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When parents, teachers and students enter a school on the first day of class, the building normally has that first-day-of-school clean look and smell. Most facilities have been scrubbed from top to bottom and floors are nearly perfect. And then the first bell rings. Very quickly, that first day look is gone: trampled by thousands of sneaker-clad feet. For many schools the flooring will not look as good until nearly a year later. However, with the right products, procedure and commitment to environmental responsibility, school maintenance staffs can come close, despite dwindling maintenance budgets and constant heavy traffic.

For daily cleaning, consider trying a product that is known for easily removing particulate soils, the primary cause of wear and tear.

This effort to recreate the “first day look” every day can be important, as research shows that the way a school looks can affect learning outcomes for its students. However, quality care— especially for flooring— requires time and money.

Flooring in elementary and secondary schools is generally subjected to heavy traffic, black heel marks, dragged furniture, and large quantities of outside soils. Ground-in particulate soils tracked in throughout the day account for much of the wear and tear on flooring. The time, labor and difficulty to refinish floors make it challenging for schools to complete this often unpleasant task as often as is necessary. Stripping and refinishing floors typically requires thorough planning—with most major maintenance taking place during the summer months when school is out of session. Planning is even more critical for year-round schools, which do not have the luxury of empty classrooms for months at a time.

Luckily for school maintenance staffs, it is possible to extend the time between stripping and refinishing, which can help stretch already thin budgets.

Choosing Quality Products
Products play an important role, as effective daily cleaners and durable floor finishes maximize the life of a floor finish. An inexpensive product is not cost effective if its shine does not stand up and it demands more frequent application to achieve desired results.

Often the best options for educational facility settings are floor finishes designed for durability that maximize cleaning efficiency. Quality finishes resist soiling and wear and are exceptional for rubber heel mark resistance, minimizing the need for buffing, burnishing, recoating and refinishing.

Even if a school chooses the most durable finish on the market, daily cleaning is essential for maintaining it. For daily cleaning, consider trying a product that is known for easily removing particulate soils, the primary cause of wear and tear. The cleaner should have a good balance between being powerful enough to remove tracked-in particulate soil and gentle enough to not dull or damage the finish.

The final product in the arsenal is an effective floor finish stripper. There are now environmentally friendly floor finish strippers with low- odor that work as well as their butyl counterparts. But tools alone do not create a beautiful floor. Proper procedures are equally necessary for creating a “first day” shine that lasts.

Floor Care –10 Tips for Stripping and Refinishing
When caring for a finished floor, it is important to follow all manufacturer instructions during the floor finish stripping and refinishing process. The following are some guidelines to help maximize the effectiveness of floor care products and the durability of the floor finish:

1) When starting the floor finish stripping process, dilute the stripping product according to manufacturer instructions. Mixing stripper stronger than the recommended rate does not necessarily ensure better performance and can potentially make stripping more difficult by promoting dry-back of the floor finish stripper.

2) Mop the floor finish stripper on the floor and give the product at least 10 minutes to penetrate the floor finish. Rushing to remove the stripping product from the floors before it has enough time to penetrate can cause rework.

3) When the stripping product is on the floor, add additional floor finish stripper as needed to keep the floor evenly wet. If the floor is allowed to dry in certain places, “dry back” can occur, and re-stripping may be necessary.

4) After the product has penetrated the finish, agitate it with a low speed floor machine or an auto-scrubber equipped with a black pad to remove the old finish from the floor. It is important to quickly pick- up the stripped (emulsified) finish with a wet vac, followed by a rinse, before anything can dry-back.

5) Make sure to remove all old floor finish and stripping product residue before applying the new floor finish. It is best to do a clear water rinse before applying finish, just to be sure there is no residue remaining. Floor finish stripper residue can affect durability, and leftover finish can affect the appearance of the fresh coat of finish.

6) When beginning the finishing process, lay thin, even coats of finish. Thick coats will not properly dry and cure in hot and humid conditions when many of the nation’s schools are refinishing. If possible, create a plan to lay only one coat of finish per day and rotate through several classrooms at once to refinish larger areas at one time. This will give each coat a day to dry in the most challenging drying conditions.

7) Try to introduce airflow into the classroom after the finish has initially dried to promote proper curing between coats. It is important not to underestimate the importance of cure time between coats. Cure time affects the gloss, clarity and strength of a floor finish.

8) Make sure the floor has fully cured before placing heavy furniture back in a classroom. Many maintenance workers have learned this bit of advice the hard way, when desks have become securely affixed to the flooring.

9) Be careful not to forget daily cleaning. Failure to effectively dust and damp mop on a regular basis can result in the need for more frequent stripping and refinishing. Choose a daily cleaner that effectively removes particulate soils. In addition, consider a matting program to prevent some particulate soils from reaching the flooring.

10) Regardless of how effective an educational facility’s daily cleaning is, it will still be necessary to perform periodic maintenance on the floors to ensure a lasting finish. School maintenance managers should consider mapping out a full year’s worth of this maintenance, which should include periodic floor scrubbing. A smart investment for many facilities may be an auto-scrubber or a less expensive alternative like a walkbehind wet vacuum. These tools pick up grit and grime instead of spreading it around like traditional damp mopping.

In addition to choosing the right products and using the right procedures, many schools are now being required to use “GREEN” cleaning chemicals or have made the decision to “go GREEN.” Knowing what products are environmentally responsible AND perform can help stretch the limited dollars for maintenance.

The Growing Focus on GREEN
More and more school districts across the country are mandating the use of environmentally friendly products. After an improperly stored floor finish stripper caused fumes which forced the evacuation of a Chesapeake, Virginia school, the issues associated with chemicals stored on school grounds has become more important for many school districts. But what does environmentally friendly translate to when it comes to choosing cleaning chemicals?

Choosing environmentally responsible products that are effective and GREEN is not as easy as it sounds. When choosing floor finishes and floor finish strippers, remember that using more effective products typically means using fewer products. The fewer chemicals a school releases into the environment, the better.

Durable floor finishes and effective floor finish strippers are helpful in meeting GREEN goals. Schools should look for a total floor care program that extends the life of the floor finish which is the key to minimize the overall environmental impact. To help avoid excess odor when stripping, there is now stripper without butyl available. This stripper performs as well as the butyl strippers without the odor and harshness. It is especially useful in buildings that are open 24/7.

One way to determine the environmental impact of a product is to look at the manufacturer’s philosophies on GREEN products and cleaning. The manufacturer is responsible for developing safe products, safe procedures, and sharing information about all of its products and ingredients. There are some manufacturers who produce products with high environmental standards and consider all products to be environmentally responsible – not just a select few as designated by a special GREEN line of products.

Caring for a finished floor in a school district can be a challenge – considering tight budgets, harsh conditions and the desire to go GREEN. But despite the challenges, there is hope. Using the right products, procedures and environmental philosophy, school districts can – or at least come close – to maintaining that “first day of school” look, regardless of how many thousands of sneaker-clad feet traipse through the halls.

Mike Weber is principal scientist, products research with P&G Professional in Cincinnati, Ohio. Weber, who has worked for Procter & Gamble for 27 years, helped to develop the P&G Pro Line™ brand of commercial cleaners, with a focus on consumer products research.

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