CM/Spotlight: Hard Floor Care Instead of disturbing impurities that settle on the floors by dust mopping, an effective vacuum cleaner with a proper air filtration system can remove them more thoroughly, helping to protect the health of the cleaning worker and indoor air quality (IAQ) in the process. sand and grit than dust mopping, helping to minimize or prevent this damage.” Removing this sand and grit instead of spreading it, as can happen with dust mopping, is also why vacuum cleaners help protect IAQ, according to Frimml. However, this is usually true only when using machines with more advanced filter-ing systems. “Vacuum cleaners with high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters can prevent as much as 99.9 percent of all particulates from escaping the machine and becoming airborne, providing the filtration necessary to protect IAQ,” notes Frimml. While HEPA filtering systems are con-sidered the “gold standard” for vacuum cleaners used in the professional cleaning industry, there are other types of filtering systems as well. An ultra-low penetration air (ULPA) sys-tem can trap at least 99.999 percent of dust, pollen and other airborne particulates with a size of 0.12 microns or larger, surpassing HEPA systems, which trap 99.9 percent of dust and pollen at .3 microns or larger. In addition to these, there are also stan-dard filtration systems as well as allergen filters, usually HEPA filters designed to trap common substances that can cause aller-gic reactions. Benefits Of Vacuuming According to Daniel Frimml, technical service coordinator at Tornado Industries Inc., an effective vacuum cleaner has sufficient lift and airflow — rated in cubic feet per minute (CFM) — and both referring to the force exert-ed by the air moving through the machine. “Sand and grit are the enemies of most hard surface floors,” says Frimml. “They can have more than 30 cutting edges, allowing them to grind and damage floor surfaces and also remove the floor’s finish. This can happen with wood floors as well as stone, ceramic and common tile floors. Vacuuming is typically far more effective at removing Breaking Old Habits If we can accept the fact that vacuuming hard surface floors is a more effective and healthier way to clean floors, then why do so many cleaning professionals use a dust mop instead? Some of it is just tradition: They have used dust mops for decades. And, dust mopping is admittedly very cost effective as well as typically easy, convenient and fast. A dust mop head can be as large as 48 inches, far larger than the floor attachment of most vacuum cleaner attachments used Product Information no. 211 on page 24 28 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • April 2012
CMM – Archives Apr 2012: 28
