When not done right, caring for commercial flooring can be more labor-intensive and time-consuming than it needs to be. But after 40+ years of helping our partners keep Everything Clean, we’ve learned a thing or two about effective, efficient floor care.
Today, we’re sharing our knowledge of caring for traditional floors like VCT with you. Keep reading for a quick rundown of essential floor care tips our chemists and floor care experts have gathered over the years…
Stripping & Applying Floor Finish
The best way to restore dirty, scratched, or worn commercial flooring is by stripping and refinishing floors with fresh coats of wax. But before you do, there’s a few don’ts to keep in mind to optimize your clean and MAXIMize your results…
When stripping floors, keep these goofs and consequences in mind:
- If you attempt to strip an area that’s too large, you risk the stripper drying onto the floor. To avoid this, consider tackling smaller sections of your floors for optimal results.
- If you don’t replace your stripping pad when clogged, it will leave patches of old finish. Always use a clean pad to maximize stripper performance.
- If you don’t detail clean with a damp mop, you risk leaving behind bits of soil and footprints that can get mopped into the new finish.
- If you don’t rinse with clean water, left-behind residue will compromise the integrity of the finish and negatively affect your results.
When finishing floors, keep these goofs and consequences in mind:
- If you use a dirty mop, you risk leaving behind dirt and soils that can become embedded into the new finish. Make sure to use a clean mop to avoid starting out with a dirty floor.
- Pouring the new finish into a dirty mop bucket will also affect your results from the start. When finishing floors, always line your mop bucket with a fresh can liner to avoid contamination and ensure optimal results.
- If you recoat too quickly (i.e. before the finish fully dries), you risk compromising the appearance of your floors and ending up with a low-gloss finish as a result.
- Don’t rush! If you opt to dry your floors with a floor fan, it may cause more problems than if you allow it to air dry. Using a floor fan can make the finish ripple, cause recoat stress, and lead to poor results overall.
Scrubbing & Recoating Floors
Properly deep-scrubbing commercial floors will remove the top layer of the floor finish and embedded soils, so you can apply fresh coats of finish for that “brand new” look.
Depending on the traffic level and maintenance program in your facility, stripping and refinishing should be done every 1-2 years. The best way to maximize this time (i.e. extend time in between stripping) is with an effective scrub and recoat every 6-12 months.
When scrubbing floors, keep these goofs and consequences in mind:
- If you don’t use cleaning chemicals that are designed specifically for deep scrubbing floors, you risk a dirty and discolored end result.
- If you use the wrong pad (for example, one that is too soft), you will not be able to effectively remove embedded soils when scrubbing. Using a pad that is designed for deep scrubbing is essential to ensuring embedded soils are properly removed.
- If you scrub too quickly, the floor will have dirty, shiny patches.
- If you rush through the scrubbing process, it may not allow for enough time to effectively clean the floors and can result in a non-uniform appearance.
- If you don’t rinse with clean water, left-behind residue will compromise your floor finish.
When recoating floors, keep these goofs and consequences in mind:
- If you pour the finish into a dirty mop bucket, you risk leaving behind dirt and soils that can become embedded into the new finish. Always line your mop bucket with a fresh can liner to avoid contamination and ensure optimal results.
- If you use a dirty mop, you will have a dirty finish. Make sure to use a clean mop to avoid starting out with a dirty floor.
- If you recoat too quickly (i.e. before the finish fully dries), you risk compromising the appearance of your floors and ending up with a low-gloss finish as a result.
- Don’t rush! If you opt to dry your floors with a floor fan, it may cause more problems than if you allow it to air dry. Using a floor fan can make the finish ripple, cause recoat stress, and lead to poor results overall.
Though you may have heard or learned some of these tips before, it’s the little things that can make the biggest difference when it comes to cleaning, maintaining, and restoring traditional flooring like VCT.
If your commercial facilities have newer flooring, such as LVT, linoleum, or polished concrete, head to MaximFloorCare.com to see how a comprehensive MAXIM® program can help you!
Premium Floor Care Products for Facility Managers
As your partner in floor care maintenance and restoration, we believe the cleanest, healthiest buildings are maintained with premium products. Our goal in creating this program is to help facility managers and commercial cleaning crews preserve their floors with ease. Because cleaning, maintaining, and restoring facility floors shouldn’t be complicated or costly.
See the results of personalized floor care firsthand with a custom MAXIM® program! Contact your MAXIM® representative to get started or learn more at MaximFloorCare.com.
