Thursday's Ask the Experts: Stripping floors

January 20, 2011

Thursday''s Ask the Experts question from a cleaning professional on the International Custodial Advisors Network (ICAN) "Ask the Experts" page: I recently stripped and refinished a 3,000-square-foot floor in a doctor''s office and I had a lot of trouble getting the old finish off.

I used two kinds of stripper (Phase 1 and Liquid Dynamite) and scrubbed with black pads. I also used a Rotovac 360 with my truckmount.

I finally just put finish down and figured I''d try to re-strip next month.

The answer:

Assuming that you are convinced your stripper is superior, your next attempt should include increasing the aggression, stripper-solution concentration, water temperature and dwell time.

Did you allow the stripping solution to dwell for 10 to 15 minutes before you began the stripping process?

This is a critical step ... — Gary Clipperton, president of National Pro Clean Corporation.

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