Winter floor care

Ensure good winter floor care to protect the long-lasting health and lustre of your floors.

As the mercury heads south and rain, sleet, and snow dominate the weather cycle, it’s important to understand that your floors are going to need much more consistent, regular care and maintenance. Staying on top of floor cleaning keeps snow and ice melt from damaging your floors while ensuring the safety of anyone who walks on them.

Regardless the type of flooring material you have, foot traffic is the biggest problem in winter when you’re trying to keep floors clean and dry.

A first step, before the snow flies (it’s still not too late), is to scrub and re-coat your floors with a good quality floor finish to help your floors survive the winter months looking clean, shiny, and undamaged. The extra coats of finish will protect your floors and, at the same time, make them much easier to maintain through the wet, snowy winter, helping to prevent any permanent damage.

Make sure to use high-quality, industrial floor mats at every entrance. It’s important to absorb moisture from shoes and boots quickly, so absorbent carpet-type mats instead of simple corrugated rubber versions work best this time of year. Keep multiples for each doorway, so they can be easily changed out when they’re soaked. Fresh mats can absorb up to 90 per cent of the snow and ice that might otherwise be tracked on to your floors.

Calcium chloride, the primary ingredient in chemical melting salts, has a high pH and, if left to sit on your floors, it can eat right through the finish. Simple mopping doesn’t quite cut it as you have to actually change the pH of the salt residue, or it becomes a sticky mess that smears all over the floor surface. Five ounces of plain vinegar mixed in four gallons of water make a chemical wash that neutralizes the pH level of salt solutions. Spray this on the surface before cleaning your floors, including hardwood, and it breaks down the chemical makeup, allowing the salt to be removed before it damages the floor’s finish.

Your floors are a huge investment, don’t let weather and neglect damage them. Need help managing your industrial floor cleaning this winter? We can help – CONTACT US!