Hard Floor Care
Hard Floors Aren’t Hard
To Maintain
What Are Hard Floors?
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Marble and Other Natural Stone
Ceramic Tile
Paver Brick
Quarry Tile
Terrazzo
Concrete
Hard Floor Care Basics
• Hard floors or their grout lines are porous
– They act like a sponge and absorb liquids, oils, and grease; and stain
easily.
– Once spills are absorbed, they can be almost impossible to remove.
Hard Floor Care Basics
• Hard floors are made of natural stone or a concrete (cementatious)
product
• Grout joints are cementatious (Portland cement)
• All are highly alkaline
• Sodas, coffee, foods, oils & greases etc. are acidic and are attracted
and electrochemically bonded to the material at the atomic level
Hard Floor Care Basics
• Clean the floor
– Strip or scrub
• Use wet-vac to pick up solution
– Or an autoscrubber if no stripper is involved
• Neutralize- except: DO NOT use Nutra-Rinse® on: marble, travertine,
limestone etc.
• Rinse with clear water
• Let dry
• Seal the Floor
• Apply a Wear Coat (Finish)
• Maintain The Finish
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Dust Mop
Damp Mop or Auto Scrub
Apply a Restorer
Burnish
Concrete (Sealing)
• Outdoor
– Use Repel™ penetrating seal
• Sealed concrete resists staining from:
– Spilled food / drinks
– Tires
– Gum
• Indoor
– Use a VOC compliant penetrating or gloss seal coat
– Add a wear coat (finish)
Concrete (Sealing)
• Indoor or outdoor
– Apply with:
• A mop
• A roller
• A “T”-bar
• Other applicators
• Outdoor
– May be applied with a sprayer
• Wear a NIOSH approved respirator
– The sealant can “seal” lung tissue too
Concrete (Maintenance)
• Outdoors (with or without seal)
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Sweep
Hose off (agitate with brush)
Power wash
Auto-scrub with a brush and a squeegee made for rough surfaces
Concrete (Maintenance)
• Indoors
– Dust mop (treated)
– Damp mop or auto-scrub (white pad)
– Finish maintenance
• Remove marks, gum, etc.
• Restore
• Burnish
Concrete with Epoxy
Coatings
• Clean the floor (scrub)
• Acid-etch for bonding
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Dilute to 5% (e.g. 1 qt. Of 20% acid to 1 gal. water)
Hose on or mop on light film of water
Apply dilute acid solution evenly & carefully
Let stand for 2 - 3 minutes - or less
Pick up
Flood rinse
Concrete With Epoxy
Coatings
• Allow to dry thoroughly – overnight if possible
• Apply wear coat or coats
• Maintain wear coat or coats
Paver Brick & Quarry Tile
• Non-glazed Paver Brick & Quarry Tile
– Scrub new floors before coating with Renovator® @ 16 oz./gal.; or
Strip-All ® @ 1:4 (32 oz./gal.); or Assurance® @ 4 oz./gal.
– For older floors with a heavy buildup of polish coats, use Assault®
or Devastator® mixed at 1:1 or 1:2; or Arsenal Stripper
– Work in 10’ X 15’ sections
– Use an abrasive scrub brush to get down into the grout lines and
low spots
Paver Brick & Quarry Tile
• Non-glazed (cont.)
– Pick up soiled solution immediately with a wet-vac or auto-scrubber.
(Clean auto-scrubber thoroughly when picking up stripper)
– Flood rinse with Nutra-Rinse® @ 4 oz./gal
– Pick up with wet - vac or auto - scrubber
– Finish with two clear water damp mop rinses.
Paver Brick & Quarry Tile
• Non-glazed (cont.)
– Once the floor has dried, inspect it
• Wipe your hand across the floor. If it comes up clean, the floor is
clean. If it brings up a residue, continue rinsing until clean.
– Coat with two to three coats of Seal 341®. Very porous floors, e.g.
Saltillo tile, should be coated with one to two coats of Terrazzine®
followed by two to three top coats of Seal 341®
Paver Brick & Quarry Tile
• Non-glazed (cont.)
– Daily maintenance
• Dust mop with a treated dust mop
• Damp mop with Assurance®, Super Shine-All® or Top Clean® diluted
per label recommendations
Paver Brick & Quarry Tile
• Glazed floors
– Scrub using Renovator®, Citrus Scrub® (or Extra Strength CSP for
showers or restrooms) and a deck brush or a 175 rpm floor machine
with a scrub brush
– Do not coat glazed surfaces
– Daily maintain by dust mopping with a treated dust mop and damp
mopping with Super Shine-All®
– Damp mop restrooms and shower rooms with a properly diluted solution
of disinfectant cleaner
Terrazzo Floors
• New floors
– Scrub with a buffer and Super Shine-All® @ 3 oz./gal. Or Citrus Scrub®
@ 4 oz./gal. and a red pad
– Pick up the solution with a wet vac, flood rinse with Nutra-Rinse® @ 4
oz./gal. and pick up the flood rinse with a wet vac. Finish with two clear
water damp mop rinses
– Coat with one or two coats of Terrazzine® or Seal 341®
Terrazzo Floors
• Top coat with your finish of choice
– Dust mop and damp mop with a neutral cleaner following label
instructions to maintain the finish
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Use a restorer and burnish as desired.
Terrazzo Floors
• Old terrazzo with heavy polish build-up
– Strip using 1:1 dilution of Assault®, Devastator® or Arsenal Stripper
• Black stripping pad
• Pick up with a wet-vac
– Do not let the stripper dry on the floor
• Flood rinse with Nutra-Rinse® @ 4 oz./gal.
• Pick up with wet-vac or auto-scrubber
• Two clear water rinses
• Allow to dry thoroughly
Terrazzo Floors
• Old terrazzo cont.
– After floor is dry…
• Apply one or two coats of Seal 341®
• Extremely porous floors should be sealed first with one or two coats
of Terrazzine®
– Top coat with Seal 341®
• Floors coated with Seal 341® can be top coated with your favorite
finish
• Maintain the finish by dust mopping, damp mopping, restoring, and
burnishing
Terrazzo Floors
• In restrooms use care not to damage the floor by
allowing bowl cleaners or other strong acid cleaners
to drip or puddle on the floor.
• The strong acids may etch the marble chips in the
terrazzo, and erode the cementatious matrix –
causing the floor to “crumble” and erode away.
Marble & Natural Stone
• Polished
– Scrub(10’ x 15’) with a buffer and a red pad
• Citrus Scrub® @ 16 oz./Gal.
– Pick up solution with a wet - vac
– Flood rinse - DO NOT use Nutra-Rinse®
– Pick up with a wet - vac
– Damp mop rinse with 1 oz./gal. Super Shine-All®
Marble & Natural Stone
• Polished (cont.)
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When dry (30 min.) Apply one or two coats of Lok-Gard®
Top coat with your favorite polish
Dust mop daily
Damp mop or auto scrub using Super Shine-All® or Top Clean®
Apply restorer and burnish as necessary
Marble & Natural Stone
• Unpolished
– Scrub(10’ x 15’) with a buffer and a red pad (for recessed grout joints,
use Bassine or Pro-Lite® scrub brushes
• Renovator® @ 16 oz./gal.
– Pick up solution with a wet - vac
– Flood rinse - DO NOT use Nutra-Rinse®
– Pick up with a wet - vac
– Give two additional, clear water, damp mop rinses
– Allow to dry thoroughly
Marble & Natural Stone
• Unpolished (cont.)
– When floor is dry, apply one or two coats of Seal 341®
– Seal extremely porous floors with one or two coats of Terrazzine® first,
and then top coat with Seal 341®
– Maintain gloss by dust mopping and damp mopping daily
– Restore and burnish as desired
Gloss Restoration
• Mop-on restorers – high speed 1000+r.p.m.
– Dust mop
– Damp mop or auto scrub
– Apply Restorer diluted 1:4 (32 oz/gal) with a damp mop to the area
to be restored
– When dry, burnish with a beige polythermal pad
– Dust mop the floor
Gloss Restoration
• Using Restorer (a cleaner / restorer):
• Auto-burnish application:
– Dust mop
– Dilute Restorer @ 4oz/gal. in cool water in the solution tank of the autoscrubber
– Auto-scrub assigned flooring using overlapping passes
Gloss Restoration
• If spray buffing remember to clean the floor first.
Restorers will make the floor shiny, but…
• A shiny dirty floor is still a dirty floor!
Glazed Ceramic Tile
• Two schools of thought :
– Use no coating
– Use a coating
Glazed Ceramic Tile
• No coating
– Showers (slippery…)
• Damp mop daily with disinfectant cleaner
• Scrub periodically with acid cleaner
– To remove hard water deposits and soap scum
– Rinse thoroughly
Glazed Ceramic Tile
• Most coatings have trouble bonding to a glazed surface
• Urine, etc. will penetrate most coatings and soak into the
grout.
– Mopping cleans only the coating surface.
– Germs and odors grow unmolested.
• Grout sealers may be useful if they are impervious to
urine, etc.
Glazed Ceramic Tile
• Uncoated restroom floors are less time consuming to
maintain and have fewer problems with odors (all
things being equal)
– Sweep
– Damp mop daily with disinfectant cleaner
– Scrub periodically (with a brush)
• With acid cleaner if hard water deposits are present – rinse
thoroughly
• With disinfectant cleaner if no hard water deposits are present
Glazed Ceramic Tile
• Some facilities want to use a coating
– For appearance in restrooms
• Strong Guard® will prevent urine from penetrating, but is not a
wear coat
– Devastator® @ 1:1 to strip Strong Guard® so it doesn’t come
up every time you strip
• Use Seal 341® as a wear coat
• If you decide to use a coating once, you are committed
– If grout lines are dirty, they will always look dirty
• The floor must be pristine before applying, or coatings
may flake off
Glazed Ceramic Tile
• Facilities that want finished restroom floors will break the
finish on a grout line about 3 feet in front of urinals to
allow for thorough floor cleaning
– Urine can’t hide under finishes
Hard Floor Care
Are there any
Questions?
Quiz
1.
Basic hard floor care consists of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
2.
3.
4.
_______________
_______________
_______________
_______________
(T/F) Stains can be difficult to remove from hard floors
because the surface is often porous and spills soak in quickly
and penetrate deeply.
(T/F) Use acid cleaners to clean terrazzo.
Paver brick may be sealed with:
a)
b)
c)
d)
Strong guard®
Seal 341®
Terrazzine®
All of the above
Quiz
5.
6.
7.
8.
(T/F) Exterior concrete is sealed to make cleaning faster and
easier.
(T/F) Glazed quarry tile in a “food court” should be sealed to
prevent spills from becoming stains.
(T/F) Use a 15% acid solution to prepare concrete for epoxy
coatings.
(T/F) Flood rinsing using Nutra-Rinse @ 4 oz./gal. is
recommended after stripping polished marble floors.
Quiz
10. Which of the following products should not be used on terrazzo?
a)
b)
c)
d)
Terrazine®
Nutra-rinse®
Extra strength CSP
Seal 341®
11. (T/F) No matter the type of interior hard floor, the basic
maintenance procedures are the same.
12. (T/F) Use Seal 341® on an exterior concrete patio to prevent spills
from staining.
13. (T/F) Lok-Gard® will prevent urine from penetrating into grout in
ceramic tiled restrooms.
Answers
Basic hard floor care consists of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Stripping or Scrubbing to clean the floor
Sealing and Finishing the floor to protect it
Dust mopping and Damp mopping daily to protect the finish
Gloss Restoration or Restoring and Burnishing to bring back the shine
(T) Stains can be difficult to remove from hard floors because the
surface is often porous and spills soak in quickly and penetrate
deeply.
(F) Use acid cleaners to clean terrazzo.
(Paver brick may be sealed with:
a)
b)
c)
d)
Strong guard®
Seal 341®
Terrazzine®
All of the above
Answers
8.
(T & F) Exterior concrete is sealed to make cleaning faster and
easier. (Trick question – Of course sealing concrete makes cleaning
easier, but the primary reason is to prevent staining)
9.
(T/F) Glazed quarry tile in a “food court” should be sealed to prevent
spills from becoming stains. (Trick question – it is recommended that
glazed tile not be sealed, but the grout lines in a food court would
resist staining if they were sealed)
10. (F) Use a 15% acid solution to prepare concrete for epoxy coatings.
(5%)
11. (F) Flood rinsing using Nutra-Rinse @ 4 oz./gal. is recommended
after stripping polished marble floors. (DO NOT use Nutra-Rinse on
polished marble)
Answers
12. Which of the following products should not be used on terrazzo?
a)
b)
c)
d)
Terrazine®
Nutra-Rinse®
Extra strength CSP
Seal 341®
13. (T) No matter the type of interior hard floor, the basic maintenance
procedures are the same.
14. (F) Use Seal 341® on an exterior concrete patio to prevent spills from
staining.
15. (F) Lok-Gard® will prevent urine from penetrating into grout in ceramic
tiled restrooms. (Strong Guard®)
Hard Floor Care
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