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| Thursday, July 29, 2010 |
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| [Tuesday, February 13, 2007] |
| Our church is becoming busy and we have never had a "professional" custodian. In the past we have used volunteers to help with the cleaning. Now we need to strip and refinish a tile floor. What’s best to use after stripping, a liquid mopped on finish or a sprayed-on and buffed-in product?
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| Cleaning Procedures - Larry nicoludis |
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A programmed, progressive floor care approach will prove least costly and maintain superior appearance levels. Since you are starting with a total strip, I would apply 5-6 coats of finish and then maintain it with buffing or burnishing. The floor finish should be formulated for periodic burnishing. If you do not have a high-speed burnisher, you can use the standard 175 rpm floor machine. Purchase a premium restorer or spray buff compound along with a matching buff pad from your jan/san supplier.
Mop on the restorer and buff when dry, or use the spray-on product which is buffed in and buffed out. In other words, the first pass spreads the product across the tile and the following passes produce a shine. This process should remove black marks, scuffs, and dull spots.
If you can purchase a high-speed burnisher, it will take your floor care program to the next level. Burnishing above 1,500 rpm heats and hardens the finish, produces a high gloss approaching the “wet look”, and increases the durability of the finish. Depending upon foot traffic, use, and daily maintenance, burnishing might be required every 2-4 weeks for main halls, rest rooms, and dining areas. Classrooms should last 90 days between burnishing. The goal is to burnish before the gloss and appearance levels deteriorate beyond repair. A search of the “Ask the Experts” website under floor care should locate articles regarding specific procedures and tips.
Eventually it will be time to scrub and top-coat. Wear and repeated buffing will cause the finish to lose its original luster. Machine scrub the worn traffic lanes with a mild detergent to remove wear marks and imperfections. Then apply two more coats of finish. Make sure the floors are exceptionally clean and only re-coat the worn traffic areas. Now you are ready to resume your buffing regimen.
The objective is to provide daily maintenance (dust mop and wet spot mop) so that regular burnishing will prolong the time between scrub and recoat operations. In turn, this programmed approach will extend the time before a costly strip operation is again required.
Depending upon traffic, upkeep, and the durability of the floor finish, you might be looking at over a dozen burnish operations (step 1) followed by a scrub and top coat (step 2) and then more burnishing. After three scrub and top coat operations, the floor may require a strip and refinish (step 3). However, if you neglect the first two steps, the floors soon will require the labor and chemical intensive strip operation (step 3).
Gary Clipperton
National Pro Clean Corp.
(719) 598-5112
www.nationalproclean.com
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| ICAN representative |
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