Since the introduction of microfiber in the mid-eighties, it has gained popularity and appeal in the cleaning industry. Although at first there were many skeptics, few can deny the impact it has made.

Natural, solid-wood floor coverings are in a league of their own when it comes to beauty and uniqueness. The cut of the wood and the flow of the grain give an air of elegance to any facility.

Hard-floor maintenance is all about eliminating soil. Of course, the optimum soil control would be to stop it at the entrance of the facility and not allow it to enter.

I recently received a call concerning maintenance for ceramic tile in restrooms. A manager of a building service contractor company was charged with cleaning several restrooms for a newly acquired account.

Identification of the individual classifications of stone and the properties and characteristics they possess will dictate the maintenance program required. The texture of the surface can impact the hard-floor maintenance program significantly. Understanding surface texture and how it relates to floor maintenance is helpful in overcoming potential maintenance issues.

There were natural stones from all over the world; porcelain and ceramics; engineered and solid wood; laminate; bamboo; and a wide array of resilient flooring designed for all environments. This massive event highlights global floor coverings, and is a good predictor of what the floor maintenance technician can expect to encounter in the field. The carpet-cleaning entrepreneur may consider making some adjustments to capitalize on the hard floor maintenance business boom.

Floor maintenance is about controlling soil. Dirt, clay and sand can contain sharp edges that will scratch the surface of any floor. Regardless of what the flooring is made of, the effect is the same: erosion.

Understanding how to apply floor polishes (seals, finishes and seal/finishes) is essential for the contemporary floor maintenance technician. Although many floor-covering categories require polish, it is the vinyl composite tile (VCT) classification in the resilient flooring category that the technician will be most exposed to. From the time this floor is installed until it is removed, floor polishes will be required to maintain it.

Last week I received an e-mail from a distraught individual involving the application of floor finish.

There are some who can still remember applying paste wax with steel wool and spray buffing with a low-speed machine. And the nasal-passage-burning memories of stripping a floor with all-purpose cleaner and 26-percent ammonia are something you never forget.