Buff Floors
Buffing floors removes the surface scratches revealing a fresher, flatter surface. This surface will reflect light more evenly and give off a more shiny glow. Buffing reduces the need to strip the finish from floors as often to achieve this glossy effect. This is how to buff floors.
Steps
- Place "Caution" or "Wet Floor" signs around the area you want to buff. You need to keep traffic away from the area that you are buffing.
- Dust mop and wet mop the area that you want to buff. You want to start with as little dust as possible.
- Affix a buffing pad to the buffing machine, and plug it into the most convenient wall outlet.
- Begin buffing in the farthest corner from the entrance to the area.
- Move in 10 foot (3 m) stripes, beginning along the baseboards and then moving out and overlapping each band by 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm).
- Move backwards towards the entrance of the area at a rate of about 1 to 2 feet (0.3 to 0.6 m) per second.
- Move the buffing machine side to side slightly as you move backwards to make sure that the buffing pad slides over the floor enough to remove the scratches from the floor.
- Change the buffing pad if it becomes filled with dust or worn out.
- Dust mop the area after you have buffed it to remove the dust and finish powder that has been kicked up by the buffing machine.
- Wet mop the area to finalize the cleaning process, and make sure the floor will shine without obstructions.
- Clean the buffing machine and the mops that you used before putting them away.
- Put away the signs that were marking off the area when it is safe for traffic to pass through again.
Tips
- There are 2 kinds of buffing pads: cutting pads and polishing pads. Cutting pads are harsher and more abrasive, so polishing pads are what would be used on a more regular basis while cutting pads would be used for deeper buffing or stripping. You should evaluate your needs before choosing a type of pad.
- Buffing machines are heavy so that the weight will help with the effectiveness of the polishing. The machine's operator should be physically fit enough to push the buffing machine without damaging the back or other body parts.
- Dust tends to blow around when a floor is being buffed; the buffing machine operator should always wear safety goggles.
Warnings
- Never leave a damp pad on the buffing machine after cleaning it because the moisture can damage the machine. Also any pads that would be reusable would be crushed under the weight of the machine and would no longer have any re-use potential.
Things You'll Need
- Caution or Wet Floor Signs
- Dust Mop
- Wet Mop
- Floor Buffing Machine
- Buffing Pad
