When you operate a retail store, you can’t afford to forgo a detailed floor care plan. That’s because properly maintained floors are vital for projecting a modern, sleek image—especially if you have waxed or polished concrete floors—while keeping visitors and employees safe. Here’s how you can incorporate routine floor buffing services into a floor care routine at your store.
What Is Retail Floor Buffing?
Floor buffing services deliver a deeper level of cleaning than surface-level cleaning alone can provide. On waxed floor surfaces, buffing involves removing the top coat of wax, revealing a fresh layer while removing any surface-level imperfections such as scratches, scrapes, and dirt. Following a floor buffing session, you can expect a shining, spotless floor surface that makes your floors look new again.
Since floor buffing requires removing a small portion of wax, you can only buff floors so many times before you have to remove any residual wax and start over by applying a fresh coat of wax. However, the benefits of using wax as a retail floor coating are threefold:
- It protects underlying floor systems from deeper scratches, marks, and stains.
- Buffing is cost effective and makes it easy to keep floors shining over time.
- Even in high-traffic areas, floors maintain a professional sheen.
There are two types of buffing services: spray buffing and dry buffing.
Spray Buffing
Spray buffing requires using a liquid in conjunction with a buffer pad to remove dirt and scuffs from the floor surface while enhancing the floor’s shine. Spray buffing generally requires less training and technical expertise.
Dry Buffing
Dry buffing involves using a high-speed floor buffing machine alone to remove surface-level imperfections and leave behind a shining floor. However, dry buffing requires a team of professional floor care specialists for optimal results.
How Often Should You Buff Retail Floors?
With a better understanding of how floor buffing works, you’re probably wondering how often your floors need to be buffed. Whether you have laminate floors, epoxy floors, or wood floors, there is no fixed answer. However, several factors affect how often you will need to buff floors, including:
- Foot traffic
- Wear and tear
- Daily cleaning plans
Areas of your store that experience higher levels of foot traffic will require more frequent buffing services to maintain their shine while keeping floors protected. Similarly, areas where equipment such as moving racks or crates are often in use become more prone to surface-level scratches, so they’ll need to be buffed more often.
Last, your store’s daily cleaning routines have a significant impact on the frequency with which floors will need to be buffed. That’s because surface dirt and debris can become embedded in your floor surfaces over time. By sweeping and mopping more frequently, you can prevent this problem from occurring, reducing the need for more frequent buffing services.
Signs That It’s Time to Buff Retail Floors
While there’s no easy answer for how frequently you should buff floors at your retail store, keeping an eye out for these telltale signs can give you a good idea of when it’s time to schedule a floor-buffing session:
High-Traffic Areas
Over time, you may notice that visible pathways on floor surfaces develop in high-traffic areas. You may even be able to see where the wax is beginning to wear down in certain places. As soon as you see traffic patterns developing on floor surfaces, it’s time to buff your store’s floors.
The Water Test
If you’re uncertain whether your retail floor coating is still protecting the underlying floor system, you can always try the water test. Sprinkle a small spoonful of water on the floor. If the water beads up or remains on the surface, your floor coating is still protecting the floor. If, however, you notice the water seems to soak or sink into the floor, it’s time to schedule a floor buffing or waxing service appointment.
Floor Scratches
If you notice visible but minor scratches on the floors at your retail store, floor buffing services can remove those. If they don’t seem deep enough to damage the floor, you can probably get by for a little while longer, but if you want to revitalize floors to their former shining state, it’s time to buff them.
Experience the Carlson Difference
Need some help determining if it’s time to buff or wax the floors at your retail store? The experts at Carlson are ready to help by customizing a floor maintenance program around your needs. Schedule a free hard floor consultation today to get started.
