Floor Maintenance
Floor waxing, or floor finishing, stripping etc., all fall under the category of floor care. In this sense, we are referring to the proper care of vinyl floors. This type of flooring material is used in commercial flooring because of its durability, but you still might find it on a kitchen floor or bathroom depending on when the dwelling was built.
Floor waxing and care is important because clean or dirty vinyl floors are immediately noticeable. A room with a clean, shiny floor significantly adds to the professionalism of a space. On the contrary, a room with a dirty floor will look much dirtier and unpleasant. At Atlas Janitorial Agency Inc., specialists in floor waxing services, we provide beautiful and professional results with floor waxing in Los Angeles.
History Of Floor Care
This type of flooring can and actually should be “waxed and buffed” to keep up the appearance. The word “waxing” is really a term from the old days. Paraffin was actually used to wax and then shine the floor. Floor waxing in the past usually created a bit of a potential hazard as a waxed floor could be slippery.
As time evolved newer floor finishes were created to maintain the aesthetic luster to the floor but make it more slip proof at the same time. The modern, and more correct term is, “finishing” or “refinishing” a floor meaning the application of a liquid floor finish to the vinyl floor. But even today it still is referred to as “floor waxing”.
Keeping Up the Appearance
A vinyl floor is waxed or finished to protect the tile itself from possible staining as it is a bit porous. But the senior reason is for the aesthetic appeal as a highly polished floor is considered very beautiful and even cleaner. Vinyl floors are also known as VCT (vinyl composition tile), which is made from Polyvinyl Chloride chips that are typically formed into 12 inch squares in different colors and patterns and usually 1/8 inch in thickness.
In any vinyl floor care program there are maintenance steps necessary to maintain that initial luster and shine produced. When a brand new vinyl floor is installed it is important to “strip and wax” the floor as soon as possible. It is important to ask the installer when this can be done as there are different adhesives used to install the tile and the drying or curing times can vary. This is important to know, so find out from your installer.
Floor Stripping Process
Because it’s new tile the step of floor stripping the tile should be straight forward and simpler than removing years of old wax from an older floor. In the stripping step a stripping solution is used along with a rotary floor scrubber with a black pad on the bottom to remove any old wax or finish that might be on the floor. A black pad is the most course and aggressive to effectively clean the tile with the help of the stripping solution.
Once the floor has been stripped and free of anything other than the vinyl itself it is quickly “neutralized” by rinsing the floor with an acidic solution such as vinegar and water. This is important so that the floor and the new finish will bond well. Now it is time for the “wax” or floor finish to be applied. The quality of floor finish used is important. We use an expensive floor finish that will save us time overall as it will wear better and not have to stripped as often. Thin coats are applied allowing plenty of drying time in between each coat.
It’s not unusual to apply five to eight coats depending on the need of the customer and their budget. The first couple of coats are actually sealing the floor. The subsequent coats start to build up a durable finish that will then be “buffed” or burnished with a high speed floor machine and a white polishing pad (pads are color coded from black the most course to white the least course) bringing it to a highly polished luster.
Care After Floor Waxing
The next part of the program requires that the floor is dust mopped and damp mopped on a daily basis keeping it free of dust, dirt or debris that will damage the surface if only slightly. Buffing or burnishing the floor often will get it to snap back and look great again. Realize that each time you buff the floor you are shining the floor but also taking a bit of the wax or finish off as well as the top layer of dirt that has been walked into the top finish.
After buffing week after week there will be a point depending on the amount of foot traffic and wear an tear on the tile you will need to add some more floor finish. This next step is called, scrubbing and waxing (refinishing). This would begin by dusting and damp mopping the floor then scrubbing with a machine with a much softer pad so as to take off only a bit of the top layer of finish and dirt. This would be done with a detergent not a stripper.
At this point during your floor waxing services, we are just removing the top layer/layers so you have a clean floor so you can put down more floor finish to build your floor up again. Up to five coats of floor finish can be put on, where each one has to thoroughly dry before the next one is put on. This procedure is typically done quarterly or every three months. Again buffing often maintains the shine.
Then three months later you are going to scrub and wax the floor yet again. At the end of the year it will now be time to strip and wax the floor again, taking off all the old finish and starting from the beginning once again.
A a floor waxing program like this will keep the vinyl floor looking beautiful on a consistent basis. We pride ourselves on providing among the highest quality floor waxing Los Angeles has available. Please speak to a representative for an estimate on your floor.
Looking for floor waxing services near you?
In an industry that has been plagued by poor, unreliable and short-lived service we have made a pact to you, our customer, that: “we deliver what we promise”. If you’re looking for floor waxing services near you, please contact us to schedule an appointment.