Max Ride's maximum. Real floors with turns, refills and emptying take longer. The hours below are our calculation: floor area divided by the listed rate.

The longer the job, the more a bigger machine pays back, and the battery run time has to cover the job. For a mixed set of floors, our guide to floor scrubbers for tile and grout compares more sizes.

Machines by floor size

Garages and small shops

The Dapper Supply cordless scrubber has a 13.75 in cleaning path, a 17 in squeegee and a 350 RPM brush. The solution tank holds 0.55 gallon and the recovery tank 0.45 gallon, which means frequent refills on a big floor. Dapper lists up to 75 minutes of runtime on its lithium battery, a recharge of about 2 hours and a 2 year warranty. It weighs 23.4 lb, so one person can carry it up steps. See more in the Dapper Supply scrubbers. Skip it if your floor is over about 9,000 square feet, about one charge at the listed rate (our calculation), or you need to clean large textured areas every day.

Textured or saw-cut concrete

The Tornado BR 18/1 has an 18 in path, a 1 gallon solution tank, a 0.58 gallon recovery tank and a 40 foot power cord. It weighs 44 lb and is listed at 69 dB. Dual counter-rotating cylindrical brushes suit textured and saw-cut slabs. Browse the other cylindrical scrubbers too. Skip it if you cannot run a cord to the work area or the floor is large; the listed rate is 4,844 square feet per hour.

Mid-size shops and warehouses

The Tornado BR 22/14T runs on a 24 V battery pack, wet lead-acid on the base version or TPPL on the higher-priced one, and has an on-board charger. Tanks are 14 gallons for solution and 15 for recovery, with a 33 in squeegee and 79 lb of brush pressure. Net weight is 223 lb and the traction drive does the pushing. Skip it if your floor is a single garage bay, where a smaller machine is easier to store and carry.

Large open floors

The Minuteman Max Ride 26 has two 13 in disc brushes for a 26 in path, a 31 in squeegee, 21 gallon and 23.5 gallon tanks, and a listed 3 to 3.5 hours of run time on the 210 Ah pack. Minuteman lists 24,562 square feet per hour actual and 32,490 maximum. SPORT mode runs the brush at 175 to 400 rpm. The listed turn-around aisle is 55 in. Maximum ramp is listed at 2%. See all ride-on scrubbers. Skip it if your aisles are narrower than 55 in or most of your floor is under 5,000 square feet.

Notes by place

Garage floors

Move the car out, sweep, degrease the oil spots and scrub with a stiff deck brush or the Dapper scrubber. Rinse in sections and pull the water up with a wet vac or squeegee instead of letting it puddle. If the floor is going to be sealed or coated, clean it before you apply anything and follow the sealer's label for surface prep and dry time.

Shops

Shop floors collect oil near the lifts and benches, so degrease those zones first and scrub the rest of the floor after. Our guide to stripping and waxing VCT and guide to terrazzo floors help if part of the building has a different floor type.

Warehouses

Aisles are long and straight, so work in lanes with a small overlap and sweep the day's debris before the scrubber starts. Schedule the wet pass for a quiet shift and set out the signs your site rules call for. A rider such as the Max Ride suits the long open floors; a walk-behind suits narrow racking aisles.

Common mistakes

• Scrubbing before sweeping, so loose grit is dragged under the brush.
• Skipping the label's dwell time on the degreaser, then scrubbing too soon.
• Using a pad or brush that is too aggressive for a sealed or polished floor.
• Mopping with the same dirty water across the whole floor.
• Leaving water to dry on the slab instead of recovering it with a squeegee or wet vac.
• Using a cleaner on a coated floor that the coating maker has not approved.

If a floor has been neglected for years, expect it to take more than one pass. Do a repeat treatment on stains rather than a harsher pad.

How often to clean

For rust and tire marks, use the cleaner made for that stain at its label's dilution.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use a pressure washer on my garage floor?

Many people do, mostly on garage floors that drain out through the door. We do not sell pressure washers, so we cannot advise on a model. Indoors the water and the oil it carries have to go somewhere, which is why a scrubber that recovers it in the same pass is often the cleaner choice.

Should I clean concrete before sealing?

Yes. Clean the slab and let it dry before sealing, and follow the sealer's label for the cleaner, prep and dry time. Oil left on the surface is one of the things a sealer label tells you to remove first.

Can you use Dawn to clean concrete floors?

Dish soap can lift light grease on a small garage floor if you rinse it well. For a scrubber, use a cleaner the machine's manual allows, since the manual lists what the machine takes. For heavy oil, a concrete degreaser used at its label's dilution is the better tool.

What is the best mop for concrete floors?

For rough concrete, a stiff deck brush does more than a mop, and a wet vac or squeegee removes the water. A mop alone spreads dirty water. On smooth sealed concrete, a flat microfiber mop with a fresh bucket works for light cleaning.

What type of soap is best for cleaning concrete floors?

Use the one your floor's sealer or coating maker names. On bare concrete with oil, a concrete degreaser is the usual choice. On a machine, use only a cleaner that the manual lists for that machine.

How do you clean a warehouse concrete floor?

Sweep, treat the oil spots, then scrub with an automatic scrubber so the water is recovered in the same pass. Match the machine to the area using the table above, and pair it with a sweeper such as the walk-behind sweepers we carry.

How do you keep dust down in a warehouse?

Sweep daily with a battery sweeper whose filter catches fine dust, and scrub on a schedule. Keep dock doors and racking bases in the sweep route, since dust collects there.

Related guides

• How to Buff and Polish Concrete Floors With a Floor Machine (Not Grinding)
• How to Clean Epoxy Floors Without Dulling the Coating: Daily, Weekly and Machine Scrubbing
• How to Use a Floor Scrubber: Auto Scrubber Setup, Squeegee and End-of-Day Care
• Best Commercial Wet/Dry Vacs for Water Pickup and Job Sites