When was the last time you remember stripping and waxing floors in your facility? Well, depending on your industry it may have been anywhere from a few months to a few years.
It’s an important part of your cleaning program that not only preserves your floors but improves employee and customer perception.
Dirty, peeling floors give an immediate impression that the rest of your facility is dirty. In today’s world that’s unacceptable. Stripping and waxing your floors is a straightforward way to quickly enhance the look and feel of your entire facility, while also saving money in the long run (no one likes replacing floors, right?).
And here’s the good news, if you follow the steps below you can get large facilities done in a single night. That means no interruption to your employees and customers.
Our 5-step approach to stripping and waxing floors
1. Strip it down.
First, we apply a commercial-grade floor stripper and let it do its work. This usually takes anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour.
2. Scrub it off.
Once the floor stripper has gone to work, we use an aggressive scrubbing pad to loosen all the material. Depending on how long it’s been from the last time the floor was stripped, you may have to repeat this 1-3 times. Next, we suck all that up with a wet vac.
3. Clean the base.
Once all the finish and stripper is off, we clean the original surface and dry it completely. Don’t skip this step! It’s critical to ensure the floor is ready for the finish.
4. Apply the floor finish.
We generally put on four layers of floor finish. If it’s a high-traffic area we often apply 5-6 layers. The finish is dry in about 30 minutes and ready for foot traffic.
5. Get buff.
Using a wet buff, we shine the floor, giving it that “like new” look and feel.
For commercial office buildings we generally recommend you do this at least once a year. Anything more probably is excessive. Manufacturers? You likely need to consider stripping and waxing floors quarterly. If you’re in manufacturing, check out these tips to keep factory floors clean and safe.
Curious if your floors need some serious attention? Send us a note. We’re happy to take a look.
About the Author
Jeremy Angle leads our team in Southeast Wisconsin. As general manager of our Milwaukee branch, he works with some of our largest clients to ensure they have the right cleaning program in place.