By Robert Kravitz
An interesting surprise happened at the recent World of Concrete’s annual convention in Las Vegas, NV. More than 80,000 attendees not only saw the latest equipment, systems, and tools demonstrated at the show, but they also witnessed much more attention being paid to cleaning and maintaining concrete flooring—specifically, how to keep concrete floors looking great with as little water and chemical as possible.
What do cement floors and limiting the amount of moisture and chemical used in floor care have to do with medical facilities? Plenty!
This shows that the concrete industry—like virtually all other industries—is continuing to Green their products and procedures. Although healthcare facilities may not necessarily have concrete floors, they typically have literally acres of hard-surface flooring. When these floors are cleaned, scrubbed, or stripped, the slurry, which is made up of chemicals, soils, and contaminants, is often poured down drains.
These practices can be a detriment to the environment, unhealthy for cleaning workers and building occupants, and even against the law. In California, cleaning professionals are now required to treat the slurry and residue that results from stripping floors as hazardous waste and dispose of it in treatment centers and specifically designed locations.
Further, moisture issues are a concern for facilities seeking LEED-EB (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings) certification. LEED-EB encourages facilities to reduce moisture in building construction and operation, which includes cleaning, and awards facilities that comply. Designers of the LEED program believe that moisture can result in “adverse impacts on indoor air quality, [making these areas] more susceptible to microbial contamination.”
The Evolution of Low Moisture Floor Care
“Facility managers have been aware of low moisture carpet cleaning systems and their environmental value for several years now,” says Mark Cuddy with Tornado, a leading manufacturer of professional cleaning equipment. “As a result, many of the major manufacturers are introducing extractors and/or encapsulation systems that help reduce or eliminate the amount of moisture generated in carpet cleaning.”
According to Cuddy, there is a similar evolution occurring in hard-surface floor care as well. Simply referred to as low moisture floor care (LMFC), it usually involves new types of floor machines that use less chemical and water, along with finishes and cleaning procedures that help minimize refinishing cycles. Together, these products and processes minimize cleaning’s impact on the environment.
Fortunately, some floor care chemicals and finishes are now finally available that appear to perform as well as conventional floor care products. However, chemicals are only one component in Green floor care and LMFC. In order to make floor care healthier and reduce chemical and moisture use, the proper floor care equipment is necessary.
Greener Floor Care Equipment
Cuddy says that there are two technologies, which have been recently introduced in the United States, proving to help minimize moisture and chemical when performing floor care tasks. They are cylindrical brush floor machines and multi-wash/multi-purpose floor care equipment.
Cylindrical brush machines use counter-rotating brushes, not pads, to clean floors. Similar to a cleaning cloth being limited to clean the top of a surface, conventional pads are usually unable to clean deep within porous tile floors or grout areas. Brushes, however, can dig deep into these areas and remove grit, soils, and contaminants without the need for more cleaning solution or chemical. These machines also have four to six times the contact pressure on a floor and are more adaptable to irregularities in floors compared to conventional rotary systems.
Multi-wash/multi-purpose floor care machines also use brushes instead of pads to clean floors. As its name implies, multi-wash/multi-purpose machines can be used on a variety of floor surfaces, including carpets, but are particularly effective at cleaning tile and grout floors. “They look similar to a carpet encapsulation machine and can clean, scrub, and dry floors in one pass,” says Cuddy. “This increases safety and means areas do not need to be ‘blocked off’ waiting for floors to dry.”
The bottom line and benefit of both technologies is that they significantly reduce the amount of water and chemical necessary in cleaning. Adds Cuddy, the brushes essentially do all the “leg work,” so more chemical and water is unnecessary.
“I would predict that LMFC will become the accepted floor cleaning standard within a few years,” says Cuddy. “The professional cleaning industry has made dramatic strides in the past few years. Systems, products, and equipment perform more efficiently, effectively, and environmentally as well.”
For more information, visit www.tornadovac.com/common/index.aspx
Robert Kravitz is a writer for the professional cleaning, healthcare, education and building industries. He may be reached at rkravitz@rcn.com.
