SHINE ON
Marc Ferguson, International Business Development Manager for Kaivac, offers expert advice on how to care for and maintain ceramic floor tiles.
floor using rotating pads or cylindrical brushes, squeegees, vacuums, and then dries the floor, all in one step.
If the floor is heavily soiled, some cleaning staff damp mop the floor first using an all-purpose cleaning solution. While floor mopping is rarely recommended today, this initial step may help loosen soils before walking the scrubber over the floor. This two-step process is better than using more aggressive pads or brushes on the scrubber, which can damage the ceramic.
In the auto scrubbing process, the brushes do remove soils from the floor, but that’s not all. Some of the thin coats of finish that have been applied to the floor may also be removed. This is why cleaning professionals typically apply a thin coat of finish over the floor after it has been scrubbed. While this may not be necessary after every scrubbing, it must be performed frequently enough to keep the shine on the floor and maintain the protective covering.
Ceramic tile is considered one of the best floorcoverings imaginable. Made mostly of clay, it is very environmentally friendly and can be made to replicate a very high-quality stone floor such as marble or granite. Not only this but ceramic is fire retardant and if installed in a commercial kitchen, can stand-up to all types of maltreatment yet still clean-up well and last for years.
However, when it comes to cleaning there are two main concerns: the grout surrounding the tiles and the fact that ceramic tile tends to be porous.
While some installers and building managers will leave the floor ‘flat,’ with no sealant, impregnator, or floor finish applied to the floor, it is highly recommended that either a sealant or finish be applied. This helps create what can be referred to as ‘a thin sheet of protective glass’ over the floor, helping to protect it from soils, heel marks, spills, moisture and so on.
A sealant will also significantly improve the appearance of the ceramic. So now, the floor looks great, is protected, and it should stay this way for a very long time – if the floor is maintained properly. But, this is very dependent on how the floor is cleaned on a regular basis.
Frequently, it may be cleaned using an automatic scrubber especially if it is a large ceramic floor area. An auto scrubber releases cleaning solution directly to the floor, scrubs the
34 | CLEANING & MAINTENANCE
This takes time; floor finish is costly, especially if it is used frequently; and it means that the entire floor area may need to be blocked off from foot traffic until the floor finish is thoroughly dry, typically 30 to 45 minutes. It's also possible that the scrubbing process itself will work some soils into the ceramic
floor’s pores and the surrounding grout. If so, this can be very difficult to remove.
Fortunately, another option can be considered: an automatic scrubber alternative, sometimes referred to as an auto-vac. Instead of using pads or brushes, which take up some of the floor finish, these systems have a microfiber pad at the rear of the machine that helps protect the finish. As the machine is walked over the floor, the pad provides the necessary agitation to loosen soils. Moisture and soil are then vacuumed up. While floor finish can be applied after cleaning, it is not required.
The steps here are designed to not only keep the floor protected and looking its best, but to also help stretch refinishing cycles. Especially when gentler scrubbing methods are used, we should be able do to this, saving money, time, and minimising inconvenience for building users.
www.kaivac-emea.com www.tomorrowscontractfloors.com
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