Building maintenance is imperative in the appearance and integrity of a facility and is one of the biggest concerns of property managers and building owners.
One of the best ways to maintain floors is to use the right mats in the right places. Nearly 85% of all dirt enters a building through the entryways via foot traffic. Most of the soil can be captured at building entrances with proper mat placement. Every single entry point in a building should have a mat that is at least 6 feet in length, but ideally 10 ft to 20 ft in length. Mats should be vacuumed at least once a day. Replace dirty mats with clean ones weekly, more often in wet or extremely dirty conditions. Custodians should clean under the mats to reduce moisture buildup, and scrub dirty mats periodically with detergent or carpet solution.
While proper mats can capture most dirt, they don’t capture all of it. The following practices should be implemented on a daily or weekly basis by your green cleaning custodial service:
Light Cleaning Maintenance
- A microfiber dust mopping of all areas should be done daily.
Medium Cleaning Maintenance
- A dampened flat microfiber mopping of all areas should be done 4 times a week to minimize the spread of dust in the air.
Most hard floors have some type of coating system to protect the underlying material of the floor and keep it looking good. Regular dusting and cleaning helps prolong the life of the floor coating, however floors do need some extra attention on a weekly basis.
Heavy Cleaning Maintenance
- A green floor cleaning solution should be added to your water to effectively care for your floors.
- Scrape up any chewing gum.
- Remove scuff marks, streaks and heavy soil with an auto-scrubber and cleaning pad that works with just water.
- Restore the gloss, even out surfaces, remove heavier scuff marks and scratches by using a high-speed floor machine with a natural fiber or synthetic pad and a dust controlling system. High speed buffing is a dry process that does not need water or product.
Performing these daily and weekly tasks reduces the need for stripping and finishing your floors, which requires some of the most hazardous chemicals and labor intensive procedures.