How do you clean terrazzo?

Neutral pH detergent and water, nothing acid. Terrazzo is cement or resin, and an acidic cleaner attacks a cement matrix and dulls a resin one. On a sealed floor this is the whole routine. On an unsealed poured floor, sealing is what makes cleaning possible at all.

Reference photograph of a terrazzo surface, s89. Not a photograph of our goods. — A pale floor shows every mark a cleaning routine misses. This is why it is the harder colour to keep well.

Reference photograph of a terrazzo surface, s09. Not a photograph of our goods. — A dark floor shows dust instead. Same material, different maintenance argument.

Reference photographs. They show the material and the finish; they are not photographs of goods we made, and the colour on screen is not a colour-match.

The figures, and where each one comes from

Surface	Safe	Will damage it
Sealed cement terrazzo	pH-neutral detergent	acid, bleach, ammonia
Epoxy	pH-neutral detergent	solvents, abrasive pads
Polished terrazzo	soft cloth, neutral pH	anything gritty
Unsealed poured	seal first	any wet clean, it will stain

Why the processes are not interchangeable

The reason an acid cleaner is the wrong answer is that terrazzo is a cement matrix with a finish on top of it. The finish may protect the surface; the acid goes for the matrix underneath once the finish is breached. It is a slow failure that looks like a dull patch and gets worse each time somebody tries to fix it with a stronger product.

What these figures are, and what they are not

A cleaning method does not restore a damaged surface. If the polish has been broken by an acidic cleaner, no routine brings it back — it needs grinding and re-polishing, which is a different job. Send us a photograph before you buy a product and we will tell you which of the two problems you have.

Measured data sheets and test reports

If you are specifying this

We have not published products against this question yet. Send us the process, thickness and quantity and we will quote it against what we can actually form, rather than against a catalogue.

Send a specification Ask for a sample