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Why are my floors sticky?Sticky floors and floor cleaning bring their own challenges to most venues, despite on the face of it being a straightforward task. It's a question we get asked often by business owners when we attend to quote for their regular cleaning service.
Sticky floors can be a very frustrating issue. It can seem like there is no answer to the problem. You mop and scrub away only to have the floor end up stickier than when you started.
There can be a number of reasons for asking yourself "why are my floors sticky?" Believe it or not, your floor cleaning efforts may be the cause of your sticky floor. That can be a difficult thing to hear. Here are the most common reasons:
Most people think that using too much floor cleaning solution will lead to squeaky-clean floors. This is usually not true and can easily lead to a sticky residue after cleaning. This will often leave floors sticky.
When you use too much cleaner, the excess creates a soapy residue that is sticky to the feet especially when you’ve not done enough rinsing.
To tackle this potential cause of sticky floors:
This simple action alone could make the question of "why are my floors sticky?" a thing of the past!
If you clean the entire hard floor of your business premises with the same bucket of water, you can expect to end up with a messy, dirty, and often sticky floor. This means you aren't really cleaning the floor, but simply moving dirt around the venue.
To remedy this, you need to change the cleaning water each time you see it get dirty. This can be when it changes the color significantly or when you see lots of debris floating on top or at the bottom of the cleaning bucket.
After cleaning the whole floor, use clean water to rinse it. Change this water the moment you notice it’s become soapy or dirty.
These are big issues, and that is before we even consider other issues caused by not changing water often enough and using one bucket for all areas of a premises, such as cross contamination - learn more about this issue at this link.
FUN FACT - Dirty Sticky Floors was the first solo single by Depeche Mode vocalist Dave Gahan
While normal cleaning may require using simple soap or mild chemicals, some stains require specialist chemicals to come off.
The basic rule for removing sticky residue is to use a floor cleaner with the opposite pH to the sticky dirt. For example, an acidic cleaner does a better job at cleaning alkaline (basic) dirt.
This is obviously not something that everyone will understand, and careful product selection is essential to maximise the cleaning efficiency of your floor to avoid the risk of damaging it.
As important as the chemical is, even the most effective cleaning product will be near useless in a dirty bucket with an old mop head that has not been properly maintained. It is essential that cleaning equipment is cleaned and maintained after use, and advanced floor scrubbing machines can deliver results that will not be seen by hand mopping, and in much quicker time.
It may sound obvious, but if you don't have a regular cleaning schedule, floors will get sticky. Spilt drinks, debris off shoes and other spillages will result in sticky, dirty floors.
The easiest way to ensure your floors remain looking great along with the rest of your workplace is to engage the services of a good commercial cleaning company.
At Green Fox Cleaning, we clean in all sectors, and have access to the best cleaning products and machinery, utilised by our highly trained staff.
If you have a cleaning company currently and are suffering from sticky floors, this is a sign of a lack of understanding / training and it is probably time to review your cleaning options.
To get in touch with your local office, click here and find out how we can help improve the appearance of your business with ours.
