Are you looking for strategies and techniques to address your floorcare goals while making the most of your budget?
Frequency of Maintenance
The first step to a cost-effective floorcare program, believe it or not, is increasing the frequency of basic maintenance routines. Well-maintained floors require less-frequent strip and recoating. Our experts suggest daily dust mopping, daily damp mopping or autoscrubbing with a neutral cleaner, and burnishing per manufacturer’s instructions. And don’t forget…maintenance starts at the door, so be sure to provide and maintain entrance matting.
Apply More Coats of Finish
You’re probably saying, “If I have to buy more finish, how is that going to help me stretch my budget?” Skimping on finish coats is, as the saying goes, “penny wise and pound foolish.” Here’s why. Floor finishes or polishes provide a temporary sacrificial layer on top of the floor. One coat of finish is equal to about one-tenth the thickness of a human hair. So, we need to put multiple coats down to protect our floors and reduce the interval at which we need to apply more finish. When coating a bare floor, the rule of thumb is to hit 100% solids. If you are using a 25% solids floor finish, then you need four coats to hit 100%. Our experts say, “If 100% is good, 150% is even better.” Your floors will be more resistant to stains, scuffs, and black heel marks, saving you maintenance dollars and most importantly, reducing the cost associated with removing and replacing the floor finish.
Top Scrub and Recoat
Ditch the annual strip and recoat for a top scrub and recoat routine. OK, so you’ve implemented your maintenance program. You beefed up the number of floor finish coats. So now, you are ready
to reap the rewards and really start saving money! Top scrubbing and recoating pays off in multiple ways: 1) You have a reduced cost of chemicals— top-scrub products tend to be less expensive than floor finish removers. 2) You’ll have a reduced cost of labor—the time to completely strip a finish from a floor is about two to three hours per 1,000 square feet. The time to top scrub a few layers of finish from a floor is about one hour per 1,000 square feet. You can quickly see how the labor savings add up in this scenario. Plus, you will be recoating with fewer coats of finish compared to a full strip and recoat, so you get bonus labor and product cost savings.
Spartan Chemical Company, Inc.
www.spartanchemical.com/solutions/resilient-floor-care/
