FLOOR CARE PROTECTION PROCEDURES
Description
A hard square tile usually having a marbled appearance also available in plain solid colours. Formally known as vinyl asbestos tiles but since the seventies they have been made from PVC and organic fillers.
Characteristics
Tend to show poorer wear characteristics and higher stain absorbency than sheet vinyl or urethane coated vinyl. Left uncoated and protected the tile will blackmark and absorb soils and stains. Constant washing in unsealed condition will “washout” pigment and binder / plasticiser causing colour fading.
Evaluation of new Surface
If the surface is new it must be stripped to remove factory wax coating. This coating is only there to stop the tiles sticking together in storage and will reduce adhesion if not removed from newly laid tiles (refer How to bring floors to life of floor finish coatings).
Existing Coated Surface
Light Soil / Dull Floors:
If the floor has yellowed from dirt penetration, scrubbing & buffing recoating may be necessary.
Heavy Soil / Black marks / Dull
If floor is deeply gouged, dull & black marked and soiled the sealer finish may have worn away. A heavy cutback and recoating may be necessary. Stripping will be necessary if low appearance level is indicated.
How To Bring a Floor Back to Life
Light Cutback
Use Supastar or Neutraclean diluted 1 to 25 parts water.
Flood apply to stop the floor drying whilst scrubbing. Autoscrub or machine scrub using a red or green scrubbing pad. Damp mop rinse before drying with clean cold water to remove soil slurry. Allow the floor to dry completely before dust mopping and dry burnishing with a red / tan or bassine brush. If UHS equipment is being used a Jackaroo or Jackaroo light pad should be used to “pop” gloss.
Heavy Cutback / Recoat
Substitute Neutraclean or Supastar with Crossfire applying 1 part to 25 parts water. Use a green or blue pad and scrub the floor in a left to right arc. Wet mop rinse with cold water to remove scrubber residue using clean water in the bucket every 20m2. Allow the floor to dry thoroughly prior to dust mopping and dry burnishing. Recoat as described above.
Dry Stripping
To cut time in small areas and high density “funnel” areas dry strip using Sledgehammer, 1 to 10 parts water and a brown pad. Just spray lightly, wait 5 minutes then dry pad off.
Total Stripping - No Scrub Method
Flood mop apply stripper with a cotton or fringe mop using Sledgehammer, 1 part to 4 parts cold water. Allow up to 15 minutes for activation / penetration. Reapply if drying too fast. Wring out mop, mop off sealer buildup into stripper solution bucket. Push the mop ferrule heavily onto the floor to dislodge the existing finish. Particularly required for edges (an alternative is a doodlebug & black pad). Dry burnish the floor as described above. When fully dry - recoat as above.
N.B. Both Sledgehammer and Steamroller are near neutral pH. Products with “new technology” penetrating agents. This technology provides a “No scrub” water “Rinse free” application - a huge time and labour saver.
New Floors - Remove Factory Coating
Flood mop with Sledgehammer, 1 part to 4 parts water. Allow to penetrate the factory protective coating. After 10 minutes mop off stripper residue with a well wrung out stripping mop. There is no need to rinse or use hot water. Machine burnish when dry with new Tan red pad (400RPM). (Use Jackaroo pad or Jackaroo light pad if machine is 1500RPM+), or use a new or clean brush. This helps gloss the floor and removes any adhering or seal “bits” of dirt prior to recoating.
Applying Sealer Finish
Due to commercial vinyl tiles being porous and having a tendency to have an uneven surface, it is advisable to apply 2 coats of Bedrock base coat prior to applying top coats.
New vinyl tiles lack porosity and have superior surface smoothness there is no need to precoat with Bedrock sealer. Because this surface is usually soft & flexible, a harder sealer finish is necessary to reduce scuffing and help the surface resist damage. 2 or more coats of sealer finish is recommended using either Spartacus or Glazer.
Applying 1st Coat
The Polyester cotton mop should be loaded but not dripping. Apply the 1st coat evenly in a figure eight pattern ensuring a wet edge is kept to adjoining areas. Allow a minimum 20 minutes between coats and test for dryness prior to recoating. Depending on gloss and wear resistance. 2 to 5 coats will be required. Use a drier mop on subsequent coats.
Maintenance
Using either mop / bucket or an auto scrubber a simple maintenance clean will keep the floor looking like new. The best method for heavy traffic - Food court areas - Supermarkets etc is the bucket wet mop & rinse system using Supastar or Neutraclean 1 - 50 or 1 - 80 (check label).
Wet mop 50 m2. Then using clean cold water in a 2nd bucket, damp mop rinse applying medium pressure to the mop.
Quick Method
Using 1 - 40 / 1 - 60 dilution damp mop in figure of eight pattern changing solution in bucket every 30 minutes. This recommendation is for low soilage areas. The twin bucket system is superior for the life of the floor finish.