There are a wide variety of floor pads available, and it can sometimes be difficult to know which one to choose. We've selected a few of our favorites for floor maintenance. We hope you like them, but please don't hesitate to ask us any questions if this tutorial isn't clear enough.
Who are the leaders in the soil buffers?
In our humble opinion, there are 2 major players: The 3M floor pads as well as the Twister stamps of variousBoth are popular. We've already written a full article about them. Twister stamps which are among our top picks. We'll let you take a look at them while we explore 3M's in more detail.
Download the 3M pads here:
First, the polishing pads
Havana natural fibers: You'll particularly like this product in high-traffic areas. It also removes marks and scratches from the floor.
Blaunch 4100This pad is used to remove minor scratches and will also polish the floor. It is made of polyester and is suitable for use on soft flooring. It can even be used on wood.
Rose 3600 This pad removes black marks and restores shine in fewer passes than other pads, while producing less dust.
A floor polishing pad can be used alone or with a polishing product such as:
- Diversey Shiner
- Hi-Spay by Wood Wyant
- Ino Gloss 7 by Ino Solutions
- Optiflash by Lalema
- Chemlab Vaporust
- #86 from Environ Solutions
- Avmor Spray-N-Glo
Vacuuming instead of wandering
The biggest problem I encounter is that the floors weren't properly swept before scrubbing or stripping. Don't miss the opportunity to do a great job. Vacuum the floor first, instead of just mopping. If the floor finish has already been applied and you see that it's dirty underneath, you'll have to start the job all over again.
Furthermore, after the first and second rinses, you could very well use the floor scrubber to thoroughly rinse your floor. The important thing is that the floor's pH returns to 7.
Scrubbing the floors
3M Brown Soil Preparation Pad – SPP 3M This swab is a little marvel that can only be used with water or a neutral cleaner.
Because the process was done with only neutral products, you can rinse once and then apply the floor finish. This pad can be used on vinyl, terrazzo, marble, or concrete floors.
You will notice that this stamp is very thin. Therefore, it is suggested to place another stamp of regular thickness underneath to prevent the maroon stamp from tearing.
In 15 to 20 minutes, a classroom floor, for example, can be scrubbed and is ready for a coat of floor finish. You'll save a lot of time using this pad for your scrubbing needs.
The high-efficiency stripping pad
This pad has the most abrasive fibers, but it's also the thinnest pad: the 3MMC 7300 high-performance black pad. If all the above-mentioned steps haven't worked and you haven't refinished your floors in a few years, it's very likely because your floors need to be completely stripped. This means removing all layers of floor finish and exposing the bare vinyl tile. You'll then need to rebuild the floor with a new sealant and finish. If the floor has an effective maintenance program, you shouldn't need to strip it for the next 5 years.
Work organization tips
If you have a large building, you probably won't be able to completely strip all the tile floors. So, you could decide to strip one-fifth of your building each year and scrub the other four sections. Between scrubbing and stripping, polishing is key to keeping a beautiful, shiny floor year-round. How do you know how many scrubbing and polishing sessions you should do per year? It depends on the traffic in your building and the type of dirt tracked in.
There you have it, I hope this short article will guide you in your floor maintenance program!
Infographic of our favorite 3M stamps
