Executive Housekeeping Today - October 2008 - (Page 9)

I have been in this business for quite a few years, and have witnessed the ushering in of many new technologies. I believe the best technology that has arrived is high-speed floor care products and equipment. With salaries, equipment, chemicals, and material costs skyrocketing, adopting the new technologies of today is the most cost-effective way to compete in this business. As the Chief of Environmental Services at the Kimbrough Ambulatory Care Center in Fort Meade, Maryland, I feel high-speed floor care products are the best way to maintain floors, and I direct all my supervisors and crews to use these procedures in all my facilities. All new employees who come to work in my department are taught the new methods of floor care. This includes high-speed burnishing and mop-on-type restorer products. Though there are a few employees in my department who have been doing floor care for as long as I have been in this business, they are also the ones who believe that spray buffing is the only way to get that deep gloss that we all desire for our floors—and that is not the case. I’m not saying that spray buffing is not a good way to acquire a gloss; it’s just the old way and the slow way. When using these old techniques, the floors appear to have that deep gloss that you can’t seem to get with the new tech- i My Experiences with High-Speed Machines vs. Spray Buffers by Stephen Miller, CEH niques—however, floor finishes are improving all the time. There are a large variety of floor finishes out on the market, and you need to sample different ones until you find the one that suits your facility the best. In my facilities, we use at least four different floor finishes. They are used for different types of floors, and sometimes this is based on the color of the floors. The choice you make could have a big impact on colored floors, as some finishes highlight the colors better than others. One of the challenges I find at my facility is that some employees only embrace half of the newer technology—they will use highspeed machines, yet they want to continue to use the spray buff. However, this can cause some serious damage to your equipment—not to mention more work for your staff. This brings me back to the point of why I decided to utilize the high-speed equipment—it causes a decrease in the amount of productive hours, thus reducing staff, because we can cover more square feet per hour with the highspeed technology. Now, it may seem harmless to spray buff with the high-speed machines; however, below are a few reasons and problems that can occur when mixing the two methods: 1. You’re applying the liquid on the floor and hitting it with a pad moving at a much higher rate of One of the challenges Miller faces at his facility is that some employees only embrace half of the newer technology—they will use high-speed machines, yet they want to continue to use the spray buff. However, this can cause some serious damage to your equipment— not to mention more work for your staff. speed than the old side-by-side machine. When using the buffer at the slower speed, it allows the pad to grab it and push into the scratches and cracks in the floor surface. By running slow, the spray buff can be worked into the floor properly. When you hit the spray buff with the faster machine, it just simply throws the liquid into the housing of the machine. This is where the first of the problems can occur. For example, let’s say an employee is spray buffing a corridor. Every few yards, he will be spraying the liquid onto the floor, but the liquid will only gather in the housing unit of the machine, as it has no where else to go. Most of the new, high-speed machines have a dust control skirt and some even have a dust collection bag. These are some of the labor-saving devices that keep you from having to dust mop after burnishing. With the liquid accumulating in the housing unit, being held in by (continued on page 20) October 2008/Executive Housekeeping Today 9

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Executive Housekeeping Today - October 2008

Executive Housekeeping Today - October 2008� Contents Executive Corner An Easier, Greener, and Healthier Approach to Floor Care Caring for Carpets in 24-Hour Facilities Frugal Housekeeper Case Study: University of Miami My Experiences with High-Speed Machines vs. Spray Buffers Vacuum Floor Care Q&A with Andre Motta Is a Spray-and-Vac System Really Better at Cleaning and Reducing the Risk of Disease? CEU Article The IEHA/CRI Partnership The Green Scene USGBC Green Tip What's in YOUR Janitor Closet? Inside the Industry Product Highlights New Members Joint IEHA/ISSA Members REH/CEH Members Advertisers' Index Calendar of Events Inside IEHA What IEHA Has Done for Me

Executive Housekeeping Today - October 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.