Floor Care Maintenance Tip: Removing VCT Canal

by Mike Schaffer - President Tornado Industries

A shoe store in Bloomington, Illinois was experiencing a serious, but rather common, floor care problem.  Throughout the store, its VCT (vinyl composition tile) floors had developed small, almost microscopic, canals in its tiles. 

Many of these canals were the result of wear and tear from foot traffic.  The problem confronting the cleaning crew was that the canals were becoming filled with dirt and soil, discoloring and marring the appearance of the floor.  And the problem, they soon realized, was being exasperated by the very equipment used to maintain the floors: their rotary floor machines.

When a VCT floor is scrubbed with a rotary brush machine, much of the soil is removed and adheres to the pad, while some can actually be spread deep into the floor’s pores, grout area, and in this case, the canals of the floor.  With time, dust, contaminants, as well as outdoor soil tracked in by staff and customers, can gather in these canals, adding to the discoloration.  When this happens, the floor’s gloss and luster can be seriously diminished, along with its appearance and the durability of its finish. 

Several steps can be taken to correct this situation and include the following:

• It may be necessary to completely strip and refinish the floor.  Use properly diluted chemicals, wet/dry vacs to remove the old finish and solution, and then thoroughly rinse the floor with clean mops and rinse water before applying the finish.  This is important because any residue chemical left behind can affect how well the finish adheres to the floor and can actually act like a magnet, attracting more dirt and soil to the floor and the canals.
  
• Select cylindrical brush floor machines to strip the floors.  Since rotary machines may be exasperating the problem, these should be avoided.  Cylindrical brush technology use brushes — not pads — which are more effective at removing deeply embedded soils in the floor and canals.
  
• Apply multiple coats of a high-quality floor finish.
  
• Maintain the floors with a cylindrical brush machine. The penetrating action of the brushes on cylindrical machines can remove embedded soils before they become a problem.  This helps reduce refinishing cycles, which tend to be very costly, labor-intensive, and can seriously impact the environment.