Streaky vct wax job -- any fixes?

[fred3655]

Okay, this is going to sound cheesy and unprofessional, but I'm going to ask anyway.

I laid down wax on pre-school floors, and it came out streaky. After reading other threads, it became apparent there were a variety of conditions that led to this...

1. It was a rainy day outside - moisture got trapped between coats with the humidity
2. The building was slightly cold.
3. Not waiting long enough between coats
4. Didn't change mop heads or rinse enough between coats and it probably dried out some

I did the hallways on a different day, and it came out beautiful. I honestly thought floor scratches from tables and chairs caused it (before being educated otherwise), and the manager accepted that fact. After all, it didn't look too horrible, and he was mostly concerned with the floor looking clean, which it did, because it is a pre-school and nursery.

My question...

I am going back a few days later to burnish. What would you recommend to at least make it look somewhat better? Spray wax with low rpm machine? Use a pad harder than horsehair to burnish?

I learned from my mistake, but I'll lose money re-stripping and waxing. He's not too overly-concerned with the streaks, but I want to leave an even floor, even if it may not be super-reflective afterward.

I'm using Betco Glare, btw.

Any help is appreciated.

Fred

 

[locko-fabara]

Just scrub it and recoat it, it should come fine!
you can use a green or blue pad with neutral cleaner, the best temp is 72F!
good luck!

 

[fred3655]

That was going to be my backup plan, just do a good scrub with neutral cleaner. Thanks for the pad recommendation.

Looking at the job, there was one floor that got more time to dry because we were moving tables and stuff, and it came out much better. We were trying to keep it a one day job even though we were there 13 hours!

 

[Floor Tek]

What I would do first is burnish with a good horsehair pad and walk slow with the burnisher, allowing the pad plenty of time on the floor to heat up the finish and flow back together. I have had this issue before, mostly due to humidity and cold floors, and after I took my time burnishing, it looked fantastic when completed.

 

[FloorCareMD]

I agree with Mr. Tek. Buff, Buff, Buff Slowwww. Use a blend or hair pad. Don't recoat it unless you suspect that you applied the finish with streaks and misses, which I doubt you did.
We store our mop heads in plastic grocery bags, tied tight to prevent drying, but I doubt too that a dried mop head was your problem there.

Mike Craig
www.FloorCareMD.com

 

[fred3655]

The finish itself went on great, it's definitely shiny and went on evenly otherwise, just shows some crazing and streaking. I use the "2 plastic bags over the mop bucket" technique for waxing, pulling up the corners and wrapping the pole between coats. (that sounded bad)

I saw a "Monster" super shine burnishing pad at the janitor store today. I didn't get it because I think I can resolve this one way or another. It looked pretty intense though. I was just worried that it being much stiffer than a hair pad would tax the burnisher motor too much.

I've done burnishes on scratched up floors before a quick spray buff, with limited success using a hair pad, but I'm willing to give it another try. I don't think I've ever gone much over 5 seconds in the same spot before, so I'll try longer.

I ordered some green and yellow HTC Twister pads, mostly for stone work, but some say they are spectacular on waxed vct also. I guess this is the time to play Mad Scientist.

 

[Floor Tek]

Twister pads work wonderfully on VCT. There is a post in the section that has some good information on these pads. http://www.truckmountforums.com/hard-surface-care/23470-vct-burnishing-and-htc-twister-pads.html

Most of that good information came from me, because I have been using Twister pads since 2006, mainly for concrete but I have been using them on VCT for about a year now.