I wanted to give you an update on how to take care of waxed floors during winter as we hopefully come out of covid.
As I was preparing for Christmas, we had our first snowfalls here in the Northeast.
On Christmas Eve, my phone rang and it was an old friend of mine. He had been one of my customers in the Midwest when I lived and worked there. He needed advice so he would be prepared with a program to keep his front lobby and foyer looking immaculate when the weather turned bad.
It seemed that his nursing home was getting ready for guests because his employees and residents would be receiving the coronavirus vaccine soon, so hopefully, more families will be allowed to come again to visit their loved ones later this winter.
Have A Plan
His biggest concerns regarding his floors were:
- Keeping a shiny appearance
- Not damaging the existing waxed floor because of the salt used to prevent ice buildup on walks and streets
- Avoiding slips and falls with all of the added moisture
- Disinfecting to keep his nursing home safe
- Getting advice on which salt to purchase to help melt the snow outside most efficiently
I started my reply by saying that I hoped he had recently added a couple of coats of fresh wax to his floor. We knew he was going to lose some wax over the winter because of the daily traffic of his clients bringing in some residue of melted ice and salt on their shoes. The salt acts as a stripper and removes some of the coats on his current floor.
Adding a couple of coats of wax is far simpler and less time-consuming than trying to do full-out stripping and waxing at this time of year. In essence, all you must do is what we call a top scrub on a neutralized floor and add two or more coats of wax right on top of what you already have. A full description is in a blog post I did on TOPCOAT A WAXED FLOOR
Avoid Slips and Falls
To avoid slips and falls during the winter and to help preserve the shininess of the floor, I advised him to look at the number of mats he has out front. If you are on a mat rental program, then I would consider doubling them. If not, purchase some new ones from a reliable janitorial house. This will help get the water and salt residue off of people’s shoes. Just because your place of business may not have salt out front on any given day, your customers might be walking over it all day at other places and still have it on the soles of their shoes when they walk in.
For daily maintenance, I recommended a good neutral cleaner with cold water. Usually, you need to do it more often during snowy months because of what the foot traffic is bringing in. If there is a film left behind, consider going over it again with a rinse of cold water only. Also, be aware that there is a difference between a neutral cleaner and a neutralizer.
For disinfection, I recommended he continue using a quat-based product, and the secret to that is to abide by the recommendations on the label. The worst thing you can do with a waxed floor is to use a disinfectant at a higher use rate than what is on the label. Nothing has dulled a floor more than too much disinfectant…and I’m talking pre-COVID.
Finally, my advice on ice melt is rather simple. In my opinion, it does not really matter which one you use when it comes to your foyer and winter floor care. It does matter that you have enough on hand before the weather turns bad and not wait until the week of Christmas.
To accurately dispense cleaning products in your facility, please consider getting a SYSTEM that has everything you need from a reputable supplier.
Summary
What are your favorite products to use on your floors, and do you have any problems with them? Please reach out if I can ever help with designing a floor care program for you. All questions will be personally answered
Jerry@hospitalitycleaning101.com
