Scrubbing shop floors

I am getting rid of the last of the lumber in my shop today, hopefully. I called for a return pickup. The floor is pretty janky, due to the red mud and tire marks from the forklifts. I was wondering if there is an easy way to clean a large area, using a mechanical device i.e. floor scrubber etc.?

I see those walk behind floor buffers on FB marketplace all the time for cheap. I was wondering if I could get a giant scotchbrite kinda deal and wet the floors down with detergent and scrub away?

I know it won't stay pristine forever, but catching it early on may help.

Thoughts?

 

I would think those walk behind scrubbers with the vacuum would fill and clog up pretty quick in a garage. I used to have to clean a 6 bay shop with a floor scrubber with the pad on it daily. Squeegeeing the water out the door and into the floor drains

 

I was thinking even cheaper than that. Something like this?

 

Root i used one like that on my floor and it work. Don

 

I see them on FB Marketplace for a couple hundred bucks every day. I figure the pads are the expensive part.

 

I borrowed one of those years ago and tried to clean my carport floor. Did so so, I used something like powered Comet cleanser then washed it out with the hose. I find just using the pressure washer with water does a better job. I usually pour a little Super Clean or
Purple Power on any oil stained places, scrub with a broom, then spray with the pressure washer. Takes a while, but looks good when finished.

 

Exactly what I used.

 

Those have all sorts of brushes and scrubbing heads available. Even steel wool pads, and probably these days 3M pads. There's sanding discs available as well, used by floor refinishers to knock the shine off between coats of finish. I had one while in high school and used it to scrub and polish office floors (late 60s early 70s). Just remember to hang on. Lift the handle it goes one way, lower the handle it goes the other way. And they can get away from you in a hurry and make some pretty good holes in drywall! Yeah, first hand experience...

 

Yes, they can get away from you!
Like I said above, my boss wanted our shop floor cleaned every night. I got quite proficient with that thing!
And yes, they make aggressive to mild polishing pads to use with those.

 

So, does it work? Or is it just putting lipstick on a pig? I'll probably invest in a good used one and try it out. I also have a power washer.

 

I never used mine on a garage floor, so I can't answer that question. It did scrub some pretty nasty stuff off of linoleum floors, like you'd see in a medical office exam room. Of course that's no comparison, as linoleum is not very porous.

 

Just make sure you buy a low rpm machine. I want to say the machines used for stripping and cleaning are 175 rpm , where the ones for polishing are around 1500 rpm. They look pretty much the same.

 

No sealing yet. You have to wait at least 30 days to seal it. I am waiting forever, due to the astronomical cost.

 

Just go ahead and stain it with used motor oil out of a diesel . I’ve got a 55 gallon barrel full I’d donate . But I’m sure that’s not the color You want. A cousin of mine had a 1/2” of cement floated over the cement pad in her living room . Stained it and then cut 1/8” grooves across it in a 24” square pattern. Then stained the grooves a darker color. Came out very nice .
I wonder if beeswax would seal the floor ? I saw a program where a guy built a house the floor was tamped dirt and a beeswax mixture . I know I’m getting off subject .

 

I used a Harbor Freight Power Washer with the Scrubber atachment. at least you can use the power washer on other stuff

 

I have the attachment (scrubber) . It works pretty good.

 

I think it worked great. Our shop floor was smooth and sealed. A pressure washer works good too, but I think the buffer would be WAY faster. I guess it would also depend of if this is going to be an ongoing cleaning thing , or a one time, get it clean project. A pressure washer also makes a hell of a mess if you’re in a shop that’s full of tools, cars, ect.

 

Once your concrete is sealed, it should be a matter of occasional sweep and damp mop type of maintenance rather than hard scrubbing. For that reason I don't think you'll need a floor buffer or pressure washer. The cons of wet buffer scrubbing and pressure washing is that you have the manual labor of squeegee or mopping up the gray water and the fact that misty spray and splashing will get your equipment and bare metal project car wet.
Considering the sheer size of your shop and the fact that you'll soon be in retirement (and getting older), I'd look into a self driven walk behind floor scrubber such as what you see used for maintenance in grocery and big box stores. They "drive" effortlessly, are battery operated and self contained. We're in tough economic times and there are plenty of brick & mortar stores closing and selling or auctioning these.
The ultimate would be a battery or vintage propane powered drivable floor scrubber such as the ones by Tennant or Advance that resemble a mini Zamboni. Hop on that thing and go for a cruise, then drive it out back and dump the holding tank.
A pass through the shop every couple of weeks will keep the dust and dirt to a minimum. Also would do really well on your outside walkways and porch to cut down on the red clay dust and mud tracking up everything. Much easier than setting up/breaking down the pressure washer, hose,etc and keep the Mrs. happy. I've occasionally seen those go up for auction locally in school district and industrial auctions. In a crowd of flippers, they'll go cheap if you're the only serious bidder in the market for one.

 

If you can afford it, epoxy the floor.