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Top 10 Mistakes When Stripping & Waxing Floors

1. Learning the skill on your customer's floors. Stripping a floor is a learned skill. Learn it in a technical school or at a distributor's work area, but not on your customer's floor.

2. Not knowing the floor type. The chemicals and equipment used for a VCT floor, for example, may not be appropriate for a stone floor.

3. Not having all the tools necessary and on hand before starting the job; this can slow down the entire floor stripping process.

4. Using soiled mops and buckets; always use clean equipment.

5. Not wearing safety clothing, including goggles, gloves, and stripper (safety) slippers or non-slip shoes.

6. Not posting safety cones around the work area.

7. Working in too large a work area. Always section off the floor and work in one area at a time.

8. Not properly diluting the stripper. In most cases, the stripper must be diluted; also, it is often recommended to use cold water.

9. Not allowing for proper dwell time.

10. Not using a defoamer with a wet/dry vacuum. The wet/dry vac is used to vacuum up the slurry from the floor, but this can cause a lot of foam to develop.The defoamer will minimize the foam buildup so the machine works more effectively.

In the photos, we stripped and waxed a very high traffic area in our climate controlled storage facility.