“Our customers want green
cleaning chemicals,” says Mike Sawchuk, vice-president and
general manager of Enviro-Solutions, a green chemical
manufacturer. “But green is not enough. They must also perform
well and be cost effective. And that has been a problem with
some environmentally preferable floor care chemicals.”
The problem with creating
green floor care products is that many of the chemicals
used in conventional products, from the powerful ingredients
that melt away the old finish to the finish itself, have been
hard to replicate. In one product trial, custodial workers
cleaning New York state government buildings tested 23
environmentally friendly floor care finishes, but found only two
that performed as well as the conventional products they had
been using for years.
Similar difficulties were
encountered selecting a green stripper.
However, “green-certified
finishes and strippers do exist, and some are proving to be
excellent performers and cost effective,” said Sawchuck.
“Building service contractors (BSCs) should work with
distributors well versed on green cleaning products and ask for
their recommendations. Then [they should] try different brands
to see which work best for them.” If all else fails, Sawchuk
advises looking for conventional floor care chemicals that have:
• A pH no higher than 11.5;
• Phosphorous concentrations
of less than 0.5 percent;
• A flash point above 150º F;
Flash point is the lowest temperature at which a liquid will
generate sufficient vapor to flash (ignite) when exposed to a
source of ignition;
• Less than 7 percent volatile
organic compounds;
• No known carcinogens,
metals, or aqueous ammonia.
Green Equipment Selection
According to Mark Cuddy,
regional sales manager with Tornado, a manufacturer of
professional cleaning equipment, a green floor machine does
three things: scrubs deeper, uses less chemical and water, and
protects the air.
Cuddy suggests that BSCs use
brushes instead of conventional pads when working on uneven or
grouted floors. “The brushes can penetrate better into the grout
or uneven spots, whereas a pad, even a scrubbing pad, simply
does not have the contact pressure for removing deeply
entrenched soils,” he says. “The more effective the brush, the
less chemical and water necessary, making the equipment more
environmentally friendly.”
Cuddy says one floorcare
system that tends to use less water and chemical are cylindrical
floor machines. “They use brushes and have greater
contact-pressure on floors than do conventional rotary
machines,” he says. “In recent independent tests it was
found that these machines use considerably less chemical and
water. Also, the cylindrical brushes last much longer than
conventional pads, reducing environmental waste.”
Some new floor scrubbers are
also designed to more precisely use chemicals and have an
electronic solenoid to prevent accidental solution flow when the
machine is not in use. Both help save chemical and water and
help protect the environment. Finally, if potentially harmful
chemicals or bacteria are on the floor, these may be released
into the air with burnishing, posing a potential health risk. To
correct this problem, more burnishers are coming out with deck
shrouds to trap contaminants as the machine is used and
high-filtration vacuum systems to capture them.
“Fortunately, some floor care
manufacturers have made significant inroads in protecting the
environment in just the past couple of years,” says Cuddy. “If
selecting a new floor machine today, BSCs should look for one
with these green features.”
Green Training
Very often, when green
cleaning is introduced into a facility, there is some resistance
from the cleaning crew. After all, if the old system has worked,
why change?
“We need to explain it’s for
their health,” says Stephen Ashkin, president of the Ashkin
Group and the Green Cleaning Network. “We now know that using
green equipment and products helps decrease employee complaints
of nausea, headaches, and eye and skin irritations, which
reduces absenteeism and boosts productivity.”
When transferring over to
green floor care chemicals and equipment, along with explaining
how to use the new products and machines, Ashkin advises telling
workers why they have been selected.
“Cleaning workers have always
been taught that their job, especially when it comes to floor
care, is to make facilities nice and shiny,” he says. “But with
green cleaning in place, they should understand that there is a
bigger picture and that keeping the indoor environment healthy
is actually their primary goal.”
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