CM/Spotlight: Hard Floor Care main entrances to periodically clean and catch the dirt at its source. “If you can catch it at the door, it will al-low the rest of your facility’s floors to stay cleaner and brighter between scrubbings,” Smith explains. Measure the matting: In addition, utilizing a matting system at facility entrances is anoth-er step to ease incoming dirt and floorcare program requirements. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has recognized that preventing soils and contaminants from entering a building is one way to keep facilities healthier and cleaner. Currently, USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certifica-tion calls for 10 feet of walk-off matting at all building entrances. Further, the American Institute of Archi-tects states that 25 feet of matting can cap-ture 100 percent of debris entering a facility. on a daily basis, working to remove buildup and improve the appearance of the room, says Randy Zielsdorf with Advanced Vapor Technologies. Managers and contractors should re-member to frequently review a facility’s cor-ners, cracks, indentations in the floor and even transition areas to see if they can pass a more careful inspection. Here, Zielsdorf specifically mentioned re-strooms and kitchens. “Areas like this can be a spoiler for rooms that at first appear clean,” he notes. These areas may reveal rooms where workers have quickly cleaned for appear-ance only, and this can leave occupants and management wondering how clean a room or building actually is. Cleaning these corners and cracks using a steam vapor system can take just minutes, but for operations like restaurants or medi-cal facilities, it publicly shows concern for patrons’ health and comfort, Zielsdorf con-cludes. Replacing squeegees and brushes: Next, Smith offers an upkeep tip for hard floor care equipment squeegee and brush replace-ment. Today, equipment manufacturers design their machines specifically to work with qual-ity original equipment manufacturer (OEM) squeegees and brushes. Using look-alike aftermarket suppliers for OEM replacement parts can significantly di-minish the performance of equipment, Smith warns. “Just like you wouldn’t put old, bald tires on a Ferrari, help your investment in quality clean-ing equipment go further by making sure you use the manufacturer-recommended parts and consumables,” Smith recommends. Complete concrete maintenance: Though many facilities have installed beautifully-pol-ished concrete floors due to their attractive durability, some owners also selected these floors based on the promise of “maintenance-free” polished concrete, according to Smith. “This is simply not the case,” Smith says. “Polished concrete requires a very specific cleaning protocol.” In fact, if these floors are not cleaned with the right equipment, chemicals and process, it can create significant problems. Improperly kept concrete floors can be-come prematurely dull or even damaged, and they may require expensive restorative efforts to bring back the original shine, Smith states. Maintenance That Matters Battle the buildup: Professionals clean floors ® Hydrogen Peroxide Multi-Purpose & Sanitizer/Disinfectant A cleaning program need not be complicated to be effective. HOWEVER, TO MAXIMIZE ITS POTENTIAL, IT MUST FOLLOW ESTABLISHED RULES... In a perfect world, one dilution of a single chemical would clean everything and sanitize while you’re cleaning... unfortunately, it isn’t a perfect world. The over-use of disinfectants and sanitizers has been connected with both the development of “Superbugs”, and the increase of asthma and other breathing difficulties. Disinfectants should be used carefully, sparingly and thoughtfully. Floor Stripping Formulas Decrease the need for strip outs: Rebecca Kaufold, a floor care chemist with Spar-tan Chemical Company Inc., said floorcare technicians should scrub and recoat a floor before it reaches “the point of no return.” Kaufold reveals that low-foam, alkaline products and pads that are designed for screenless wood floor preparation can work together to provide an easily rinsed, perfect-ly clean floor ready for recoat. “A quick pass with the autoscrubber, fol-lowed by a clear water damp mop rinse, and the floor is easily recoated to restore appear-ance and performance,” she says. This process using the proper recoating frequency and technique can easily double the time between floor strip outs, Kaufold states. 72 22 64 ES72 Hydrogen Peroxide Multi-Purpose Cleaner ES64 General Purpose Neutral Disinfectant $ISINFECTEFFECTIVELYANDONLY WHEREYOUMUSTPROTECT HIGH ‐ TOUCHSURFACESWITH %3'ENERAL0URPOSE .EUTRAL$ISINFECTANT�e; #LEANlRST�c;CLEANTHOROUGHLY�c; ANDCLEANALMOSTEVERY SURFACEINYOURFACILITYWITH %3(YDROGEN0EROXIDE�c; -ULTI�d;0URPOSE#LEANER�e; FREE INFO: Reader Service 214 or CMMOnline.com/freeinfo CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® April 2014
CMM – Archives April 2014: 22
