Summer is a time for fun and relaxation, but it’s also a time to stay on top of your school’s floor maintenance. Commercial flooring can take a beating during the school year, with all the foot traffic and spills. So it’s essential to keep your floors clean and safe for everyone during the summer months.

Here’s an expert guide on how to maintain your laminate, vinyl, and other types of commercial flooring.

The Importance of Summer Floor Maintenance

Commercial flooring is a big investment and needs to be appropriately cared for to last. Here are some reasons you should build annual maintenance into your summer plans.

Floors are a reflection of how you run your facility.

Your floors are one of the first things people notice when they enter your school. They set the tone for the whole facility. Therefore, if your floors are in bad shape, it reflects poorly on your school.
Cleaning and maintaining your floors shows that you care about your facility and take pride in its appearance. In addition, clean floors have a powerfully positive impact on students, staff, and visitors.

Floors get dirty throughout the year.

Floors take a lot of abuse during the school year. Thousands of feet pound through the doors every morning, carrying pounds of dirt and filth over a single month.
Even with a regular cleaning schedule, your floors will likely need a deep clean during the summer. Keeping your school’s floors well-maintained will ensure the floor lasts longer and needs fewer repairs over time.

Summer is the best time to perform thorough floor maintenance.

Summer is the perfect time to clean your floors because foot traffic is low, and you’ll have ample time to complete the job. Giving floors a good cleaning over the summer can remove any dirt, grime, or stains that have built up over the year. Regular interim cleanings will also help extend the life of your floors and keep them looking their best.

5 Steps to Laminate and Vinyl Flooring Maintenance

There are four critical steps in the floor maintenance process; each is essential in extending the life of your building’s flooring.

1. Stripping

As floors become yellowed and darkened over time, the best thing to do is strip off the old finish and apply a fresh one. Let the stripping solution product do the work for you—be sure to follow the manufacturer’s dilution directions and wait time. You’ll see fabulous results with minimal effort.

Using a premium stripper should altogether remove the finish the first time, so be sure to select products that won’t add extra work to your schedule. The stripping process is completed using a low-speed machine and an aggressive floor pad that can remove extreme wax build-up.

• High-productivity black stripping pads feature a tough, porous construction that cuts through old finish quickly and efficiently: Norton 20″ Black Pad.
• Easy Pak’s Water Soluble Neutralizer neutralizes alkaline residue after floor stripping and cleaning: Easy Paks Water Soluble Neutralizer cs/2/90
• Claire Chewing Gum Remover makes it easy to remove chewing gum, candle wax, putty and other gum like substances from surfaces: Claire Chewing Gum Remover

2. Waxing

After the floor is stripped and rinsed, you can apply a new coat of wax. The number of coats will depend on the traffic in your facility and how long you want the finish to last.

• Try this durable wax applicator: 18″ Lambswool Wax Applicator
• Use these white pads for buffing very soft finishes and polishing soft waxes on wood floors: 20″ White Pad
• Ultra-high solid formula provides exceptional film clarity, repels soil and scratches, and extends the time between stripping cycles from 18 – 36 months: Extended Performance Floor Finish cs/4/gal

3. Scrubbing and Cleaning

As students scurry to class and pound the floors with their shoes every day, your floors are bound to take damage from heavy scuff marks, mild wear, and soil over time. Even without the daily hustle and bustle of young scholars and teachers, periodic scrubbing and cleaning should continue into the summer months. Be sure to scrub and clean periodically to remove damaging marks throughout the year.

The scrubbing and cleaning process involves using a low-speed machine scrubbing pad, and a neutral cleaner to get the job done. Regular scrubbing and cleaning can prevent the frequent need for stripping as often.

• Regular scrubbing can be done with a blue or red pad: 20” Blue Pad and 20” Red Pad
• Remove surface dirt and grime to get your floor back in shape before re-coating or buffing: Norton 16″ Green Pad

4. Buffing and Polishing

Buffing and polishing restore the floor’s glossy luster and reduce stripping frequency. You can also use buffing to remove light scuff marks and stains that may have been missed during the scrubbing process.

To buff your floors, you’ll need either a low or high-speed machine, a buff pad, and a polishing solution. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s recommended settings for your machine and floor type to avoid damaging your floors. After you’ve buffed and polished your floors, they should have a high-gloss shine that will make them look new again.

If floor traffic is significantly lighter during the summer, buffing and polishing can be performed weekly instead of daily.

• Natural fiber floor pad ideal for thermal buffing and burnishing: 20″ Pad Natural Hair
• Battery-operated Deep Scrubbing Machine, medium duty brush, green scrubbing pad, red spray cleaning pad, white buffing pad, microfiber pad, pad holder, harness, battery, charger & long handle: Motor Scrubber Starter Kit w/Long Handle
• This versatile product can be used by mop-on restoration method, spray buffing or through an auto scrubber: Vivid Spray Buff Floor Finish Laminator ea/32oz

5. Burnishing

Burnishing is the process of polishing the floor with a high-speed machine to create an even higher gloss shine. This can be done daily, weekly, or as needed during the summer—the frequency will depend on your individual facility’s needs.

You’ll need a high-speed machine and a burnishing pad to burnish your floors. Different burnish pads achieve different levels of shine.

You may also need a polishing solution to achieve the desired level of shine. After you’ve burnished your floors, they should have an extremely high-gloss shine.

• Natural fiber floor pad ideal for thermal buffing and burnishing: 20″ Pad Natural Hair
• Ultra high speed burnishing pad, recommended for frequent burnishing on soft to medium floor surfaces: 20″ Pad Aqua.
• For a powerful shine: Norton 20″ Pink Burnishing Pad
• Get durable design and excellent performance from this high speed burnisher: 1600 rpm 20″ Burnisher

Preventing Floor Damage Throughout the Year

Now that you know how to keep your floors looking new all summer long, it’s important to take steps to prevent damage throughout the year.

Use mats near doors, stairs, and elevators.

Place mats at all entrances to your facility to prevent dirt, sand, and other debris from being tracked inside. Matts will help reduce the amount of scrubbing and cleaning you’ll need to do to keep your floors looking new.

Regularly mop, buff, and polish the floors.

In addition to daily mopping, buff and polish your floors regularly. Doing so will help reduce the amount of wear and tear they experience throughout the year.

Some floor damage is unavoidable.

But by taking these preventive measures, you can keep your floors looking new for years to come.

Choosing the Right Floor Maintenance Products

Unisan Supplies in Columbus provides janitorial supplies, warehouse supplies, and safety equipment for every need, including: cleaning supplies, floor cleaning machines, breakroom supplies, floor mats, personal protection equipment (PPE), and more. We know at any facility, health and safety are the primary priorities. We also know each workplace has different working conditions and needs.

Just need a few things? You can easily order any safety equipment or janitorial products you need through our online store.

Looking for a more customized solution that will save you time? Our team will work closely with you to make sure your safety and cleaning products are always stocked and on hand. Give our team a call at (614) 863-1700.