4 Phases of Floor Maintenance in a Professional Cleaning Program 

When we think of “green cleaning,” many focus on environmentally friendly products, such as green chemicals, recycled paper products, and even chemical-free cleaning methods. 

But the greenest approach is to clean properly. This involves a holistic strategy that combines the right processes, equipment, and chemicals. Any commercial cleaning services worth their salt will educate you on how best to maintain the appearance of your facility or office and improve the longevity of your floors and carpets. 

Maintaining a clean and healthy facility in a green way requires a structured cleaning program that keeps the premises looking professional, extends the life of your flooring, and reduces costs. 

Addressing the Root Problem

Using green chemicals and low-impact cleaning methods may seem like a solution, but these approaches often only address the symptoms rather than the cause. To truly reduce cleaning needs, it’s critical to adopt an “outside-in” approach to your cleaning program. 

This strategy focuses on preventing soil from entering the facility in the first place.

The Cost of Soil

To understand how soil drives cleaning requirements, consider these industry statistics:

• 80–94% of soil in a facility is brought in via foot traffic.
• 1,000 people in 20 days track in 24 pounds of soil.
• $700 is the average cost to remove one pound of soil.
• Every visitor costs approximately 84 cents in soil removal expenses.
• A single grain of sand has 32 abrasive edges, which wear away at surfaces.
• 1,500 visitors can remove 42% of the floor finish within the first six feet of an entrance if no matting is present.

These figures illustrate the profound impact that tracked-in soil has on maintenance procedures, chemical usage, and budget. Without proper interventions, such as matting systems and routine cleaning, these costs will continue to climb.

The Four Phases of Maintenance

To combat the effects of soil ingress effectively, a comprehensive commercial cleaning services program must incorporate the following phases:

1. Preventative Maintenance: Stop soils at the door through removal or containment.
2. Daily Maintenance: Remove soils promptly to minimize their impact on indoor surfaces and air quality.
3. Interim Maintenance: Maintain a high level of cleanliness with minimal labour, chemical, and water usage.
4. Restorative Maintenance: Conduct intensive cleaning to restore surfaces as close as possible to their original state.

1. Preventative Maintenance

Preventative maintenance is the cornerstone of an effective cleaning program, especially in a green cleaning context. The primary goal here is simple: stop soils from entering the building. 

By preventing dirt and debris from reaching your interior surfaces, you reduce the need for intensive cleaning and mitigate the wear and tear on your floors and carpets.

Key Strategies for Preventative Maintenance

Matting Systems:
A matting system serves as your facility’s first line of defence against dirt. Proper matting captures soil at the entrance, preventing it from spreading indoors. However, the effectiveness of matting depends on its length:

• 6 feet of matting traps only 40% of incoming soil.
• 36 feet of matting captures 99% of soil before it enters.

Carpets act as “unofficial mats,” absorbing dirt and wearing out prematurely without sufficient matting. Most facilities already feature 36 feet of textile surfaces—leverage this with proper matting systems to reduce soil intrusion and protect carpets. 

Sweeping Programs:
Sweeping is another powerful preventative measure. A study by Windsor demonstrated that sweeping walkways, entryways, and parking lots can significantly reduce soil ingress:

• Sweeping walkways and entryways daily and parking lots twice weekly (up to 80 feet from the entrance) reduced soil by 66%.

Combining sweeping with matting creates an efficient barrier against dirt, saving cleaning costs and protecting your floors.

Does Cleaning Prevention Matter?

Preventing soil from entering your facility isn’t just about cleanliness—it’s about cost control and sustainability. Removing soil that has entered the building costs $700 per pound, a significant expense driven by labour, water, and chemical use. Furthermore, soils accelerate wear on hard floors and carpet fibres, leading to higher maintenance and replacement costs.

2. Daily Maintenance

While preventative measures focus on stopping dirt at the door, daily maintenance tackles the soils that make it inside. This phase is essential for reducing the damage caused by dirt and ensuring your facility remains clean and appealing.

Key Strategies for Daily Maintenance

Hard Floors:

• Dry soils: Regular sweeping and mopping removes loose dirt, preventing it from grinding into the floor finish.
• Sticky, oily soils: Scrubbing removes residues that can discolour finishes, avoiding costly stripping procedures.

Failure to address these soils can lead to losing the glossiness of hard floors and the yellowing of wax, while also becoming a fine grit that will grind into the flooring itself. Good maintenance prevents more labour-intensive restoration efforts and replacement.

Carpets:

• Frequent vacuuming: Removing dry soils promptly minimizes their abrasive effect on carpet fibres.
• Extraction Carpet cleaning: Accumulated dirt scratches and dulls carpet fibres, creating unsightly “traffic lanes” that cannot be restored through vacuuming alone.

Visualizing Carpet Damage

To understand the long-term impact of inadequate maintenance, imagine replacing your carpet with plexiglass. Over months of use, even after cleaning, the plexiglass would show permanent scratches and dullness. Carpets, made of similar plastic materials, undergo the same irreversible damage when dirt isn’t removed promptly.

3. Interim Maintenance

Interim maintenance ensures a high level of cleanliness while conserving labour, chemicals, and water. It bridges the gap between daily upkeep and intensive restorative cleaning, focusing on maintaining appearance and reducing long-term wear.

Hard Floors

• Burnishing or spray buffing: Restores gloss and protect the finish without the need for extensive stripping and refinishing.
• Light scrubbing: Removes surface dirt and minor scuffs efficiently.
• Application of wax: by adding additional layers of wax after a thorough mopping, the gloss is improved and the extra layer provides protection against soil. 

These methods require less water, fewer chemicals, and reduced labour expenses compared to restorative cleaning and replacement. 

Carpets

• Encapsulation cleaning: Uses low-moisture detergents that crystallize soils, which can then be easily vacuumed.
• Spot cleaning: Targets localized stains and high-traffic areas, preventing them from becoming permanent.

Regular interim maintenance keeps carpets looking fresh and reduces wear without excessive water or chemical use.

By incorporating these methods, interim maintenance keeps commercial spaces clean and professional while minimizing environmental impact and operational costs.

4. Restorative Maintenance

Restorative maintenance is a detailed process aimed at revitalizing surfaces to their near-original condition. It involves specialized procedures and equipment for hard floors and carpets and might require extended periods of work that might impact employees in the space. 

Hard Floors

• Deep scrubbing: Targets ingrained soils and scuff marks to restore the surface’s original appearance.
• Stripping and refinishing: Removes worn or damaged floor finish and applies fresh coats of wax for renewed shine and protection.

Carpets

• Deep shampooing: Breaks down tough grime and revitalizes the carpet’s texture and colour.
• Hot water extraction (steam cleaning): Penetrates deep into carpet fibres to remove embedded soils, stains, and odours.

By conducting restorative maintenance, facilities can extend the lifespan of floors and carpets, maintain their aesthetic appeal, and ensure a healthier indoor environment. Regular upkeep and interim maintenance help minimize the frequency and intensity of restorative procedures.

Budget and Environmental Impact

Proper preventative and daily maintenance have financial and environmental benefits:

• Cost Savings: Preventive measures and regular upkeep reduce the need for intensive cleaning, extending the life of your flooring and lowering overall expenses.
• Resource Conservation: Fewer chemicals and less water are required, supporting sustainability goals.

Remember, a robust commercial cleaning services program is an investment in your facility’s longevity, much like routine maintenance for a car. 

By protecting your floors and carpets, you safeguard their value and reduce the need for premature replacements.

Carpets

Carpets that are not maintained on a routine schedule require significant water and chemical usage during deep cleaning to achieve an acceptable appearance. 

Over time, carpets that cannot be effectively cleaned must be replaced, contributing to environmental waste. 

The EPA estimates that 4.7 billion pounds of carpet are thrown away annually in the U.S. alone. Since most carpets are 98% synthetic, they take up to 1,000 years to degrade in landfills.

Hard Floors

Scrubbing and burnishing, top scrubbing and re-coating, stripping and refinishing processes are labour-intensive and require significant water and chemical inputs. Additionally, dust mopping and burnishing can stir settled soils into the air, affecting indoor air quality if soils are not adequately captured.

The environmental cost is considerable:

• Chemicals and scrubbing pads used during restorative procedures must be disposed of, often ending up in landfills.
• Water usage in these processes adds to resource consumption.

Replacing hard floors is usually a substantial cost for a given facility. 

Are You Happy with Your Cleaners? 

Understanding the relationship between soil ingress, cleaning demands, and environmental impact is key to developing a cost-effective and sustainable cleaning program. 

By prioritizing preventative and daily maintenance, facilities can reduce their reliance on labour-intensive and resource-heavy restorative processes, protecting both their budget and the environment. Have your commercial cleaning services informed you of any of the details in this blog post? 

If you’re interested in learning more about our commercial cleaning services, or if you are interested in having healthier cleaning options for your commercial space, contact Metropolitan today!