What is floor stripping? It’s a necessary process that’s done before you can add a new coat of wax to your floors. If you’ve noticed that your floors have lost their brilliance, stripping away the old wax will be the first step in restoring that shine. Without first stripping your floors, any new wax that you apply won’t bond with them.
How to Tell Your Floors Need Stripping
Several factors will determine when it’s time to strip and wax your floors. For example, flooring that sees heavier foot traffic or machine use will need stripping and waxing sooner than a floor that’s less traveled.
Here are a few signs that it’s time for commercial floor stripping services:
- Dull or dirty appearance, including scuff marks and scratches
- Fading or white residue resulting from long-term exposure to UV lights
- Chemical burns or stains from spills
If you see multiple signs of damage to your floor’s wax coating, you should schedule stripping and waxing services soon. Prolonged damage to the coating can expose the underlying flooring to permanent damage. Rather than replacing your flooring, it’s better to strip and wax the existing surface.
What’s Involved in Floor Stripping?
The first thing to know is that you should always hire a professional service to strip your floors because they’ll know what stripping chemical to use for your type of flooring. You can prepare for the service by moving furniture and equipment out of the area so the workers will have access to all of the flooring.
To get started, the work crew will dilute the stripping solution and sweep debris off the floor. Then they’ll test the stripping solution in a small area to make sure the solution won’t damage or discolor your flooring.
The next step is to spread the stripping solution onto the floor with a mop. The solution stays on the surface for 30 minutes. Afterward, the work team will use floor stripping machines to scrub the wax off the flooring.
Later, the work team will sweep and discard the old wax fragments. The stripping process ends by adding a neutralizing agent that’ll make it easier for the fresh coat of wax to bond with your floor.
What Are the Benefits of Commercial Floor Stripping?
There are several benefits of floor stripping in addition to helping you protect your flooring. For example, the newly waxed floor will look cleaner and brighter. In many cases, it will look almost like new.
The process also removes moisture that can accumulate on your floor. Ahead of time, you should repair any water leaks in your facility. Stripping and waxing your floors will remove stains and prevent the material from warping or developing bubbles.
When you see scratches or black marks on your commercial floors, the damage is usually superficial. And once the old layer of wax is gone, those marks will go with it. That’s why a fresh coat of wax will make your floors look 100% better.
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