Floor cleaning is a major occupation throughout the world. The main job of most

cleaner A cleaner or a cleaning operative is a type of industrial or domestic worker who cleans homes or commercial premises for payment. Cleaning operatives may specialise in cleaning particular things or places, such as window cleaners. Cleaning ope ...

s is to clean

floor A floor is the bottom surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from simple dirt in a cave to many layered surfaces made with modern technology. Floors may be stone, wood, bamboo, metal or any other material that can support the expected load ...

Reasons for cleaning floors

The principal reasons for floor cleaning are: * To prevent

injuries An injury is any physiological damage to living tissue caused by immediate physical stress. An injury can occur intentionally or unintentionally and may be caused by blunt trauma, penetrating trauma, burning, toxic exposure, asphyxiation, or o ...

due to tripping or slipping. Injuries due to slips and trips on level floors are a major cause of

accident An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not directly caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that nobody should be blamed, but the event may have been caused by unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Most researche ...

al injury or death. Bad practice in floor cleaning is itself a major cause of accidents. * To beautify the floor. * To remove

stain A stain is a discoloration that can be clearly distinguished from the surface, material, or medium it is found upon. They are caused by the chemical or physical interaction of two dissimilar materials. Accidental staining may make materials ap ...

s, dirt,

litter Litter consists of waste products that have been discarded incorrectly, without consent, at an unsuitable location. Litter can also be used as a verb; to litter means to drop and leave objects, often man-made, such as aluminum cans, paper cups ...

and obstructions. * To remove grit and

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class ...

which scratch and wear down the surface. * To remove

allergen An allergen is a type of antigen that produces an abnormally vigorous immune response in which the immune system fights off a perceived threat that would otherwise be harmless to the body. Such reactions are called allergies. In technical t ...

s, in particular

dust Dust is made of fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian process), volcanic eruptions, and pollution. Dust in ...

. * To prevent wear to the surface (e.g. by using a floor wax or protective

sealant Sealant is a substance used to block the passage of fluids through openings in materials, a type of mechanical seal. In building construction ''sealant'' is sometimes synonymous with '' caulking'' and also serve the purposes of blocking dust, so ...

). * To make the environment

sanitary Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...

(e.g. in

kitchen A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running wate ...

s). * To reduce ingestion/inhalation rates of

microplastic Microplastics are fragments of any type of plastic less than in length, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the European Chemicals Agency. They cause pollution by entering natural ecosystems from a v ...

s. * To maintain an optimum traction (e.g. for dance floors). *Reduce workload inbetween shifts (e.g. dedicated cleaning crew).

Methods of floor cleaning

The treatment needed for different types of floors is very different. Slipping is a common safety hazard for cleaning methods that involve water or other liquids, especially if the floor is left wet. Sawdust is used on some floors to absorb any liquids that fall rather than trying to prevent them being spilt. The sawdust is swept up and replaced each day. This was common in the past in pubs and is still used in some

butcher A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale food establishm ...

s and

fishmonger A fishmonger (historically fishwife for female practitioners) is someone who sells raw fish and seafood. Fishmongers can be wholesalers or retailers and are trained at selecting and purchasing, handling, gutting, boning, filleting, displaying, ...

s. It used to be common to use tea leaves to collect dirt from carpets and remove odours. There are also a wide variety of floor cleaning machines available today such as floor buffers, automatic floor scrubbers and sweepers, and

carpet A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fibers such as polypropylene, nylon, or polyester ...

extractors that can deep clean almost any type of hard floor or carpeted flooring surface in much less time than it would take using a traditional cleaning method.

Wood flooring

Different types of wood flooring may require completely different care depending on whether they are waxed, oiled or have a polyurethane coating. It is important to determine the type of finish of a wood floor and always treat it in the proper manner, for instance it is difficult to clear wood floor wax from a floor coated with polyurethane. Simple cleaning instructions: # Clear the floor of any furniture that is easy to move. # Sweep or vacuum all loose dirt and debris. # Mop the floor, going along with the grain. For a polyurethane coated floor, dampen a mop with water and a few drops of dishwashing liquid. Be sure to ring out the mop thoroughly before using it on the floor. Run the mop back and forth, going with the grain of the wood in smooth strokes. Do not use water for lacquered or shellacked floors, as it can stain the wood and cause buckling. # Buff the floor with a soft cloth to remove any soapy residue. Cloth diapers work well for buffing since they are very soft and absorbent.

Tile and stone

Tile and stone flooring is common in kitchens, stairs, and bathrooms. Its cleaning process can be divided into three steps: # Dirt or dust should first be removed with a vacuum cleaner or a broom. # Have a floor cleaning solution or spray bottle for the appropriate floor. If you are cleaning stone floors (

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a p ...

, etc.), make sure the cleaning agent states that it is for stones. An acidic tile cleaning solution can be used on

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain, ...

and

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...

floors # After spraying the tile or stone floors in a small area, use a

mop A mop (such as a floor mop) is a mass or bundle of coarse strings or yarn, etc., or a piece of cloth, sponge or other absorbent material, attached to a pole or stick. It is used to soak up liquid, for cleaning floors and other surfaces, to mop ...

to clean and scrub floors. Then wipe it with dry cloth.

Vinyl composition tile

Vinyl composition tile Vinyl composition tile (VCT) is a finished flooring material used primarily in commercial and institutional applications. Modern vinyl floor tiles and sheet flooring and versions of those products sold since the early 1980s are composed of colo ...

or VCT is a common commercial floor type. Cleaning this type of floor is done with either a mop and bucket or with a

floor scrubber A floor scrubber is a floor cleaning device. It can be a simple tool such as a floor mop or floor brush, or in the form of a walk-behind or a ride-on machine to clean larger areas by injecting water with cleaning solution, scrubbing, and lifting ...

. VCT requires a polymer coating or floor finish to protect it. This needs to be kept clean with dust mopping and wet cleaning (i.e. wet mopping or floor scrubber).

Cleaning agents

For cleaning floors, when a type of floor wiper is used, a liquid of cleaning agents is usually added to the water that is used with it. The product used may also depend on the floor-type such as parquet or tiles as some products can damage the floor. Floor cleaners whose

formulation Formulation is a term used in various senses in various applications, both the material and the abstract or formal. Its fundamental meaning is the putting together of components in appropriate relationships or structures, according to a formul ...

includes certain fragants (certain

monoterpenes Monoterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of two isoprene units and have the molecular formula C10H16. Monoterpenes may be linear (acyclic) or contain rings (monocyclic and bicyclic). Modified terpenes, such as those containing oxygen funct ...

) can cause indoor

air pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different type ...

equivalent or exceeding the harm to respiratory tracts when the time is spent near a busy road according to a study.

Reducing the need for cleaning

A well-maintained entrance matting can dramatically reduce the need for cleaning. For public and office buildings, about 80 to 90% of the dirt is tracked in from outside. Installing a total of 15 feet of matting consisting of both indoor and outdoor sections will remove about 80% of this.http://www.carpet-rug.org/pdf_word_docs/040504_CM_Guidelines.pdf The Carpet and rug Institute: Carpet Maintenance Guidelines Thus, about two-thirds of the dirt can be removed at the entrance.

References

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Cleaning Cleaning is the process of removing unwanted substances, such as dirt, infectious agents, and other impurities, from an object or environment. Cleaning is often performed for aesthetic, hygienic, functional, environmental, or safety purposes. ...

Cleaning Cleaning and maintenance occupations