Chance are that when you walk into a commercial building these days you will be walking on a vinyl composition tile. VCT is a very popular flooring choice because of its durability and ease of maintenance . In order to keep its durability and be reasonably scratch resistant, VCT needs to be cleaned regularly and maintained properly.
VCT also needs to be protected and an acrylic floor finish creates a “renewable, repairable, restorable” wear layer that can be used to maintain the beauty and clean, shiny appearance that people want to see in a floor.
The primary goal for maintenance is keeping the VCT floors clean and looking their best, which will help extend the life of the floor. Choosing the right cleaners can deliver better floor appearance, less labor and potentially lower costs.
The following are a few tips on maintaining appearance while minimizing labor and costs.
- Stick to regular maintenance schedule dust mop dirt off surface regularly. Dirt will act as an abrasive and wear down the floor finish. Wore down finish can cause damage to VCT tiles. Damp mop or auto scrub with a neutral cleaner and cold water followed by rinsing with clear water.
- Proper Matting and use of walk off mats at all entryways will help keep floors clean and dry longer. Make sure you clean the mats regularly.
- Periodically recoating with a floor finish is a good practice to follow. First, deep scrubbing with the proper scrubbing pad to remove soil buildup that simply damp mopping doesn’t remove is needed. Failing to ensure that there are three to five coats of protective finish means risking potential damage to the tiles.
- It is important to routinely strip off the wax that has built up from repeated maintenance in order to apply a fresh finish. Depending on the quality and brand of the finish that was applied this may need to be done once every twelve months or as long as up to eighteen months.
- It is important to use the proper scrubbing pads for VCT maintenance. Use red pads for light scrubbing , blue or green pads for deep scrubbing and brown or black pads for stripping off the floor finish. Using the wrong color pad will give you unsatisfactory results.
Flooring and floor care maintenance are major investments for any business, so it is important to adhere to a regular floor cleaning schedule and use highly effective products that will help increase labor efficiency and lower total overall costs.
Jamie Strohmeyer/ Owner Operator
Green Bay Floor Restore