Different Floor Cleaning and Maintenance Methods used by housekeeping
Clean floors are essential for a hygienic and welcoming home. HousekeepingA department of the rooms division; responsible for cleaning the hotel's guest rooms and public area... professionals use a range of methods to maintain the cleanliness of floors, depending on the type of flooring material. For hard floor surfaces such as tile, hardwood, or laminate, a combination of sweeping, vacuuming, and mopping is typically used. Sweeping and vacuuming remove debris and loose dirt, while mopping with a damp mop picks up more stubborn stains and spills.
For carpets, regular vacuuming is the most common maintenance method, but deep cleaning with a carpet shampooer may be necessary periodically. This helps to remove ground-in dirt, dust, and allergens.
In addition to regular cleaning, preventative measures can be taken to avoid damage to floors. For example, placing floor mats at entrances can help to reduce dirt and moisture being tracked indoors. Felt pads can be placed on furniture legs to prevent scratches on hardwood floors.
Different types of floor cleaning machines are designed for scrubbing, buffing, burnishing, scarifying, and spray maintenance.
Floor Cleaning and Maintenance Methods
- Mopping: Floors should be mopped daily with a damp mop or with a chemically treated dust mop. Mop heads come with a variety of natural or synthetic fibres (Types of Mops ). New mop heads should be soaked in water for 1 hrs and the mop heads should be rotated so that they can be cleaned and dried after each use.
- Scrubbing: Requires a stiff scrubbing brush or pad fitted to a rotary floor cleaning machine, The bristle tips of a brush or the surface of a pad scrape and cut the dirt to remove it with a circular motion.
- BurnishingBurnishing: Polishing the floor with a high speed floor machine to achieve an extremely high gloss. (Polishing): This new kind of floor cleaning method is similar to buffing but here it is a dry method without any use of any polish spray. Additionally, the speed at which the rotary floor cleaning machine head is set to spin faster for burnishing. The tips of a brush or the surface of a pad abrade and cut the floor surface to create a smooth surface with a glossy finish. In the case of a polished surface, it will involve the removal of a surface layer of polish.
- BuffingBuffing: To smooth the floor with a low speed floor polishing.: Usually followed after scrubbing or burnishing, Buffing involves spraying the floor with a polishing solution and buffing the floor with a rotary floor machine. The latest rotary cleaning machines can spray the polishing solution as well as buff the floor. While buffing the bristle tips of a brush or the surface of a pad create a high-gloss finish on the floor surface. In the case of a surface on which a polish has been applied, it will involve the generation of local heat to harden waxes and resins.
- Scarifying: Scarifying is a floor cleaning method by which the thick layer of soil is removed by breaking up the surface of the topsoil by a chisel-like action of a wire brush cutting tool. The bristle tips or edge of a cutting tool cut into impacted soiling and remove it using a chisel-like action.
- Spray cleaning: This is similar to spray cleaning, but the term is applied to the maintenance of floors where a buffable or semi-buffable polish has been applied and the bristle tips of a brush or the surface of a pad remove both soiling and the surface layer of polish to leave a smooth, glossy surface.
Floors require regular cleaning and finishing to retain their appearance and durability. According to the type of flooring used different methods and types of cleaning procedures need to be practiced. By using proper cleaning and maintenance techniques, housekeeping professionals can keep floors looking their best and ensure a clean and healthy living environment.
