Flooring is one of the first things we see when we walk into a building. It says everything that needs to be said about how much you care about the overall appearance and cleanliness. A building that has a hard floor covered in scratches and marks is not very inviting upon someone’s first visit. Going beyond visible blemishes, if there is extensive damage on the floor, it presents a possible safety hazard. Routine upkeep on hard flooring will help prevent people from tripping and falling when walking through your facility. If you have hard surface flooring, here are five things you should do to extend its lifespan, as well as making it sparkle and shine more regularly.
1. Matting/Rugs
The biggest contributor to floor deterioration is high amounts of traffic from people walking. You may notice some of the most frequently traveled areas in your building are rife with markings, wear, dirt, and debris. No matter how often you clean and scrub these high-traffic areas, it seems they always revert back to being scuffed and dingy. Fortunately, you can alleviate this by implementing commercial matting. Matting around high traffic areas such as entrances and exits will cut down on wear on the floor, as well as cutting down on debris from making it inside. This is also beneficial from a safety standpoint. Matting prevents any outside moisture that has accumulated in people’s shoes from making its way onto a smooth surface, reducing the chance of slips and falls Click here to learn more about the matting solutions we provide.
2. Routine Vacuuming/Sweeping
Hard floors need vacuuming as well as wet cleaning to get rid of the amount of dust that can build upon them. Depending on the amount of traffic each area gets, you should clean the floor daily. Wet cleaning is beneficial, as it is able to pick up much more debris than traditional sweeping. Apart from just using water, there are cleaning agents you can put in the water, that will help encapsulate dirt.
3. Hard Floor Scrubbing
If you want your floor to return to its original color, you will need to do some deep scrubbing. Most traditional floor scrubbers will be able to scrub smooth concrete surfaces while having a different more coarse brushes depending on the intensity of the cleaning needed. For grout lines, a cylindrical brush or an oscillating tool should be used. This type of scrubbing will get rid of discoloration and surface-level marks, while also removing any grease and build-up that has accumulated. Doing this on concrete floors will help prepare them for polishing.
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4. Strip and Wax
There are a plethora of benefits to stripping and waxing your floors. Stripping and waxing will remove dirt, scuffs, grease, and stains, thus removing the likelihood of employees from slipping on the surfaces and hurting themselves. Strip and wax will reduce the number of scratches present on the floor, as well as help prevent new ones from appearing. Combine strip and wax with burnishing on your floors, and you can get them to have a mirror-like finish!
5. Polishing Your Hard Floors
Burnishing your concrete, tile, LVT, VCT, and marble floors is how you get that amazing mirror finish. Apart from looking amazing, polishing your hard floors will reduce the chances of water and other contaminants penetrating the surface. This can help prolong the lifespan of the flooring, while also improving it aesthetically. Contrary to popular belief, In fact, it increases the amount of potential friction the floor can have, reducing the chances of slipping.
Burnishing your hard floors will also help improve the interior lighting quality of your building. A more reflective surface allows more light to refract, causing the interior brightness to increase.
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