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on a legendary journey to defeat and dispel he cleaning and maintenance of flooring.
Whichever category you fall into, we must all grapple with some myths about floorcare, but these have no place in operating a cleaning business. So, let’s take a look at some of them, to help eliminate or at least clear up some misconceptions.
Myth 9
Green floor finishes are not as effective as traditional floor finishes.
Slowly but steadily this is a thing of the past. Green floor finishes are formulated so that they release fewer volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and have no ingredients that we know can have adverse impacts on our health. But green floor finishes lack heavy metals such as zinc, nickel, cadmium, and similar metals that help protect the floor and produce the shine.
The best way to select a green floor finish is to choose one that has been green-certified by a recognized certification process. As part of the testing process, the product will be evaluated as to effectiveness. Many green finishes are now comparable to traditional floor finishes.
Myth 8
Finishes with a high solids concentration are more durable than finishes with lower concentrations.
Sometimes a request for proposal (tender) specifies that the floor finish used in a facility have high concentrations of ‘solids’. The thought behind this is that the finish will be harder and more durable. The solids in a floor finish are the plastic or polymer molecules left on the floor once the finish has dried. However, they do not necessarily make the finish harder or more durable. This is more often determined by the types of solids in the floor finish, not the percentage.
Myth 6 Floor scrubbing should always be performed by using an automatic scrubber.
Scrubbers are brought in when mopping is proving ineffective at cleaning floors or when the mopping process itself is causing the soiling. Scrubbers remove the top layer of soil and grit that can build up on the floor. However, automatic scrubbers are not always necessary. Floor scrubbing alternatives have been introduced that are less costly than auto scrubbers, yet proven to be just as effective if not more effective at removing soils.
We should also note that automatic scrubbers can create micro-abrasions in certain hard surface floors, especially finished natural stones. It can also scour the floor unnecessarily, reducing the life of the floor finish. This is why you might see ring marks on floors. These can be caused by the auto scrubbers and could lead to extra work to restore the floors appearance.
www.tomorrowscleaning.com Myth 7
A ‘top scrubbing’ is the same as stripping a floor.
Because a stripper is sometimes used to top scrub a floor, some custodial workers believe it is the same as stripping the floor. However, to effectively strip a floor, the stripper must remain on the floor for as long as 20 minutes. This usually does not happen when top scrubbing. It is this 20 minute dwell time that helps dissolve the floor finish and soils so that they can be removed in the floor stripping process.
www.kaivac-emea.com FEATURE | 19
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