Retail polished concrete fails on schedule, not on chemistry. The floor that looks tired after a year usually had a mop and a bucket, no dust control and no buffing cycle. A written daily routine costs less than one restoration.

Shift schedule

When	Task	Product
Opening	Dust mop full floor	Microfiber, dry
Mid-day	Spot mop entrances and counters	Neutral 1:128
Closing	Damp mop traffic lanes	Neutral 1:128, two buckets
Weekly	Buff high-traffic zones	White or beige pad, 500-800 rpm
Monthly	Deep clean and inspect joints	Neutral, soft brush at edges

What each task protects

Dust mopping removes the grit that acts like sandpaper under shoes. This is the single cheapest gloss protection in retail. Damp mopping with neutral cleaner removes film without stripping sealer. Buffing restores the micro-sheen that customers read as clean.

Products to ban

• Acid cleaners, including citrus degreasers used daily: they etch the cream.
• Wax and acrylic floor finish: they build a film that yellows and traps dirt.
• Steam mops on sealed floors: heat lifts sealer unevenly.
• Chlorine on coloured concrete: it bleaches pigment over months.

Entrance control is half the schedule

A 3-5 m walk-off mat at every entrance removes most of the grit before it reaches the polish. Without mats, the dust mop is fighting the street. Mats also cut slip incidents in wet weather, which is a safety argument the store manager will fund.

Weekly inspection

1. Read gloss at three fixed points with the same light angle, and log the numbers.
2. Check joints for filler loss and edges for coating wear.
3. Note new scratches and their location; repeat locations point to a specific cause such as trolley wheels.
4. Photograph the floor quarterly from the same spot for trend evidence.

Hand this schedule to the cleaning contractor as part of the handover pack. Gloss after three years is decided by this document far more than by the polishing sequence.