Gloss retention troubles on hard floors are a common issue in many facilities. Floor equipment can easily help gloss retention, but can have the opposite effect when used incorrectly. Several brands of auto-scrubbers and burnishers have operator adjustable pad pressure. It’s easy to grind off your finish by dialing up too much pad pressure. Walking slowly generates more friction for the floor than moving faster. For machines that have pre-set pad pressure, we recommend using a softer pad when floor finish is young and not yet cured. When the floor finish hardens daily cleaning with moderate pads won’t necessarily dull a floor finish.
If you plan on applying a fresh coat of floor finish, you want to see the floor fairly dulled by the auto-scrubber before applying finish. Move slowly, use aggressive pads, and apply more pad pressure. If you’re not planning to apply a fresh coat of floor finish, you don’t want the auto-scrubber to dull the floor. Move more quickly, use softer pads, and apply less pad pressure.
Be sure that no equipment is dragging on the floor such as metal, which can abrade the floor finish. A clogged vacuum motor that leaves dirty water on the floor can even hurt a floor’s finish. Try having designated auto-scrubbers for the “problem” floors. You can also damage floor finish by using dirty, used floor pads. Change floor pads as needed. Make sure your floor equipment helps your floor program be as efficient as possible, leaving your floors with high gloss retention.
For further help with floor finishes or to find a new floor finish program, contact Buckeye International today!