Innovations in floor care

A new generation of equipment is helping operators take care of almost any type of flooring. After all, what covers the floor is an essential part of the store decor.

Ask any sailor what floor cleaning means and he or she will probably point to a mop and bucket used to swap the decks of surface ships the world over.

While many operators also think of the old mop and bucket when it comes to floors, floor care specialists have developed a variety of new technologies and cleaning approaches designed to keep floors clean and to address concerns over bacteria and allergic reactions to many cleaning solutions.

A floor is not a floor is not a floor, cleaning experts are quick to point out. Different surfaces -- tile, wood, carpet -- require different cleaning methods and equipment. And cleaning these days means more than surface clean, it also means eliminating bacteria and other foodborne particulates that, if not tackled, could cause problems for operators down the road.

"There's a great deal of science behind what goes on in floor care," says Robert Allen, manager of marketing and business development at Pioneer Eclipse, a Sparta, N.C.-based manufacturer of floor care equipment and chemical products. There's also increasing attention to floor care approaches that can cut down on labor costs. "In floor care, 80 to 90 percent of the cost is in labor," Allen says.

The labor cost issue is critical in foodservice environments because of the amount of work required to move tables and chairs to thoroughly clean a restaurant floor and because of the cleaning challenges presented by a busy foodservice kitchen.

"People in my business generally brag about how few restaurant customers they have," jokes Mark Dullea, owner of Drysdale's 1-2-3 Carpet and Floor Maintenance Service, a Peabody, Mass.-based floor cleaning company.

While a general floor care professional needs about an hour to clean a 600-square-foot open space, an hour's work in a restaurant might clean only 300 square feet, Dullea points out. Asian restaurants and others that use woks and other open cooking devices present an even greater challenge because of the amount of oil particulates that drop to their floors, he adds. Much the same goes for supermarkets.

HIGH PRESSURE

Given the time challenges of retail floor cleaning, floor care equipment is increasingly being designed with labor savings, as well as sanitary concerns in mind.

AmeriVap Systems sells the Vapor Blitz II, a steam-cleaning system designed to clean tile floors and walls as well as baseboards, marble and foodservice grills and hoods. The system was originally created by an Italian bartender trying to find a way to remove lipstick stains from glasses, relates Werner H. Diercks, president of the Atlanta-based firm. "It's basically a glorified cappuccino machine," he jokingly says about his system, which superheats water to roughly 300 degrees, forcing it out of a nozzle as a dry steam vapor at about 220 degrees. Dry steam contains only 6 percent moisture compared with 95 percent moisture in wet steam. "It's the temperature that does the cleaning, not the pressure," he explains. The low moisture content means the AmeriVap device also can be used on wood floors, he says.

The vapor kills germs on contact and can even be used to clean walls in a bakery or deli setting, Diercks says. A 12-inch-wide floor tool is available. The most popular model comes with a 3-quart tank and can produce 1,200 gallons of steam. Prices for AmeriVap System cleaning systems range from $1,400 to $50,000 for a plant-size setup. Average costs are between $1,500 and $6,000, Diercks says. The smallest systems fit in portable carts.

Spray Master Technologies, Rogers, Ark., offers pressurized water cleaning systems that need water at only 125 to 130 degrees to clean floors in dirty kitchens. Water pressure, not heat, produces the cleaning effects in its systems, thus saving operators the costs of superheating water, says Kent Langum, vice president of sales with Spray Master. Its systems can handle any floor surface except wood. The company also has created the Hummer Jet Jr., a 12-inch rotating wand that attaches to its systems and speeds floor cleaning, Langum says. The lightweight Hummer Jet Jr. features dual rotating arms covered with an overskirt to eliminate spray scattering around a room and damaging other surfaces. The cleaning nozzles are only 1.25 inches above the floor when in use. The Hummer Jet Jr. retails for $595.

Spray Master cleaning systems can be either wall-mounted or configured with a central system with one pump and up to 10 remote locations to hook in cleaning hoses and devices. System costs range from $4,000 to $70,000. A typical wall-mounted system with a 100-foot hose with one 200-square-foot area to clean would cost roughly $3,300, Langum says.

T&S Brass and Bronze Works, based in Travelers Rest, S.C., offers Sage Systems high-pressure sanitizing systems that can produce water pressures up to 1,000 pounds per square inch to sanitize floors and other foodservice areas. Using a Sage system can cut floor cleaning time by two-thirds compared with regular mopping, says Teri Cain, customer service manager. Sage System cleaning devices use only three to four gallons of water a minute, meaning lower water costs than with other systems that require higher water volume, Cain adds. Units cost from $3,000 to $8,000 with average selling prices between $3,800 and $4,200 for a typical installation. An operator can use his or her own electrician and plumber to handle installation. Units can be wall-mounted, a master unit can be installed with remote locations and a mobile cart-carried option is also available.

LIGHT COATING

While steam- and water-cleaning systems address the issues of removing dirt and bacteria from floors, operators also must find ways to apply coatings, whether wax or some other finish, to floors in eating areas that help convey the image they're trying to maintain for their establishments.

Minuteman International, Addison, Ill., has developed a floor-coating process that uses ultraviolet light to cure a finish instantly, saving time, and cutting costs by more than 30 percent over time, says Greg Rau, CEO and president. The Minuteman UV Coating System is designed not to be stripped and recoated as is done with traditional floor care, Rau explains. The process requires one coat rather than the six to eight used in other approaches, cutting labor time and cost. Because it cures instantly, it can be done at night while a restaurant is closed, meaning no down time for the operation. Costs vary by size of floor.

Drysdale's Dullea has worked with his local Oreck distributor, Lagor Corp., to modify an Oreck Lowboy Random Orbital floor machine to create a floor refinisher that can be used on marble, tile and wood floors.

Complete wood floor care normally involves stripping the finish and refinishing the floor at some point, a long, tedious and messy process. But Dullea has developed an approach that uses the Oreck machine to clean and condition a wood floor without sanding. He then adds a dear acrylic finish. The same Oreck machine, equipped with cotton cleaning pads, also can be used on carpeted surfaces. Dullea has developed a coconut seed extract-based cleaning product for carpeting to address concerns about chemical-based cleaners. He plans to sell the product under the Drysdale name and also is looking for franchisees to handle his new floor-cleaning approach using Oreck equipment.

CARPETS COME CLEAN

Cleaning carpeted floors of daily spills and dirt during operating hours often means grabbing a vacuum. "One of the biggest concerns in our business is convenience, portability," says Joseph Urso, chairman and CEO of Electrolux LLC, Dallas.

Electrolux recently announced plans to develop a new vacuum that will run on fuel cells, meaning it will need no cord and so be more portable than corded models. The new unit is expected to be on the market this year and will he the same size and weight as conventional electric vacuums.

Using a refillable fuel cell container, the new model will run more quietly than conventional vacuums because it will operate on direct current and be "as powerful if not more so" than models now available, Urso says. It will produce 1,000 watts of power. Urso expects the new fuel-cell vacuum to retail for slightly more than conventional models, but still be priced in the hundreds of dollars; a specific retail price hasn't been determined yet. Fuel cells, which use hydrogen, will be refillable at local Electrolux branches.

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