Vinyl tile floor has already passed that phase where people used to install it only in kitchens and bathrooms for their high ability to tackle water and moisture. Now, it is used as embellishment and beautification of the floors too. Not only just in houses but also in other posh and commercial spaces. Those types are slightly different from regular vinyl tile and are called commercial vinyl tile floor.
Commercial Vinyl Tile Floors
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Commercial vinyl tile is a durable tile block made of natural and synthetic polymer materials. It is a type of tile used to install on floors with grout or adhesive. Such vinyl tiles come in different colors, designs, textures, and styles. Commercial vinyl tile floors, as the term commercial suggests, are installed in commercial spaces. These are mostly used in areas where the foot traffic is multiple folds higher than a house or an apartment.
Reason to Install
The reason is the durability, low cost, water-resistant nature, and easy maintenance. Also, the material is such that it doesn’t hold sticky messes and stain that badly. Neither it absorbs spilled drinks or wet substances within at once. So, even if hundreds of people are stepping on it with wet shoes during a rainy day, the floor will tackle that foot traffic with ease. You just need a sincere workforce who will meticulously clean the dirt and filth.
These floors are installed in schools, hospitals, malls, eateries, offices, and other workplaces, hotel lobbies, basically everywhere. Patients, kids, pets, regular people from all over will step on that very floor. That, too, with shoes on. None is going to walk on commercial space barefoot. So, these are meant and made for rough use.
Thousands of people will walk on the floor every single minute. It’s a commercial space, so that’s a given. So, one can only imagine how dirty, filthy, and full of stains the floors will be. Thus the floor needs utmost diligence when it comes to upkeep, cleaning, and sanitizing. That is why the mention of rigorous cleaning and persistent staff.
Importance of Cleaning Machine and Cleaning Solution
We all know how easy vinyl floors are to clean. Those of you who have vinyl tile floors at your house mostly wash it with warm water, a cup of vinegar mixed in a gallon of water, and a stick mop. Vinyl tiles don’t need much at all. But here we are talking about commercial space. We are talking about high traffic commercial vinyl tile floors. So, a stick mop, vinegar, a bucket of water, and such components will be of no use.
These spaces require thorough cleaning with high-quality vinyl floor cleaning machines and cleaning solutions. Also, schools, hospitals, malls are not small spaces like houses, and one cannot skip mopping every second day as a house owner can. The house owner has that liberty due to less foot traffic. But commercial spaces have high foot traffic, thus need daily cleaning and sanitizing. Hospitals, restaurants, hotels are places that need mopping every few hours. So, manual cleaning will be a big no. Every step of cleaning the commercial vinyl tile floors will need a heavy-duty machine.
How to Clean Commercial Vinyl Tile Floors
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We talked about commercial vinyl tile floors being too dirty and requiring frequent cleaning even in a single day. That naturally calls for a scrupulous guide on how to clean commercial vinyl tile floors. You have three steps to clean the floor, majorly, dusting, mopping, and drying.
Cleaning – Step #1 – Dusting
You will need a powerful vacuum cleaner for the thorough dusting of the commercial vinyl tile floors. More powerful, better cleaning performance. There must be no dust and dirt on the floor. They work like sandpaper and scratch the surface. Also, people continuously stepping on the grit will turn it into stuck-on dirt or wet mess. A powerful vacuum will pick up all the dirt from heavy traffic areas quicker, faster, and meticulously.
Meticulous Dusting a Must
Meticulous cleaning is a must in commercial spaces. Otherwise, the outsiders will make a wrong impression about the space and will hardly return as they left unimpressed. No owner of a restaurant, hotel, and hospital will want it. Thus, the demand for a high-power, durable vacuum cleaner. More than the user, the vacuum cleaner must be efficient to do the cleaning chore. The user only needs to know how to operate the machine and work with it.
Cleaning The Vinyl Tile Floors – Step #2 – Buffing
By the word buffing, we are referring to deep cleaning. Deep cleaning means you will need to mop the floor with water, a cleaning solution, and a sweeper. And for commercial vinyl tile floor cleaning, you will need a specific cleaning machine, a potent buffing machine, to be precise. Buffing machines have a mop head with rotating pads that do both the washing and polishing. So, all you need to do is invest in a robust buffing machine and an equally potent vinyl floor cleaning solution.
Process to Buffing
Mix the cleaning solution, a cap full in every single gallon of warm water. If arranging hot water is a matter of privilege, then regular water will do. In this step, you are scrubbing the stuck-on stubborn dirt, bringing back the original color of the vinyl floor, polishing the surface further to bring back the sheen, and most importantly, sanitizing the entire surface. Now when you are done with rubbing, sweeping, buffing the surface time to clean it again with clean water. You can use the same machine or just get a large stick mop with an extra-wide mop head. The wider, the better.
Cleaning The Commercial Vinyl Tiles – Step #3 – Drying
Use the same buffing machine but this time, install dry pads to remove moisture. It will be time-consuming. So, you can try investing in an air mover and let it do most of the drying and then use the buffing machine to give a final touch. Keeping the floor dry helps to avoid more dirt sticking on it and protects people from slipping and falling. Injuring people by a slippery wet floor is the last thing that a commercial space asks for.
Finally – Step #4 – Finishing
This step is optional. More than optional, it is done once every few months, when the floor actually needs it. Apply a few coats of a high-quality floor finish. Of course, after doing all the above steps. Acrylic ones are best to use on commercial vinyl tiles. Use the buffing machine to spread the coating evenly.
Final Words
All that time-consuming cleaning process in a high foot traffic area clearly implies that one needs to do all the cleaning and sanitizing when the commercial spaces are closed and have no or less foot traffic. Though daily dusting is mandatory, every few hours, buffing could be done once a day. And the rest of the time, spot cleaning and sweeping the wet mess, spilled drinks, foods, standing water are enough. It all depends on how dirty the floor is. One just needs some heavy-duty machines, that’s all.
