How to Strip, Seal, and Burnish Vinyl Tile Floors

Step 1

Gather all the proper tools and chemicals.

A list to start would include:

- A four foot razor scraper
- one or two mop buckets with wringers
- two standard cotton or blended yarn mops
- the mop sticks to hold the mops
- at least one blended yarn E-Z Kote ™ finish mop and the E-Z Kate ™ handle
- a broom and/or dust mop with a dust pan
- on Octopus pad holder with stripping vaporizer ™ hand pads
- 175 rpm floor machine or propane stripping machine
- the correct pad driver for the kind of machine you are using
- the correct size Vaporizer ™ machine stripping pads
- optional: 1000 to2000 rpm burnisher with Moonglow™ floor pads to burnish the stripped floor and in between coats of sealer and finish
- optional wet / dry vacuum

Recommended chemicals from the Titanium Matrix Technology™ floor care system: Super Nova™ or Meltdown™ Stripper, Chameleon Floor Prep™, Delta Phase Sealer™, and Warp Speed™ or Infinity™ Floor Sealer/Finish (Note: You may delete the Delta Phase Sealer™ if you feel that the tile is not porous enough to use a floor sealer; all of the finishes in the Titanium Matrix technology™ floor care system are sealer/finishes.)

Step 2

Prepare the floor

Sweep and/or dust mop the floor surface. Remove any foreign material from the floor surface, such as stickers, gum, etc.

Step 3

Mix the stripper

Use the recommended dilution ratio. All water temperatures are O.K. (but hot water works better). Apply the stripping solution by flood mopping the floor. Wet only the amount of floor you are able to control. Agitate the solution with the map, keeping the floor wet. Make sure to allow the stripping solution to stay wet on the floor for the amount of time needed to chemically dissolve the old finish and sealer.

Step 4

Scrub the side wall

Attach the vaporizer™ hand pad to the Octopus holder and scrub loose dissolved finish and sealer from the side wall area of the floor. For any material still adhered to the side wall area of the floor, scrape the floor using care not to gouge the floor with the 4" razor scrape with 4" blade.

Step 5

Use a floor machine

Attach a Vaporizer™ floor pad to the pad driver of the floor machine. Make sure to center the pad properly. Adjust the floor machine handle to your comfort. Lock the handle and scrub the solution, making sure to overlap your pattern by 2 to 3 inches. Sometimes a single pass is not enough agitation to remove all of the sealer and finish. Remember to check the floor surface and re-wet it with clean stripping solution. Scrub the floor surface until all of the old finish and sealer are removed.

Step 6

Remove spent stripping solution

This can be done with a mop, but we recommend using a wet/dry vacuum (General Floor Craft Zoc Vac ™"). This method is much easier and leaves the floor cleaner. DO NOT LET SLURRY SOLUTION DRY ON FLOOR!

Step 7

Neutralize floor

Mix Chameleon Floor Prep™ as described on the bottle's label. Damp mop the floor to neutralize and thoroughly cleanse the floor surface. Pay special attention to the edges and corners where stripper residue will collect and contaminate the floor sealer or sealer/finish. Remember to watch for the color change in the map bucket. Color change from pink to orange is O.K. When you see yellow, it is time to change the solution and continue the rinse. Allow the floor to dry.

Step 8

Seal the floors

Take the EZ Kote™ mop handle and dip the map head in clean cool water. Wring the mop head as dry as possible. Line the mop bucket with a new trash Liner to prevent contamination. Pour the appropriate amount of TMT™ Sealer or TMT™ Sealer/finish into the lined mop bucket. Dip the mop into sealer or sealer/finish and tamp the mop in the wringer to remove excess product. Tamping a mop requires you to put the mop head in the wringer and press down with the handle at the mop to remove excess product. Press down two or three times to prevent dripping. WARNING: DO NOT WRING SEALER OR SALER/FINISH. This practice will cause foaming and bubbling, and it will prevent the membrane from forming correctly.

Using the mop, outline the floor area taking care not to puddle the product against the walls. Use a figure eight pattern lay an even, thin coat of product over the floor surface. Be careful not to leave open spaces or "holes." Think of the sealer or sealer/finish as paint. The coats should dry in approximately ten to fifteen minutes with proper air flow, up to thirty minutes without air flow. If you are using sealer apply two coats. After the two coats of sealer dry you can start to apply TMT™ Sealer/Finish.

optional : Burnish between coats Burnish between each coat of product with the burnisher and the Moonglow™ pad to further enhance the shine. The amount of coats needed depends on the appearance expected and the method of maintenance. Two coats of TMT™ sealer and two coats of TMT™ sealer/finish have traditionally been acceptable with a low speed maintenance program. With this type of program the time between strip cycles can be up to three months.

A high speed maintenance program will require up to twelve coats of MT sealer/finish. High speed maintenance will extend strip cycles anywhere from twenty-four to thirty-six months .

Floor maintenance program

Floor maintenance has to be a system or program to prevent soil or other foreign material from deteriorating the surface of the finished floor.

Types of floor maintenance

Floor maintenance falls into two categories:

Low speed or slow speed and high speed or burnish method

Matting system

To prevent dirt from getting into a building you need a well placed matting system. First, place an outside or scrapper mat at the front of every entrance doorway to remove and trap soils before they can be walked through the door. Second, on the inside entrance way, place a carpeted mat to absorb moisture and dust. This completes the system to prevent soil from entering the building. Consult with your distributor on what type of matting will work best for your building.

Dust Mopping

Floor maintenance, no matter what speed you choose, starts with sweeping or dust mopping. Dusting with a water based mop treatment is recommended. Oil dust mop treatments can cause a slip hazard. Oil treatments are really meant for wood floors, like wood gymnasium floors. A good water based dust mop treatment will remove most of the gross soils from the surface of the floor.

Damp Mopping

Next in your floor care program should be damp mopping with a neutral cleaner. TM Neutral Zone ™ is a good choice. A neutral floor clearer will not dull the shine off of the floor finish, and it will prevent frequent strip cycles. Damp mopping should be a regular procedure. If this cannot be accomplished, a daily spot mopping will have to do. Without daily damp mopping, the appearance of the floor's shine will degrade more rapidly.

Buffing

Now we come to the division in floor maintenance. What type of buffing will you do to maintain the high shine of your floor? Well, what kind of equipment do you have? A normal speed floor machine turns at 175 rpm. You can dry buff with this machine with a Moonglow™ floor pad. You can spray buff™ with a Moonglow™ floor pad and Contact Spray Buff™ compound to enhance the shine further but this method will not result in the "wet look."

Burnishing for the wet look

If you need "wet look" you must have the right equipment. A 1000 to 3000 rpm burnisher will cause the TMT ™ sealer/finish to respond dramatically. Equipped with a Moonglow™ floor pad, a burnisher will enhance the shine and maintain the wet appearance that everyone loves. As the finish is buffed over a period of time, the shine may need to be restored.

Spray buffing is a waste of time with a high speed burnisher, so to revitalize the shine TMT ™ has the time saving solution: TMT ™ Replicator. Mix Replicator ™ as directed and damp mop as you would normally. Replicator ™ adds a micro layer of new polymer that helps rebuild the damage of the TMT ™ sealer/finish during high speed burnishing. The detergent in Replicator™ remove soils also.

Repair Traffic wear

Over a period of time, due to traffic, areas will wear and degrade the finish membrane. To repair this wear, you will need to top scrub the finished floor with TMT ™ Neutral Zone™ and use the gray "Rejuvenator" floor pad. This pad will remove ground in soil and even the worn surface. After the floor is dry, apply one coat of TM T™ sealer/finish to restore the finished surface to its shiny bright appearance .