Stripping Floors

[ronald pantelas]

When stripping floors, how important is it to keep the black stripping pad clean on the bottom. Let me explain, If the stripping pad within 10 minutes looks completely filled with emulsified wax on the bottom of it. Will this stop the pad from stripping more wax off. Ran into a problem getting finish off vct floor. Had to restrip areas again, just looking for answers. I wonder if I should be checking this or not during the process. Right now I just put a new side of the black pad on each project and forget about it. Thank You, Ron

 

[Out of Character - 0]

If your using the normal style black pad like a 3m 7200 then your performance does seem to drop off dramatically once the pad gets impacted with wax, cleaning them is a pita.

The 7300 hi-pro pad works much better. It's a really thin pad and doesn't seem to hold the wax the same way. If it does become impacted, it only takes smacking the pad on the floor or a quick rinse to remove the bulk of the wax. If you've never seen one, it's made the same as a black doodlebug pad. They cost alot more but are worth it.

Some people prefer a stripping brush, it doesn't seem to work as quickly for me unless I add 50lbs to the machine.

 

[ronald pantelas]

Thanks Jess, Great info. Ron

 

[Larry B]

The thin pads listed above are the best buy for stripping. They are thinner with wider openings and dont hold near as much finish in them.

The down side is they cost 3 times the amount of a thick pad but last 3 to 5 times as long.

If the finish thats plugging your pad is real gooey then you may want to try mixxing your stripper a little stronger and wet the floor a little more often. Having pads clog all the time because finish is still thick when stripping will add alot to your bottom line over time.

To clean the pads after use we always soak them in stripper then hit them with a power washer with a water temp around 250. The pads will clean up like new but its a waste of time and money if you are only cleaning 1 or 2 pads at a time.

 

[ronald pantelas]

Thank You, Ron

 

[floorguy]

ok lemme splain this to both of you...

brushes.....period no weight needed...

ok to splain that

proper chem....

if you are getting it to the point it clogs, then you have a good chem, because it has no broke down the wax to the point it comes off easy...

now there is a question to answer..

how are you getting it off the floor?? of wet-vac only, then do a rinse, with the black pad on it to help finish the job(the water reactivates the chems)

if a autoscrubber, put the black pads on it...does the same as above, just no need to flood rinse the floor anymore


oh did i mention, i dont have to stock the pads anymore....ummmm been lets see 6-7 yrs and all my brushes still have tons of life left...

i run 0 pads, unless its a scrub and recoat....or i have to use the cimex, like in places the propane dont go

 

[John Olson]

Doug maybe you shoudl have told them you was runnning a SIDEWINDER before you went off on the brush tangent. Using brushes on 175 swing machine isn't the same...I don't even use brushes I use the turbo. Strip,Suck rinse in one step. But if your a rookie or if your machie isn't very well maintained don't do this. Sucking emulsified wax through your Blower is BAD...

 

[Larry B]

Doug if your running a Sidewinder have you ran into any problems with places not wanting the propane machine in the building?

We was going to get one a couple years ago but backed out because we have so many places that wont even allow the propane burnishers to be used.

 

[floorguy]

hey John, i still use the brush on my 175, and if your chems are right(like the gunking up of your pad) then it takes it off slick

only place i cant/couldnt use a propane machine, was in a hospital i did...other then that, i preface it with we WILL be bringing this in. but no one has really ever questioned it.... its always like "ohhhh ahhhh that machine is cool, it goes how fast???"

I did a job this lady thought i was nuts when i told her 3 people 5 days for 55k...last company took them almost a mth and different # of people...

took me the 5 days but i added one more person, more scraping then i thought...if all i had to do was run that thing and not detail.....2 days

 

[Fon Johnson]

Yes, a regular black stripping pad will "gunk-up" and not strip as well. A thin high productivity pad will work much better. If the stripper makes too many "boogers" and is real gummy, you may need to dilute it a little more as well. It took me years to figure that one out. Stronger is not always better. We DO use a brush for stripping. The brush works better than anything, and it has lasted for YEARS (although the initial investment was high.)

This is the brush we use: