Via ISSA

These days, floor finish has become the alternative to old-fashioned waxes. Floor finish can give a floor a great long-lasting shine without the problems of conventional waxes. The following advice is for reapplying coats to an already finished floor or applying finish to a new floor.

When finishing any floor, we recommend that you use a quality floor finish that is correctly matched to your flooring. And always follow the manufacturers’ recommendations for prepping the floor. You should also consult the flooring manufacturer on the types of finishes that are suited to your floor.

First, clean the floor to remove as much dirt and debris as possible. If the floor has more than five coats of finish, we recommend stripping the floor first, as too many layers of finish can dull a floor. Over time, floor finish can yellow in color. If you see any yellowing on the floor, we also recommend that you strip the floor first.

After the floor has been prepared, vacuum or dust mop the floor to remove any dust. Spray your mop with dust-mop treatment to remove as much dust as possible. Make sure to remove anything stuck to the floor because anything that is on the floor when you finish it will become part of the floor finish and you will have to strip your floor and begin again.

Make sure that the floor are you are finishing will not have traffic moving through it for at least 12 to 24 hours, depending on the type of finish that you are applying (see floor finish manufacturers’ specifications for curing and drying time). Use warning signs to mark the area where you are working.

Finishing a floor requires the use of two mop buckets. One bucket will be used to keep the finish mop damp, and the other will be used to apply the floor finish. Line the floor finish bucket with a clear trash-can liner so you can dispose of the finish easily after the job is complete.

Fill one mop bucket halfway up with water and the lined mop bucket one-quarter full with floor finish. Dip your finish mop into the water bucket and wring until the mop is damp and water does not drip from the end. Next, dip the damp mop into the floor finish and wring until the finish mop does not drip.

The best way to finish floors is to divide the floor into sections to assure that an even amount of floor finish is applied everywhere. Begin applying the floor finish at the furthest corner from the entrance. Apply floor finish to the baseboard area first (a block applicator can be a great tool for this job) working away from the corner. Make sure the floor finish is going on to the floor in a thin, even coat.

After you have applied floor finish to the baseboard, move on to the open areas of the floor. Move the mop head in a figure-eight motion, overlapping mopping sections by about an inch.

After you have applied the finish evenly to the entire area, let the floor dry. The floor should look glossy with no raised areas or drip marks. Follow the manufacturers’ recommendations for drying time. Depending on the finish, you may wish to apply more than one coat. If so, let the floor dry in between coats. You may also want to buff the floor in between coats so that the second coat adheres better to the first coat.

To maintain the new look of the floor finish, you can burnish with a burnishing floor pad. Again, see the manufacturers’ recommendations for maintenance on your floor.

After 12 hours your floor should be fully cured. Floor traffic can now resume.

by Lee Harris of ISSA

For a complete line of chemicals and equipment to properly maintain your floors, please contact us or visit us at Janitor’s World.

Tags: buff, clean, Cleaning, finish, floor, maintenance, stripper, wax

This entry was posted on Friday, January 2nd, 2009 at 3:53 pm and is filed under Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.