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Floor Re-Finishing & Maintenance Guide

A floor's appearance is a crucial element to the overall aesthetic of a space. In any environment, whether it be an office, a school, a healthcare facility, or a retail store, clean floors leave a lasting impression. Regular floor maintenance can reduce the accumulation of nicks and scratches, preventing the need to undertake the tedious and costly task of installing new floors.

For these reasons, it's essential to maintain and re-finish floors when necessary. Follow the guide below to keep your floors polished and shined.

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Floor Re-Finishing in 4 Steps

1. Prepare the Room & Floor

Before starting work on your floors, prepare the room for your upcoming project. Remove all furniture, mats, curtains, and other items that may get in the way. Additionally, if you want to optimize your finishing step, remove the doors and base mouldings from the room. Use masking tape and plastic sheets to protect and seal covers and vents. Finally, ensure no debris is left on the floor by sweeping and vacuuming the room.

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2. Strip the Floor

When choosing a floor stripper, it is important to consider the ease of penetration, odour, and rinsing factor. Dustbane floor strippers are formulated to penetrate and power-strip floor finish, sealer, and heavy build-up quickly and efficiently. Their concentrated formulas make for an easy application and rinse.

Time-Out Plus Champion Formula-1 Dynamite
Ecologo® Certified Yes No No No
Dilution Rate for Normal Stripping 1:20 1:12 1:10 1:4
pH 11.4 - 12.4 13.0 - 13.5 13.0 - 13.5 13.0 - 14.0
Dwell Time 5-8 minutes 3-5 minutes 3-5 minutes 3-5 minutes
Active Ingredient Solvent Solvent Solvent Solvent/Caustic
Odour Mild Citrus Citrus Mild
Recommended Neutralizer Film Away Film Away Film Away Neutralizer

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3. Seal the Floor

Protecting your floors with a floor sealer will make maintenance more efficient. The floor sealer’s durable coating will penetrate the pores of the flooring, reducing wear and tear. This step is recommended even if a floor finish is to be applied.

Before proceeding with the floor sealer, rinse the stripper and allow the floor to dry.

Foundation Accolade Gard
Ecologo® Certified Yes No No
Coverage 1600 ft2 to 2500 ft2 (4 L) 1830 ft2 to 3014 ft2 (5 L) 1830 ft2 to 3014 ft2 (5 L)
Number of Coats Recommended 2-3 2-3 2-3
pH 8.4 - 8.8 8.4 - 8.8 8.4 - 8.8
Drying Time 30-60 minutes 30-60 minutes 30-60 minutes
Solid Contents 16% 20% 15%
Odour Acrylic Acrylic Acrylic

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4. Finish the Floor

The final step to re-finishing your floors is applying a floor finish. This step is essential to protect your floors from scuff marks, abrasions, and daily use.

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Floor Care by Flooring Type

Proper floor care depends on your flooring type. Explore the chart below to find the right floor strippers, neutralizers, sealers, finishes, maintainers, cleaners, and dust controllers that are suitable for your floors.

Wood (Sealed) Vinyl Composition Vinyl Vinyl Asbestos Linoleum Asphalt Rubber Ceramic (Unglazed) Terrazzo Quarry (Unglazed) Concrete Marble (Unglazed) Slate
STRIPPERS
Time-Out Plus ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Champion ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Formula-1 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Dynamite ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
NEUTRALIZERS
Neutralizer ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Film Away ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
FINISHERS
Foundation ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Accolade ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Gard ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Orbit ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Runway ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Acclamation ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Elite ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Endurance ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Glacier ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Gran-Prix XL ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
MAINTAINERS
Challenger ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Restore ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Cross-Link ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
CLEANERS
Excelsior ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Compare ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Preference ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Pinosan ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
DUST CONTROL
Hygo H2O ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Sweeping Compound ✔ ✔

Certain maintenance procedures and products may vary according to flooring type, grade, age, and condition. This chart attempts to give you a general indication of which products will give you the best results. Data is subject to change.

Floor Sign

Tips for Floor Care

  • Think safety. Using the proper floor signs and following the appropriate cleaning procedures are critical to avoiding injury.
  • Use the right chemicals. Prevent damaging floors by reading the product's label and SDS instructions before use and by refraining from conducting frequent treatments.
  • Follow directions. The label on the floor maintenance product will tell you the correct temperature of water to use during the cleaning process.
  • Take proper care of equipment. Clean and maintain equipment after every use, including mops, pads, applicators, brushes, and power cords.
  • Use a neutralizer. After stripping the floor, which may leave a high pH residue, use a neutralizer to bring the floor's pH closer to that of the sealer or finish that is to be applied.

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