What Types of Floors Can You Clean with a Floor Scrubber?

Floor scrubbers are a great tool for cleaning your floors in the workplace or home but its important to know what floors you can clean, and what ones to avoid.

A blue and white floor scrubber machine on the ground in a tiled car dealership

Key Insights

Virtually any hard floor surface can be cleaned and returned to their showroom finish
As a general rule, it’s not advised to use any type of floor scrubber machine on carpeted floors and unsealed concrete floors
We advise against cleaning unsealed concrete and pavers as they require large volumes of water to be cleaned effectively

Using a floor scrubber is a great way to transform dirty floors in your home or workplace in a short period of time. It’s important though, that you do your research before you start cleaning a range of floors to avoid damaging any surfaces or the floor scrubber itself.

You might be wondering then, what types of floors can you clean with your floor scrubber and which types of floors should you avoid?

In this piece, we’ll break down the wide range of surfaces that can be cleaned with your floor scrubber machine, as well as floor surfaces that can be harmed with the wrong chemicals, brushes or pads fitted to your floor scrubber.

Different coloured timber flooring stacked side by side and on top of each other

What Types of Floors Can You Clean with a Floor Scrubber?

A typical floor scrubber is effective at lifting dirt and stains from a wide range of floor surfaces, including:

- Vinyl & Lino
- Tiles
- Slates
- Terracotta tiles
- Smooth concrete
- Marble
- Cork
- Granite
- Travertine
- Ceramic and Porcelain tiles
- Limestone
- Epoxy non-slip floors
- Rubber

Virtually any hard floor surface can be cleaned and returned to their showroom finish. Because of this, floor scrubber machines remain effective for nearly all common types of floors. If you can mop it, you can clean it with a scrubber machine with far superior results, in a significantly shorter period of time.

If you would like to read a more detailed breakdown on the best pad, brushes and chemical combinations for each specific type of floor, you can read our informative guide here which covers all the major areas mentioned above.

Read this blog to see if you want to know if you can use the i-mop on timber floors.

A shiny timber floor in a clean household that has been recently cleaned and polished

Types of Floor Surfaces You Should Avoid Cleaning with a Floor Scrubber

While floor scrubbers remain one of the most effective methods of removing dirt and stains from your floors, they have their limitations when it comes to cleaning some floor surfaces. As a general rule, it’s not advised to use any type of floor scrubber machine on:

- Carpeted floors
- Unsealed concrete floors

The reason for avoiding cleaning surfaces like carpeted floors is that they can quite easily get caught up in the machinery, and either damage the floor surface itself, or the machinery that you’re using.

We also advise against cleaning unsealed concrete and pavers as they require large volumes of water to be cleaned effectively. As a result, a portable floor scrubber – which is designed to be water efficient – simply doesn’t offer the volumes of water that porous floors require to be properly cleaned. Rather than resulting in any physical damage to the floor scrubber, cleaning highly porous surfaces with a floor scrubber can be a waste of your time and requires equipment offering far more water and pressure than a floor scrubber can muster.

It is also important to remember that not all floor types are tolerant of the same chemicals, and the same applies to the types of pads and brushes that you’re using with your floor scrubber.

If you are not sure if you’re using the right equipment and products on your floor, please check the manufacturer’s guidelines for your floor scrubber, and refer to the comprehensive guide we’ve listed above for more information.

Common Questions Answered

What do you use a floor scrubber for?

A floor scrubber is a machine designed to efficiently clean large spaces. It applies cleaning solution, scrubs thoroughly, and dries the floor all in one pass. Many establishments choose floor scrubbers because of their speed and effectiveness.

Can you use a floor scrubber on laminate floors?

Using a hard floor scrubber on laminate floors can be an efficient and effective way to remove dirt, grime, and scuff marks. The scrubber combines water, cleaning solution, and brush agitation to thoroughly clean and maintain laminate surfaces.

Can you use a floor scrubber on concrete?

Floor scrubbers are an excellent option for effectively cleaning concrete surfaces.