If you are looking for a business with a constant demand, commercial floor care might be just what you are looking for and in this short article, we take a look at hard floor care and maintenance in a commercial environment.

The difference between a floor polisher and a floor buffer

Both of these machines are used extensively on commercial floors, and there are differences between a polisher and a buffer. 

• A floor buffer is normally used to deep clean hard floors, whereas a floor polisher is for bringing up a shine, and a commercial buffer machine is an essential piece of kit for any floor maintenance worker. 
• A floor buffer removes light marks, scuffs and shallow scratches, whereas a floor polisher adds a polishing compound to add extra shine to the floor. The floor buffer is primarily a cleaning machine, while the polisher is mainly used in hotels, resorts and areas where aesthetics are important. Indeed, most floor maintenance contractors would not use a floor polisher unless they worked on retail spaces or hospitality developments.
• The buffer machine has pads that rotate at slower speeds, cleaning as it travels across the floor, while the pads on a polisher are softer and rotate at much higher speeds.

There are different grades of buffer pads, depending on the condition of the floor; finer grade pads are used primarily for removing light scratches and generally smoothing hard floors. The same goes for the floor polisher; the pads are softer and do not create the same amount of friction as the buffer machine.

Daily Cleaning

This should be done with microfibre mops and a mild soapy mix; the floors should be swept first with a soft brush, then the mopping can be done, and this should keep the floor in good condition. Machine cleaning only needs to be carried out once a week, which is when the floor maintenance contractor would arrive. They typically work nights, evenings and weekends, when they have uninterrupted access to the flooring. Click here for 5 ways to minimise business start-up costs.

Waxing Floors

Stone floors are typically waxed on a regular basis, and a buffer machine is the ideal piece of kit to remove wax and clean the floor. A wax coating can last a month, depending on how heavy the use; some contractors do not wax floors, which would be due to the type of flooring they maintain.

Power Washing

Heavy wear areas do require a weekly power wash to remove the ground-in dirt; outside elevators, along busy corridors and main walkways are usually power washed with a machine once a week. Floors are usually maintained by third-party contractors who have all the right equipment, and they specialise in what they do.

If you are interested in setting up a floor maintenance business, you need to invest in the right kind of machinery, plus you have to bid for contracts, which is never an easy thing to win.