Archive for the ‘Floor Finish’ Category
Frequently asked hard floor care questions
December 29th, 2009 | 
Author: Janitorial Supplies Michigan Tennessee & Wisconsin – Amerisource Industrial Supply
Frequently Asked Hard Floor Care Questions
Why do we put floor finish on a floor?
Hard floor care has two objectives. One is to protect the floor surface. The other is to enhance the appearance of the floor. The key to any floor care program is to keep the floor as clean as possible. Time spent in cleaning the floor will be time saved in repairing damage done to the floor by dirt. Daily and periodic maintenance of the floor consists of dust mopping, damp mopping, scrubbing, recoating, spray buffing and burnishing. Burnishing is a critical step in keeping your surface in top shape. Burnishing hardens the finish and smoothes the surface which makes daily cleaning easier. A program of periodic deep scrubbing and recoating will prolong the life of the finish and prevent the more labor intense stripping operation.
Why do floors with finish on them shine?
The shine on a floor is due to the reflection of light from its smooth surface. Think of a mirror. In their natural state, floor surfaces are full of microscopic scratches. These scratches absorb some light and do not reflect the remaining light cleanly. This results in a dull – less reflective surface. As a freshly finished floor ages and is not maintained, it also becomes scratched and reflects less and less light – making it appear dull.
What is the difference between Sealer and Finish?
Sealers prepare the floor by providing a better base for the finish. It is designed to fill scratches and stick to surfaces better than floor finish. Generally speaking you will only need a sealer on a floor that is in worse shape than most floors. For instance it shows excessive wear or is severely scratched. Most of the floor finishes manufactured today combine the features of Sealer and Finish – generally speaking, it is not necessary to use a Sealer and then a Finish. There are specialty sealers for specific hard to coat surfaces such as terrazzo and concrete.
Why are there different kinds of floor finish?
Floor finishes are designed to protect that floor and respond to the type of maintenance that you are performing on the floor. For instance, we are all familiar with the wet floor look that many grocery stores have. This finish is much different than one you would put down and clean when needed and then eventually strip and replace.
Finishes are generally designed around maintenance programs that consist of little or no maintenance, low speed gloss restoration (buffing with equipment that usually runs 175 rpm), high speed gloss restoration (burnishing with equipment that runs 1000 to 1500 rpm)), and ultra high speed gloss restoration (burnishing with equipment that runs over 1500 rpm). The key determining factors in selecting a finish is the traffic on the surface, burnishing frequency and type of burnishing equipment used.
The key characteristics of a floor finish are:
- Hardness – Durability
- Initial Shine
- Reparability – Response to burnishing & restoration
- Difficulty in Stripping
There is a trade off amongst these key factors. In a perfect world you could get a very hard and durable finish that is easy to restore and strip. Currently, there is no such finish. A high traffic floor such as a super market requires a floor finish that can be burnished nightly and can be restored frequently and easily without the finish getting brittle or discolored. A church with relatively less traffic and resources to burnish the floor needs a very hard durable finish that will hold up between infrequent burnishes.
What does the term solids mean – for instance a 25% solids finish?
The term solid refers to the amount of finish that is left on the floor after it has dried. For instance, in a 25% solids floor finish, 75% of the solution is a carrying solution that allows you to put the finish down and levels the solution but will evaporate as the floor dries. The solid content of the finish does not indicate the quality or characteristics of the finish. A 25% solids finish has 25% more solids than a 20% solids floor finish. As a result, the cost of the 25% solids should be approximately 25% higher than a 20% floor finish.
How many coats of floor finish should I put down?
Understanding that finish is intended to protect the floor and enhance its appearance – the answer is “it depends.” A floor that will get little or no foot traffic will need less than one that receives considerable foot traffic. One that experiences harsh chemicals and deicers will need more than one that does not.
One rule of thumb is that a typical floor should receive 100% coverage. That means that you should determine the amount of solids that a floor finish contains and divide it into 100. For instance, if you are using a 20% solids floor finish, you would typically use 5 coats – a 25% finish would be 4 coats, and so on.
In any case, you should always put down enough coats of finish so that you can experience your normal wear and still be able to scrub the floor and have a base of finish to build on – that will save you time and money because you will not need to strip the floor as often.
How much floor finish do I need?
Every finish will have a square foot per gallon coverage rate. Most finish range from 2000 sq ft per gallon to 3000 sq ft per gallon. The condition of the floor will affect the amount of coverage. Worn and porous floors will use more finish than non porous and newer surfaces. Less finish will penetrate the surface and it will take less coats to get the desired shine. A general rule of thumb is that you need a minimum of 3 coats on any surface and gloss or shine usually reaches a maximum after 6 coats. Do not put down more than 3 coats in one day.
What are the different floor maintenance activities?
There are seven typical maintenance activities that are performed but it is important to remember that all of the activities have one thing in common. Before doing any maintenance to a floor, that floor should be cleaned with a dust mop to remove any loose dirt or grit that could cause additional scratching to the finish or the floor itself.
The seven typical maintenance activities are:
Neutral Clean – Removes surface dirt without destroying any of the finish
Clean and Restore – Removes surface dirt without destroying the finish and leaves a film that prepares the surface for Burnishing
Buffing – Low Speed Gloss Restoring
Burnishing- High Speed Gloss Restoring
Scrub – Cleans the floor by removing the top layer of finish and prepares the floor for additional costs of finish
Recoat – Applies top coat(s) of finish to floor after it has been scrubbed
Strip – Removes all finish and prepares floor to receive floor finish.
What is the difference between Buffing and Burnishing?
Often, these terms are used interchangeably but they represent two entirely different types of floor maintenance. It is important to use them correctly because they combine different chemicals, equipment, and pads.
Buffing is low speed gloss restoration and uses a 175 rpm floor machine, a red floor pad, and spray buff. A floor machine is the same piece of equipment that you might use to strip the floor or scrub the floor. It goes side to side when you operate it. Generally speaking a floor machine will have the motor in the middle of it.
Burnishing is high speed gloss restoration and uses both electric and propane operated machines, various color pads, and a restorer. A burnisher operates at a much higher rpm than a floor machine. They operate in a straight line rather than going side to side. The pads vary in color depending upon the type of finish and amount of finish that is on the floor.
What do the colors of floor pads mean?
Floor pads have different colors because they do different things to the floor. Generally speaking, the darker the pad is the more aggressive it will be. An overview of pad colors is as follows:
Black Pads are used for stripping, There are two varieties, regular and high productivity. The “hi-pro” are more aggressive and will remove finish more quickly.
Green and Blue Pads are used for scrubbing. They will remove the top coat of finish and are used to prepare the floor for additional coats of finish.
Red Pads are used for daily cleaning of the floor and for applying spray buff with floor machines.
White Pads are used for mild scrubbing of a floor and to polish floors with poor bases of floor finish.
Natural (Hair) Pads are used for burnishing floors with high speed equipment
Pink Pads are used for burnishing and are designed to more effective in the removal of scuff marks
Posted in 
