by Brianna Crandall — December 14, 2015—When cleaning floors, many facilities managers are not aware of all the factors working against them, according to a new white paper issued by Substratum Group. The paper identifies and discusses the most important variables causing greasy, slippery floors and offers practical solutions on how to reduce slips and falls, reduce the cleaning cost and time, and enhance the appearance.
A key finding is that agitation is critical to the process.
The white paper provides insight into:
- Variables that affect floor safety, appearance, and drying times for hard-surface tiles
- Proper processes for wet mopping, damp mopping, and agitating a floor during cleaning
- Mopping processes to use in the front and back of house
- Differences in levels of agitation between a string mop, a deck brush, and the company’s Dual Tool
“Many managers today believe their employees are properly cleaning the floors,” said Jim Toth Jr., vice president, Customer Solutions, Substratum. “But we find they typically overestimate how well their combination of chemicals, tools, and process is working.
“Most people don’t know how to wet mop, and do not properly agitate. If you start with proper process and a good floor chemical, our data shows that incorporating the one-step simplicity of the Dual Tool with a proper string mop helps the floor chemical work better, the risk of slips and falls decrease, and the floor look better.”
“Agitation as part of the cleaning process is crucial, and we wanted to scientifically measure the level of agitation provided by mopping alone versus several deck brush designs and the Dual Tool. The test was done using a modified ASTM standard and a Robinson Floor test machine. Field tests in commercial kitchens were also used to provide qualitative user feedback,” added David Collette, president, Substratum.
“The test data shows that Dual Tool agitates the floor 96 percent better than a mop alone and 73 to 96 percent better than a palmyra or polypropylene bristle brush. Qualitatively, we found that users like being able to deck brush while they mopped rather than having to have two separate processes. They saved time, and the floors looked cleaner and felt safer.”
Download a complimentary copy of “Dual Tool Delivers Safer, Cleaner Floors in One Simple Solution” from the Substratum Web site.
