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For Best Results, Learn the Color-Coded System for Floor Scrubber Pads

The floor cleaning industry strives to provide janitors with efficient equipment to expedite their work, such as a color-coded system for cleaning pads. Though not entirely universal, most manufacturers follow the same color scheme for their floor cleaning pads. It is important to know the system so that you, as a janitor, can organize your cleaning gear and boost your productivity.

Pad Colors

The color spectrum is wide. To simplify it, remember that the darker the shade, the tougher the job for which it is intended. Lighter colors, conversely, are meant for lighter cleaning tasks.

Black is predominantly for heavy duty stripping while brown is mainly for dry stripping to remove wax or old floor finish. Floor scrubber pads, are usually green, indicating to janitors that they are for eliminating the surface coat, scuff marks, or ground-in dirt. Blue pads are designed for moderate scrubbing or heavy spray cleaning, while maroon is meant for normal spray cleaning.

Red signifies floor buffing pads, which are ideal for dry or spray removal of scuff marks and for restoring shine. Tan and white pads are generally for polishing.

The color-coded system may be confusing for first-time cleaners, but it’s necessary to know it to avoid mistakes. For instance, janitors can damage a floor if they use a stripping pad instead of a scrubbing pad. To do a job correctly, cleaners must be aware of the proper pads to use.

Know Each Floor Pad’s Role

Understanding how each pad type works helps you to understand which one should be deployed for particular cleaning tasks. Buffing, for instance, removes the dirt and restores the semi-gloss quality of the wax. It’s usually used with a buffer or a swing machine that runs at 175 to 600 rpm.

Cleaning pads, on the other hand, work more aggressively than buffing pads. They are designed to remove dirt without compromising the quality of the floor finish. They also work well for burnishing, which requires a stronger pad to complete the job quickly.

Janitors need to employ scrubbing pads to achieve a scratch- and dirt-free floor. Such pads are able to remove top layers of wax and recover the floor’s shine.

The market provides a wide assortment of floor pads, requiring a little time to become versed in their types and colors, which is the key to making your work shine and saving time otherwise spent on trial and error.

Sources:
Selecting The Right Floor Pad, cleanlink.com
Floor Pads, Brushes, and Colors… Which Is for What, corrections.com

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