Do you mop your garage floor?

[vavet]

I have two garages. The attached garage is where we park our cars, lawnmowers, bicycles, sports equipment, etc. It has a low grade (builder provided) grey epoxy floor with flakes.

The detached garage is my space. It’s used for vehicle maintenance, woodworking, aircraft building, etc. it has an armorpoxy white floor with no flake. I’m not trying to make it a showplace. The white is always going to look dirty unless it is absolutely pristine. I chose it because I wanted the reflectivity and I don’t regret it a bit,

I had nearly all the big things out of the attached garage since I’d been mowing grass, so I decided to sweep and mop the floor, I have a Libman tornado mop https://libman.com/products/tornado-mop/

And I used a mixture of hot water and white vinegar in a 5 gallon bucket.
It took over an hour for th floor to dry. I didn’t think I was slinging a bunch of water around when I was mopping. Is it the vinegar? It wasn’t that humid here today. I just had no idea it would take so long.

Do you mop your shop floor? What do you use for the cleaning solution?

 

[Jakemedic]

Hey I have a dedicated mop bucket for the shop. Haven’t mopped the new shop floor yet, but am used to mopping. Personally I have used cheap generic pine sol, Mr Clean and once mopped the floor with rinsed out laundry soap. That left a bit too much suds for me. There is something about a clean floor I enjoy. As soon as my floor is sealed, I’m positive I will be mopping it. Good luck!

 

[matt_i]

Mine got so oily, mostly from a forklift which leaks transmission fluid, that I had to do something.

I used a strong Simple Green solution out of a 5 gallon bucket after sweeping and vacuuming.

Just used a huck towel on my hands and knees. It got dirty fast and at that point I was just pushing dirt around and not cleaning it.

I went with smaller areas because I didn't want to induce a giant humidity slug into the shop (promotes rust when stuff is cold). I do have a ceiling fan so it can dry reasonably fast.

I would worry about vinegar because of the acid content being directionally more favorable to rusting conditions.

 

[Shiftless]

Once in a while I mop the garage floor with diluted Simple Green. I found that using a floor squeegee after the rinse greatly speeds the drying process.

Mine is like this one but I bought mine at a garage sale for $5.00

 

[ddawg16]

I would if I could see my garage floor.

 

[Sureshot]

I found using a very small ammount of Tide podered detergent, put a little water and broom it out the door followed by a squeegee worked fantastic. Gets a ll the dust, cement dust, and leaves the floor like new. Careful how much Tide though.

 

[dreamingmuscle]

Only when I have a large oil spill.

 

[coljar]

I have, and I would if needed, but not in the newer garage.....yet.

 

[brownbagg]

i just open the doors and crank up the leaf blower

 

[don long]

My party garage gets mopped with clear water about every other month any oil drips are cleaned up with dry sweep and a 2x4 which rubs through the sweep until the oil is absorbed then a damp mop goes over the entire 12,000 sqft

Now my work shop is another story. Every Friday we wipe down the counters and tool boxes and we sweep and blow the place out and about every 6 months we empty out everything, pressure wash walls and floors then wash off all the equipment before bringing it back into the shop. this is an all day project for me and a couple day laborers.

 

[MOwens]

I bought an auto scrubber when I first built my shop. That allowed me to clean up the tire marks and seal the floor myself. I figured after I was done with it I could sell it and recoup my cost. It was one of the best things I purchased for my shop and ended up keeping it. I scrub the floor a couple of times a year with it. I have also used it to seal a couple of floors up for the contractor that built my shop and have made some money on the side. Nothing like walking across a super clean floor and having your shoes squeak. https://www.floorscrubbers.com/floo...er-as430c-17-inch-electric-auto-scrubber.html

 

[glentre]

Depends on what kind of floor you have and how much dirt and grime you produce with your normal work. Our house garage with plain concrete and many oil stains from working on cars would be a waste of time to mop.....would just push the dirt around even after sweeping. The detached first had a Rust Bullet floor with a lot of grit in it. The grit just tore up mops. Recent finish with Rust Bullet high gloss with no grit is like glass. After wiping up oil spills, a damp mop cleans everything beautifully with little effort.

So, to mop or not depends on what you do and how clean you want your work area to look. There is no correct answer that would suit everyone.

Glen

 

[NUTTSGT]

My needs it right now. It's a disaster area.

I'll sweep and mop it once the open trailer is done. Hot water and Simple Green. It'll probably need a mop water change half way through. I just might also fire up the wood burner to burn off the moisture and do it at the end of the day before I go in the house.

 

[Chuckster in NJ]

I have an 3 car attached that I clean 2 times a year.... April after the winter and October once most of the leaves are gone. I remove everything on the floor and it is a days work to pressure wash and put everything back in place.
I always clean up any spills and will clean up the area that I have been working in once I am done with my project.

The pole barn with a sealed floor just gets a sweeping and a quick ******** (with a leaf blower) every month or as needed.

 

[bczygan]

I wouldn't, even if I could find it.

Bill

 

[foodie]

I have a porcelain tile garage floor thanks to Dakota and his expertise and infinite wisdom. I mop mine when it is dirty with SuperClean diluted to the manufacture's specs. Excellent degreaser and cleaner! I just spray it on rinse it off and mop if it needs it very easy, use a squeegee if needed also. It works only with cold water, again manufacture's recommendations. I use a box fan to dry it if needed, all done within 1 hour.

 

[MileHighRover]

An old car wash brush on a pole, car wash soap, then a sqeegee makes for a clean (and dry) floor.

 

[Jinks]

I have Racetrac style floors so they don't absorb oils, & sweep clean fairly easily, much as your sealed floors should. But every once in a while I like to get anything that has hung on after a good sweeping. For that I use a steam mop. Just distilled water & lots of heat. The mop heads always come out BLACK! In fact I have mop heads for the garages & the wife has others for the tile in the house. The floors are a lot cleaner after steam mopping, & the floor is dry on the side I started on by the time I finish the other side.

 

[wssix99]

Get a good sweeping compound and then rub it into the floor. Then sweep it up. It grabs on to all the dirt and makes the epoxy look like new.

Mopping just spreads dirty water around...

 

[Monza Harry]

I was thinking the answer when I read the title was, when I spill something it can't even make it to the floor, then I read these answers!
Am I sensing a theme here, or is it just me?

I would if I could see my garage floor.

I wouldn't, even if I could find it. Bill

At previous places of employment, i would occasionally if the Floor Dry was ineffective, I would use whatever general purpose soap/degreaser they had. Key is a "GOOD" squeezer for the last "Dry" mopping to allow for sub 15 min. dry times, so so squeezer much longer.
Harry I,m not a hoarder, I'm a "Preservationist"

 

[jhelrey]

Pressure washer with a floor scrubber attachment... Squeegee to remove access water.

 

[Ray916MN]

Once a year. Mop it in sections with hot water diluted Simple Green followed by squeegeeing.

 

[Jeepster04]

Spray it out and use a squeegee on it...

 

[kabinenroller]

I periodically use a wet mop and wringer to clean my shop floor. My concrete floor was sealed with a clear sealer when I finished the building, it is a working shop so it gets dirty. I broom clean it almost everyday but sometimes it just has to be mopped. I use water and Pine Sol. I have four ceiling fans so I just turn them on and in minutes the floor is dry. Eventually I will not be doing too much fabrication and restoration work so I may strip the floor, etch it and cover it with an epoxy product.

 

[gnpenning]

I found using a very small ammount of Tide podered detergent, put a little water and broom it out the door followed by a squeegee worked fantastic. Gets a ll the dust, cement dust, and leaves the floor like new. Careful how much Tide though.

It really depends on how bad it is. Always floor dry immediately or if I know ahead of time I put down pig mats and occasionally card board.

When I was in the industry this ^^^^^ is what we did, I still do when it's really bad. To much soap leaves white marks.


Pressure washer about once a month, again depending what is going on.

Leaf blower when dusty. Sometimes this with one of the above.

Squeegee water after.

I wash almost more in the winter because of vehicles dripping what they use on the road. Even wash the trucks more during the winter.

Flexibility to match the need.

 

[nadogail]

Warm water and Mr. Clean

 

[4 FN 27]

I bought an auto scrubber when I first built my shop. That allowed me to clean up the tire marks and seal the floor myself. I figured after I was done with it I could sell it and recoup my cost. It was one of the best things I purchased for my shop and ended up keeping it. I scrub the floor a couple of times a year with it. I have also used it to seal a couple of floors up for the contractor that built my shop and have made some money on the side. Nothing like walking across a super clean floor and having your shoes squeak. https://www.floorscrubbers.com/floo...er-as430c-17-inch-electric-auto-scrubber.html

I am with you. I bought a Clarke walk behind Floor Scrubber off Craigslist 10 years ago for $400. Came with a enough pads I still haven't had to order more. 1 set of Batteries so far. All is good...

 

[ZRX61]

No, I use a vacuum because it's carpeted.

 

[Jeepster04]

I am with you. I bought a Clarke walk behind Floor Scrubber off Craigslist 10 years ago for $400. Came with a enough pads I still haven't had to order more. 1 set of Batteries so far. All is good...

Wow! Now thats going above and beyond!

 

[flathead dave]

No. My wife does that.

 

[flathead dave]

Love those auto scrubbers! Nothing better for a nice huge floor.

 

[EDS01SS]

yup sure do. Cant stand working in a mess

 

[tomstin]

I don't mop, but have considered it. Typically, two or three times a year, I hose it down, spread some simple green and scrub it in with a push broom. Hose it out, use the push broom to push the heavy spots out, takes an hour or so to dry.

 

[briann898]

I have Racetrac style floors so they don't absorb oils, & sweep clean fairly easily, much as your sealed floors should. But every once in a while I like to get anything that has hung on after a good sweeping. For that I use a steam mop. Just distilled water & lots of heat. The mop heads always come out BLACK! In fact I have mop heads for the garages & the wife has others for the tile in the house. The floors are a lot cleaner after steam mopping, & the floor is dry on the side I started on by the time I finish the other side.

Yep, you're right on that, I also prefer to use steam cleaning first, it helps a lot. I've bought model Dupray NEAT recently and it's perfect for my floors. If you want to find more information about it, you may browse this site and easily find it, as well as other models of steam cleaners.