Types of Flooring Industrial Burnishers, Buffers, Polishers and Scrubbers Are Ideally Suited For

Floor burnishers, buffers, floor polishers and scrubbers can dramatically transform almost any flooring surface. Below is a breakdown of the flooring surface these floor cleaning machines are ideally designed for:

Vinyl or PVC floors

Vinyl is a type of resistant flooring which is waterproof and heard wearing. This type of flooring can normally be cleaned easily enough with traditional techniques. The problems with cleaning vinyl floors arise when persistent stains, or other hard to remove materials, start to appear that cannot be so easily wiped off, for example gum.

Cleaning this kind of persistent substance off vinyl and PVC flooring requires using the right type of tools to accomplish this without damaging the floor in the process. This is where a floor polishers and buffers come into their own. The floor polisher pads allow persistent substances to be removed with out leaving scratches on your flooring after cleaning.

The floor pads extension to the floor polishers should be used for vinyl or PVC flooring.

Linoleum floors

If Linoleum is washed rather than polished it can appear rather dull and fade very quickly. This decolouration happens as the colours in the Linoleum flooring literally get washed out of the floor during the cleaning process.

To keep your Linoleum flooring looking it's best for longer Linoleum ideally needs to be polished using a floor polisher. Polishing Linoleum flooring will not wash the colour out of the floor and as a result your floor will retain the colour locked inside keeping its vibrant look for longer.

The floor pads extension should ideally be used for Linoleum flooring.

Wood floors

Commercial wood floors should ideally not be cleaned by traditional mopping techniques but by being polished instead. This is because traditional cleaning techniques, such as mopping, are very timely to complete to a high enough standard in comparison to polishing.

Polishers provide several other benefits that mopping alone cannot achieve. These benefits include:

The wood doesn't swell

When a wood floor is cleaned using traditional methods, and too much water is used during cleaning, the water can be absorbed into the wood. This can make the wood increase in size and swell which is far from ideal. Polishing a wood floor will not cause this type of swelling to occur and still keep the floor looking clean.

Polishing the wood adds a protective layer to the floors surface which washing with water simply cannot. This protective layer provides an extra barrier between the wood and any future spills and general dirt build. This layer has the added benefit of reducing your long term maintenance costs as it helps to add to your floors longevity.

Polishing a wood floor also has the benefit of adding a shine effect which mopping cannot. This shine effect lasts long after the floor is cleaned and provides a more professional first appearance for your business to your clients and customers.

Ceramic and quarried tile floors

9 times out of 10 ceramic and quarried tile does not require much in the way of cleaning, in fact a simple mop will be just as good. The problem with tiles arises when after a while they start to look dull. The reason that tiles start looking dull is down to scratches appearing on their surface as their protective layer over time starts breaking down.

This break down in the protective layer allows dirt to start accumulating in these scratches. This is where you will need an industrial polisher, or buffer, as these types of floor cleaners will remove the scratches from the tile, and thus the dirt with them, returning your tiles back to looking as if they have just been laid.

The other area that can make your tiled flooring look dull and uninviting is not the tiles themselves as the tiles are not naturally porous and therefore don't stain easily without scratches in them, but the grout used to secure them. This grout on the other hand is extremely porous and can be easily stained.

This staining can make your floor look far from ideal, especially in commercial bathrooms. If left untreated this staining can mean heavy cleaning chemicals may need to be used on them to lift the stain. The problem that then occurs is that these heavy cleaning chemicals can break down the grout and if this is broken down too much the grout will need to be replaced.

Industrial polisher pads will lift the stains out of your grout before this happens, giving you a cleaner looking tiled floor. This will save you the expense of having to re-grout your tiles to keep that clean look.

Marble, granite and stone floors

Marble, granite and stone flooring is some of the most elegant types of flooring that you can choose. They look vibrant and give your clients a first impression of your organisation that will last long after they have left. That is of course if they have still kept their amazing looking shine and are not dull and weary looking. If these types of hard surfaces are not kept regularly polished, then like tiles, scratches and stains start to appear in their surface and dirt can then accumulate.

Industrial polishers, when equipped with the right polisher pads brushes, can remove these scratches, dirt and stains and restore your flooring back to its sensational appearance once again.

Concrete and Terrazzo floors

Keeping polished concrete or Terrazzo flooring looking pristine can be a costly exercise because you have to constantly strip and reapply waxes. A more modern and cheaper approach however is to do away with waxing entirely and instead use an electric floor polisher. Electric floor polishers will not only save you time and money but will leave your floor looking at its very best.

Floor pads and the floor brush extensions for floor polishers should be used for concrete and Terrazzo flooring.

Anti-slip and industrial safety floors

Anti-slip and safety flooring is simply a must in some environments, such as swimming pools and some types of factories, where safety from a person slipping is paramount. The problem with keeping this type of flooring clean however arises because of the texture that is needed to make the floor anti-slip.

The texture of this type of floor may help to prevent slips but it also acts like a magnet for dirt and grime which can quickly build up around the notches. This buildup of grime can make your flooring look stained and discoloured as a result and can be troublesome to resolve using traditional cleaning techniques and some types of mops can even disintegrate entirely when used to clean this type of flooring.

One of the most cost effective cleaning techniques for this type of flooring on a commercial scale is a floor polisher. This is because a floor polisher can restore your floor back to its original appearance as the polishers brushes are especially designed for removing dirt build-up on these kind of textures.

Terracotta floors

Terracotta floors can give a great first impression but their drawback is that they take a large amount of time to maintain to a high standard. This is because Terracotta on the whole is a porous material and as a result of Terracotta being porous dirt can easily build up on its surface making it hard to keep clean.

Even worse basic cleaners such as bleach can't be used to remove this build up as they will damage the Terracotta.

Floor polishers however do not use heavy cleaning chemicals and can lift the grime out of the flooring taking the hassle out of cleaning and maintaining your Terracotta flooring.

Carpets

Carpets can acquire dirt, and become stained, rather easily. In high traffic places such as schools, universities, hotels, nursing homes and shops it is important to keep this type of flooring looking clean, otherwise your flooring will rub off negatively on your organisation.