As a business owner or facility manager, you know how your commercial property is affected by winter’s harsh weather—especially your floors. As we welcome spring and warmer weather, it is also the perfect time to check-off post-winter maintenance projects at your facility, and this includes refreshing and restoring your floors—just in time for the good weather.
HARD SURFACES
No matter how hard we try, the rock salt, sand and ice melting products used on exterior roads and walkways in winter gets tracked indoors and onto our floors. Especially noticeable near front entrances, debris tracked inside during winter can quickly cause damage to floor surfaces. The tiny particles of sand, salt and snow-melt dull and scratch the surface of even the most durable floors, and the chemical debris from ice melting products strips protective finishes and leaves behind unsightly residue.
Following proper winter maintenance procedures will go a long way toward preserving and protecting your floors, but once the worst of the weather has passed, you’ll want to perform a deep clean to repair and restore them to look their best.
HOW TO CLEAN TILE & HARDWOOD
Whether your floors are made of vinyl, laminate, hardwood, LVP, ceramic tile, concrete, quarry, tile, marmoleum or other materials, the many types of hard-surface commercial flooring require different cleaning techniques. This section offers a general guide for cleaning and maintaining most commercial hard floor surfaces, but you should always refer to your flooring manufacturer’s recommendations and test-clean solutions in a small, inconspicuous area before starting, to avoid large or costly damages.
- Sweep away visible debris to remove larger particles from the floor’s surface.
- Use a semi-acidic floor cleaner or mix vinegar with water to neutralize and dissolve any remaining salt residue. Refer to product instructions for dilution ratios.
- Once the salt residue is suspended in the cleaner, use a mop to absorb the liquid and wipe away.
- If your floor’s finish has been damaged, use a stripper solution to cleanly remove it. Apply the solution and let it sit for about 15 minutes. Add more solution as needed. Refer to the specific stripping product’s label for exact instructions. Safety Tip: Use floor fans and open windows to improve ventilation when working with harsh chemicals.
- Use a little elbow grease and a scrubber to agitate the surface and strip the remaining finish. Then, mop up the liquid.
- Mop the floor again with clean water to remove any lingering chemicals from the cleaner and stripping solution.
- Let the floor dry completely.
- Finally, apply two coats of sealer and a few fresh coats of finish to achieve a floor that looks as good as new.
CARPETED FLOORS
Carpeted floors are equally affected by salt, mud, and snow or ice melt, if not more so. Salt leaves its characteristic white powdery residue on carpet surfaces, while melted snow and ice-melt chemicals can soak deep into carpet fibres and even into the padding. If winter water damage goes untreated, mould and mildew can easily grow and spread, leading to much bigger carpet damage problems in the long run.
HOW TO CLEAN COMMERCIAL CARPETS
To help your carpets survive winter, have absorbent doormats, boot trays and umbrella stands at all entranceways to reduce the amount of moisture and debris tracked onto carpeted areas during the winter season. When the weather warms up, follow these steps to give your carpets a thorough post-winter cleaning.
- Vacuum visible dirt particles and debris.
- Use water and a residue-removing cleaning solution to deep clean your carpet. Let the solution soak into the carpet for approximately 15 minutes. Refer to product guidelines for dilution ratios.
- Use a wet vacuum to remove the cleaning solution, oils and dissolved residue.
- Rinse with clean water and suction out the liquid with the wet vacuum.
- You may need to repeat steps 2-4 depending on the amount of dirt, grime and soiling.
- Use industrial fans to completely dry the carpet.
The time, energy and heavy equipment required to effectively clean hard-surface floors and commercial carpeting can be a burden for any business owner or facility manager. If you need spring commercial carpet cleaning or hard-floor cleaning or restoration, let the experts at ServiceMaster Clean do the dirty work for you.
With our 70+ years of experience and extensive research and development in the industry, we have the expertise and resources to service offices, hospitals, schools, grocery stores, retail stores, high-tech and many other kinds of business and industrial facilities of any scale. Maximize your flooring and carpet investments with a commercial floor cleaning program from ServiceMaster Clean.
We will create a custom floorcare plan to suit your facility’s requirements and budget. ServiceMaster Clean uses the highest quality floor care products and most innovative equipment and methods for optimal effectiveness and results.
ServiceMaster Clean works closely with leading carpet manufacturers to keep up to date on recommended carpet care and cleaning procedures. All our technicians are trained to adhere to the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) standards.