THE HISTORY OF HARD FLOOR CARE

FROM DIRT TO MODERN SYSTEMS

Types of floor surfacesThe evolution of floor coatings

The timeline of developments

Types of equipment used to maintain hard floors

WE WILL COVER:

Prehistoric

Mid-evil 19th Century 20th Century

Through the Years

New technology

The 21st Century

DIRT!Since the beginning

of time

STONE!Earliest discovery

was 5000 years B.C.

MOSAIC DATES TO

3000 B.C.

Next Was….

Ceramic TileSomewhere around

1500 B.C.

Then came…..

MARBLE

PORCELAIN FOLLOWED

NEXT

Around 500 B.C.

TERRAZZO WAS NEXT!

DATES FROM THEVENETIANS

SLATE!!Widely used for

roofs but also for floors

WOOD!!!Let’s not forget

WOOD

Been used since the Med-Evil times Most widely used form of flooring by the

colonists There are varying degrees of hardness Pine is the softest Oak is amongst the hardest

Wood Floors

The Butcher polish CompanyFounded in 1880 Their first product was

PASTE WAX

The First Coatings were made by

Founded in 1886One of the largest manufacturer’s of

cleaning products today Their first product was:

WOODEN PARQUET FLOORING

S.C. Johnson

Modern coatings weren’t developed until many decades

later!

The Evolution of Floor Tile

1925 Asphalt Tile

1954 Vinyl Asbestos Tile

1976-77Vinyl

Composition Tile

What’s Next?

The Evolution of Coatings

1946 The first synthetic

coating

1968Johnson Wax

IntroducesCOMPLETE

1975Johnson Wax

IntroducesSHOWPLACE

1985Butcher Polish

IntoducesIRONSTONE

Richard “Dick” Gable

The Inventor of Modern Synthetic Coatings

In the mid 1960’s, S.C. Johnson invented:

COMPLETE

Further Developments

Drawback

Styrene “yellows” in a relatively short period of time.

Further Developments

Buffers

Wet Vacuums

Auto Scrubbers

Polishers

Cleaning Equipment

Introduced in the 1930’s The motor turned at 150 RPM’s Speed upgraded to 175 RPM’s around 1950 Two-speed machines were introduced by

Advance in 1974 300 RPM’s (high-speed) intoduced in 1975

Buffers (AKA) Floor Machines

First appeared in the 1960’s

Wet Vacuums

Invented by American Lincoln Clarke soon followed Advance introduced their early scrubbers in

1970 By 1974 the Auto-Scrubber was saving labor

throughout the U.S.A.

Auto-Scrubbers

In 1975 the first polisher was the NSS propane buffer – you needed a mechanic with each machine to tighten the screws!

In 1977 NSS developed the first (burnisher) as we know them today – 1050 RPM’s

In 1979 Pullman-Holt had 1080 RPM’s

Polishers

THE RACE WAS ON!!Who will win the RPM

contest?

NSS was up to 1500 RPM’s with the Charger (still the only burnisher with the patented, tilted deck to run on less than 12 amps)

2000 RPM machines were in every manufacturer’s line by 1980.

3000 RPM came in the mid 1980’s 2500 RPM is still available

THE RACE WAS ON!!

3000 RPM’s turned out to be (too fast) for the floor finishes

THE RACE WAS ON!!

(1.) not “yellow” anymore

(2.) keep from powdering at the tremendous speeds generated by the burnishing equipment

Ultra High Speed Floor Finishes

The Earliest finishes had 14% solids (the Carnuba wax)

Complete was (about 16%) and set up very hard

18% floor finishes hit the market in the late 1970’s

20% was introduced in 1982

SOLIDS – SOLIDS - SOLIDS

S.C. Johnson, Spartan, Butcher and a few other manufacturers thought 25% would work well

Some manufacturers backed down to 22% Still others went to 30 – 35% only to find

they didn’t work Finally, around the turn of the 21st century 30% finishes were refined and worked!

Solids – solids - solids

Is more better??

Solids – solids - solids

Floor pads were developed in the early 1970’s

Does anyone remember having to buff with steel wool pads??? Bassine Brushes???

THAT’S ALL WE HAD!!!

Floor pads

ETC of Henderson, NC introduced

The “GORILLA” pad in 1981

Floor Pads

Beautiful shine it creates

You can tell when a “Gorilla” pad is being used by what

other phenomenon?

Gorilla Pad

3M Introduced the “Eraser” pad in the late

1990’s

Floor Pads

Modern Tile

Asphalt Tile This tile was colorful

Red Green Brown Blue

9” x 9”

Asphalt Tile Though this tile is durable it

is also quite rigid and therefore, subject to

cracking

Vinyl Asbestos Tile (VAT)

Developed in 1954. Either 9” x 9” or 12” x 12”

By 1970 it was all 12” x 12”

Vinyl Composition Tile (VCT)

(VCT) was developed in the mid 1970’s

MAINTENANCE!!MAINTENANCE!!MAINTENANCE!!

Strip off the factory coating when new Rinse and apply either a sealer or

combination sealer/floor finish Clean regularly Buff to maintain the shine When the floor finish shows wear either

scrub and apply more finish or strip and recoat

Normal Procedures

STRIP – APPLY FLOOR FINISH, CLEAN, BUFF

REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT,

REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT

Inorganic Coating

Introduced in 2005

A paradigmShift.

BenefitsThe coating’s high pH remainsNo microbial activityNever needs strippingIncreases the lumminsResists scratching

EpoxyUrethane

Other coatings

Concrete Ceramic Tile Porcelain Tile Asphalt Tile Vinyl Tile Vinyl Composition Tile (VCT)

REVIEW - Substrates

Natural base – Carnuba Wax Synthetic finishes Inorganic coating Epoxy urethane

Review - Coatings

Floor Machines Wet/Dry Vacuums High Speed Burnishers (Propane and Electric) Automatic Scrubbers

Review - equipment

The variety of substrates, coatings and maintenance equipment available offer the institution many options when creating the right program for their facility.

Programs

Depending on the program selected labor can account for between 80% to 90% of the total custodial budget.

Labor