Phase two of the Life Cycle of Floor Care is interim maintenance, or commonly referred to as top scrub and re-coat. The top scrub and re-coat procedure is employed when routine maintenance no longer produces the desired appearance levels you demand, and if further deterioration occurred, the floor would require more expensive stripping. During the top scrub and re-coat process, the top, dirty layers of the floor finish are removed. Two or more coats of finish are then applied to restore the original shine of the floor. This allows the floor care program to start over with phase one of the life cycle, Routine maintenance. Read part one in this series on routine maintenance here.
Supplies Needed for Interim Maintenance
To begin this process, you will need to gather supplies. This includes a good top scrub cleaner, a quality floor finish, an automatic scrubber and a premium value green pad or a blue scrub pad. You will also need a long handled floor scraper or putty knife, a baseboard scrub kit, a clean untreated dust mop, doodlebug, floor squeegee, clean mop buckets and wringers, mop handles, two all-purpose wet mops, a finish mop and trash can liners.
A Step-by-Step Process for Interim Maintenance
- Clear the area you will be top scrubbing and use a putty knife to remove any gum, tape or stickers from the floor.
- Next, prepare your equipment and cleaning solution by filling the automatic scrubber with the cleaner. Make sure you use proper dilution rates to ensure optimum performance.
- Attach the green or blue pad to the automatic scrubber.
- Prior to using the automatic scrubber, use the doodlebug to go along the edges with top scrub solution.
- Then squeegee the solution to the path of the scrubber for pickup. I recommend using a double scrub method by making one pass with the solution on and the vacuum and squeegee off, then make a second pass with the vacuum and squeegee on to pick up the solution.
- When you are done, check for a consistent look. If there is still embedded dirt and discoloration, the floor will need to be stripped. If the floor is clean with an even appearance, you are ready to apply two coats of Betco® finish of your choice.