History Of Floor Finish

History Of Floor Finish You want beautiful floors. Floors set the tone for the rest of your facility. And you want to maintain your facility and have beautiful looking floors because of your pride in a job well done. Work quality, expertise, efficiency, reliability attention to detail, etc. are qualities that are conveyed by the condition of your floors. You are required to keep your building in a condition that is acceptable to upper management and the public. You may also be asked to do it all with a reduced work force, sub-standard janitorial equipment and a reduced budget. The following is a synopsis of the history of floor finishes and how they developed to where we are today: To help reach your maintenance objective, you should keep abreast of floor finish technology and the latest cleaning equipment advances. The first finishes were carnauba waxes. Carnauba is a natural wax emulsion blend combined with a resin. Carnauba waxes were extremely buffable. They dried to a slight haze and left deep, rich swirls on the floor when buffed. They were extremely abrasive resistant. A gallon of carnauba wax is a tan-brown (coffee with cream) color. The lighter the tan color, the better quality of carnauba. Synthetic wax/polymer finishes followed carnauba wax. Synthetic waxes are blended with polymers, resins and plasticizers. The improved result was a dry, bright finish. The buffability of the finish depended on the type of synthetic wax and polymers that were put into them. Synthetic wax/polymer finishes in liquid form are a milky white color. Next, there was a very brief period of water-clear finishes. They looked like a gallon of water, but they did not hold up as well in the industrial and institutional fields as the polymer finishes. Metal cross-link floor finishes were the next technological advancement. These products were extremely detergent-resistant and could be scrubbed with normal cleaners without having to worry about removal during normal cleaning. As polymer chemistry significantly improved, the next major step in floor finishes was the introduction of high-speed equipment. Initially, floor machine buffing was done at 175 RMP’s. Then came 350-500 RPM’s. Now machines are available with 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000 and 2500 RPM’s. Not only in electric machines but also in battery-operated and propane-operated machines. Due to the heat and abrasion generated by these high speed machines, the older, metal cross-link finishes would fracture, shatter and powder off the floor. As a result of high speed machines, polythermic floor finishes were introduced to withstand this equipment. One school of thought said that the polythermic finishes would actually melt due to the heat of friction, producing a wet look. The other school of thought said that heat helped in the curing process of the film. The actual process is that the high speed burnishers abrade the floor finish and smooth it into a “wet look” during the curing process. Regardless of the school of thought, the floor looks like a five gallon bucket of water was poured on the floor and allowed to sheet out. This is what is meant by a “wet-look” floor. The “wet look” is beautiful. But the primary purpose of a floor finish is to protect the floor. The secondary purpose is to enhance its beauty. This is asking a lot of a thin film that has the thickness of tissue paper.   Search For Cleaning Supplies And Cleaning Products On Our Online Store

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