Industrial Floor Cleaning Services in Ireland

Professional Industrial Floor Cleaning in Ireland

Industrial floors take a beating that no domestic or commercial floor ever experiences. Forklift traffic weighing several tonnes, oil and chemical spills, food residue, metal swarf, constant foot traffic in safety boots, and exposure to temperature extremes all combine to create floors that standard cleaning methods cannot address. An industrial floor that is not properly maintained becomes a slip hazard, a compliance liability, and a visual indicator of poor management.

Optus Glean provides specialist industrial floor cleaning services across all 26 counties of Ireland. We clean warehouse floors, factory production floors, loading bays, cold stores, food processing areas, and any industrial floor surface using ride-on scrubber-dryers, walk-behind scrubbers, industrial sweepers, hot water pressure washers, and specialist degreasing systems. Whether you need routine weekly floor scrubbing or a one-off deep clean and restoration, we have the equipment, the chemicals, and the expertise to deliver results.

Types of Industrial Floors We Clean

Different floor types require different cleaning approaches. Using the wrong chemical on the wrong floor causes damage, discolouration, or reduced lifespan. Optus Glean cleans every type of industrial flooring found in Irish warehouses, factories, and production facilities.

Power-Floated and Polished Concrete

The most common industrial floor in Ireland. Power-floated concrete is durable and cost-effective but porous, meaning it absorbs oil, grease, and staining agents if not sealed. Cleaning involves pre-sweeping to remove loose debris, machine scrubbing with alkaline or neutral detergent depending on contamination type, and thorough extraction of dirty water. For polished concrete, we use pH-neutral cleaners to avoid etching the polished surface and damaging the sheen. Regular scrubbing with a ride-on machine maintains both cleanliness and the floor's appearance.

Epoxy-Coated Floors

Epoxy floors are common in food processing, pharmaceutical, and cleanroom-adjacent environments because they are seamless, non-porous, and easy to sanitise. Cleaning requires careful chemical selection — harsh alkaline degreasers can degrade epoxy coatings over time. We use compatible neutral or mildly alkaline detergents, soft-bristle brush attachments on scrubber-dryers, and avoid abrasive pads that would scratch and dull the coating. For food environments, we use HACCP-approved sanitisers that are safe for epoxy surfaces.

Polyurethane Resin Floors

Resin floors are found in food factories, breweries, and facilities where chemical resistance and thermal shock resistance are required. Polyurethane resin is tough but can be damaged by the wrong cleaning chemicals. We use manufacturer-recommended cleaning agents, appropriate scrubbing pressure, and ensure all residue is fully extracted to prevent build-up that dulls the surface. Regular maintenance cleaning extends the life of resin floors significantly.

Vinyl and Safety Flooring

Vinyl safety flooring is common in welfare areas, changing rooms, canteens, and laboratory environments within industrial facilities. These floors have textured surfaces designed to provide grip when wet, but the texture traps dirt and requires more aggressive scrubbing to clean effectively. We use rotary scrubbing machines with appropriate pads and hot water extraction to clean deep into the texture without damaging the floor surface.

Quarry Tiles

Found in many food factories, commercial kitchens, and older industrial facilities. Quarry tiles are extremely durable but the grout lines between tiles trap grease, food debris, and bacteria. Effective cleaning requires chemical degreasing followed by machine scrubbing with stiff-bristle brushes that penetrate the grout lines. We also provide grout sealing after deep cleaning to reduce future contamination absorption.

Painted Concrete

Some industrial floors have painted line markings, safety zones, or full-surface paint coatings. Cleaning painted concrete requires careful attention to avoid removing the paint — high-pressure washing at close range and aggressive chemical degreasers can strip paint from the surface. We adjust our equipment settings and chemical selection to clean the floor without damaging the painted finish. Where paint has deteriorated, we can prepare the surface for repainting by removing loose and flaking paint.

Industrial Floor Cleaning Methods

Ride-On Scrubber-Dryer Cleaning

The ride-on scrubber-dryer is the workhorse of industrial floor cleaning. An operator sits on the machine and drives it across the floor at walking speed. The machine simultaneously dispenses cleaning solution through jets, scrubs the floor with rotating pads or cylindrical brushes, and vacuums up the dirty solution through a rear squeegee, leaving the floor clean and dry in a single pass.

Our ride-on machines clean 3,000 to 5,000 square metres per hour. A 10,000m² warehouse floor can be scrubbed in 2 to 3 hours. A 2,000m² factory production floor can be cleaned in under an hour. The floor is dry enough to walk or drive on within seconds of the machine passing, meaning operations can continue almost immediately behind the cleaning zone.

Ride-on scrubbers are suitable for concrete, epoxy, resin, vinyl, and tile floors. We select the appropriate pad type (soft for coated floors, medium for concrete, aggressive for heavily soiled surfaces) and chemical concentration for each floor type and contamination level.

Walk-Behind Scrubber-Dryer Cleaning

Walk-behind scrubbers perform the same scrub-and-dry function as ride-on machines but are smaller and more manoeuvrable. They are used for narrow aisles between racking, areas around fixed machinery, smaller rooms, and spaces where ride-on machines cannot access. In most facilities, we use a combination of ride-on machines for the main floor areas and walk-behind machines for the tight spaces, ensuring complete coverage.

Hot Water Pressure Washing

For loading bays, external yards, dock areas, and heavily soiled surfaces where scrubber-dryers cannot operate effectively. Our industrial pressure washers operate at up to 250 bar with water temperatures up to 90°C. Hot water is critical for effective degreasing — it breaks the bond between oil and the floor surface far more effectively than cold water. Pressure washing is also used for cleaning external concrete, paving, and tarmac areas around industrial facilities.

Chemical Degreasing

Oil and grease contamination on industrial floors is one of the most common and persistent cleaning challenges. Standard cleaning simply moves oil around; effective degreasing requires the right combination of chemistry, dwell time, agitation, and extraction.

We use alkaline degreasers for mineral oil, hydraulic fluid, and petroleum-based contamination — these break down the molecular structure of the oil and lift it from the floor surface. Enzyme-based cleaners are used for food fats, vegetable oils, and organic residues — the enzymes digest the oil rather than simply emulsifying it, preventing re-deposition. Solvent-based spot treatments are used for stubborn staining that does not respond to water-based chemicals.

The degreaser is applied, allowed to dwell for the manufacturer-specified contact time, then agitated using a scrubber-dryer or rotary machine before the contaminated solution is extracted. For deeply embedded oil in porous concrete, multiple treatment cycles may be required.

Industrial Sweeping

Pre-sweeping is an essential step before scrubbing any industrial floor. Loose debris — dust, grit, packaging fragments, metal swarf, and general litter — must be removed before wet cleaning begins. If debris enters the scrubber-dryer, it can damage scrub pads, block vacuum systems, and scratch floor coatings. We use industrial ride-on sweepers for large open areas and walk-behind sweepers for smaller spaces, collecting all loose material before the scrubbing pass begins.

Equipment We Deploy

Optus Glean invests in commercial-grade floor cleaning equipment because industrial floors cannot be cleaned with domestic or light commercial machines. Our fleet includes:

• Ride-on scrubber-dryers — 3,000–5,000m²/hour, disc and cylindrical models, adjustable scrub pressure
• Walk-behind scrubber-dryers — for aisles, around machinery, and spaces under 1,000m²
• Ride-on sweepers — for pre-sweeping large floor areas before scrubbing
• Walk-behind sweepers — for smaller spaces and perimeter sweeping
• Hot water pressure washers — up to 250 bar, 90°C, for loading bays and external areas
• Industrial vacuum systems — HEPA-filtered for fine dust, standard for general debris
• Rotary scrubbing machines — for spot treatment, grout cleaning, and floor preparation
• Diamond grinding equipment — for concrete preparation, stain removal, and surface levelling

Degreasing and Oil Removal

Oil contamination on industrial floors creates three serious problems: it is a slip hazard that causes injuries, it is a fire risk when combined with dust and heat, and it is a compliance issue under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005. Standard mopping with general-purpose cleaner does not remove industrial oil — it spreads it into a thin film that is even more dangerous.

Our industrial degreasing process removes oil from any floor surface:

1. Absorption — fresh oil spills are first absorbed using granular absorbent material to remove bulk liquid
2. Chemical application — alkaline or enzyme-based degreaser is applied at the correct dilution rate
3. Dwell time — the chemical is left for the specified contact time (typically 5–15 minutes) to penetrate and break down the oil
4. Mechanical agitation — the floor is scrubbed using a machine with appropriate pads to lift the emulsified oil
5. Extraction — the dirty solution is vacuumed up by the scrubber-dryer, removing the oil from the floor
6. Inspection — the floor is checked and the process repeated if contamination remains
7. Anti-slip treatment — if required, anti-slip coating is applied to restore safe traction

For chronic oil contamination from machinery, we recommend ongoing weekly degreasing of affected zones combined with oil drip trays and containment measures at the source.

Anti-Slip Floor Treatment

Slip injuries are one of the most common workplace accidents in industrial environments. Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007, employers must ensure that floor surfaces are suitable and maintained to prevent slips, trips, and falls.

Optus Glean provides anti-slip floor treatment for smooth industrial floors that become hazardous when wet or contaminated. Our treatments include:

• Chemical etching — acid-based treatment that creates microscopic texture on polished concrete, ceramic tile, and stone floors without changing the visible appearance
• Anti-slip coatings — applied over existing floor surfaces to increase grip, available in clear or pigmented finishes
• Aggregate coatings — resin-based coatings with embedded grit particles for high-traffic and high-risk areas such as loading bay ramps and external steps
• Pendulum testing — we can measure the slip resistance of your floors using the pendulum test method (BS 7976) to determine whether treatment is needed and verify results after treatment

Anti-slip treatment typically lasts 12 to 24 months depending on traffic levels and needs periodic reapplication as part of a floor maintenance programme.

Floor Restoration and Polishing

Industrial floors that have been neglected, heavily stained, or damaged by years of use can often be restored rather than replaced. Floor restoration is significantly cheaper than laying new flooring and causes far less disruption to operations.

Our floor restoration services include:

• Concrete grinding and polishing — diamond grinding to remove surface damage, staining, and imperfections, followed by progressive polishing to restore a smooth, sealed finish
• Deep stain removal — specialist chemical treatments for oil stains, rust stains, tyre marks, and chemical discolouration that standard cleaning cannot remove
• Paint and adhesive removal — diamond grinding or chemical stripping to remove old paint, line markings, adhesive residue, and surface coatings in preparation for new finishes
• Surface preparation for recoating — mechanical preparation (shot blasting, diamond grinding, scarifying) to create the surface profile required by epoxy, polyurethane, or other coating manufacturers
• Crack and joint repair — filling and sealing cracks, expansion joints, and damaged areas to prevent further deterioration and create a smooth, cleanable surface

After restoration, we recommend a planned maintenance programme of regular machine scrubbing to protect the investment and keep the floor in optimal condition.

Industrial Floor Cleaning Pricing in Ireland

Floor cleaning is priced per square metre for one-off work and per visit or per week for ongoing contracts. Pricing depends on floor type, contamination level, and accessibility.

All pricing is exclusive of VAT at 13.5%. Volume discounts apply to large floor areas and ongoing contracts. Optus Glean provides fixed-price quotations after a free site assessment.

Industries We Serve

Our industrial floor cleaning service covers every sector where large floor areas require professional maintenance:

• Warehouses and distribution centres
• Factories and manufacturing plants
• Food processing facilities
• Pharmaceutical production sites
• Engineering workshops and machine shops
• Vehicle workshops and garages
• Cold stores and chilled warehouses
• Retail stockrooms and back-of-house areas
• Car parks (multi-storey and underground)
• Exhibition and event venues