CLEANING
ARE YOU CLEANING YOUR SAFETY FLOORING SAFELY?
Peter Daulby, Technical Services Manager, Altro, offers his top tips on how to ensure your floor is getting the treatment it deserves.
With today’s culture of personal injury litigation, safety flooring plays an increasingly important role. Opinion differs, however, on how best to clean it, with many cleaning equipment and detergent suppliers making claims for their products. So how do you separate fact from fiction?
It is a fact that safety flooring may need a different cleaning method to ordinary vinyl flooring, but claims that it requires unique detergents or equipment are misleading.
To analyse the soil type ask:
a) Is it organic or inorganic? Organic soil is an ideal breeding ground for bacteria and will need disinfecting or steam cleaning.
ORGANIC
Material that is alive: bacteria etc., in food waste (in kitchens and canteens) or human waste such as skin or faeces (in bathrooms or hospitals).
Material that is part of a living thing, such as food or sawdust.
Man-made materials (such as plastics or mineral oil) common in factories or construction sites.
b. Is it soluble or insoluble? SOLUBLE
Soil that will dissolve in water such as sugar, salt or detergent powder.
INSOLUBLE
Soil that won’t dissolve in water, such as oil and skin, that will need detergent to remove it. Other insoluble materials such as plastic fragments or wood shavings can be removed by first stage cleaning, by sweeping or vacuuming.
c. If it is insoluble, is it greasy or particulate? Different types of insoluble soil will demand different cleaning methods.
INSOLUBLE AND GREASY
Soil which sticks to surfaces and smears when touched. Likely wherever there is food, but also carried on foot into other areas.
INSOLUBLE AND PARTICULATE
Soil in powder form, such as sand, skin, washing powder and broken fibres.
Insoluble greasy and particulate soil are typically found together as the powdery soil will stick to any grease it comes into contact with. In this category you may also encounter abrasive soil, which can scratch surfaces, and stubborn/tacky soil which sticks to the surface such as syrup, wax or glue.
INORGANIC
Materials that are not carbon-based such as glass, salt or brick dust.
This will also help to identify the best detergent. For example, alkaline detergents, with pH above 9.5 (e.g. AltroClean 44) are ideal for greasy and organic soils, whilst acidic detergents (pH less than 5) are good for inorganic soils such as limescale.
Whatever the detergent, the dilution ratio is crucial. Unmeasured detergent gives a disappointing finish and can waste money on cleaning chemicals. It can also leave a residue on the flooring which undermines both its slip resistance and its hygiene levels. Detergent residue build-up on the surface of the flooring can attract contaminants, encouraging bacteria growth.
So, to summarise, when reviewing safety floor cleaning, check firstly that your cleaning method suits the slip-resistant surface of the flooring. Next, make sure that the cleaning method and detergent are tailored to the different types of soiling encountered throughout the building.
www.altro.co.uk 28 | TOMORROW’S FM
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Safety flooring has a critical job to do. It incorporates surface aggregates that increase grip between foot/shoe and the floor, reducing the potential to slip. As the surface cannot be completely smooth if it is to do its job properly, some items of equipment and cleaning processes will prove more effective than others. Our online step-by- step cleaning guides show the recommended mechanical, manual and steam cleaning processes.
The most common mistake is employing the same cleaning method for all safety floors throughout the building, irrespective of the type of soiling. For example, floors in kitchens, where greasy spills are the concern, will need a different approach to main entrances, where shoe-borne soiling predominates. Understanding the type of soiling, and choosing the most effective process and detergent (if appropriate) to tackle it, will improve results.
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