In a commercial setting, a floor buffer is an essential tool for maintaining the cleanliness and appearance of all hard surface flooring. What about in the home? Should it be part of your arsenal in your constant battle to keep your floors looking their best?
Buffers can be used on almost all types of flooring, whether it be in the lobby of a high rise office building, the loading dock for an industrial warehouse or the oak floor in your living room. As long as you use the proper chemicals and cleaning solutions as well as the correct attachments, wood, granite, marble, VCT (vinyl composition tile), linoleum and ceramic tile can all benefit from the use of this powerful piece of equipment.
Floor care is extremely time-consuming and, depending on the project, can require a fair amount of muscle. Removing layers of built-up dirt or previous applications of floor products can be accomplished in a far shorter amount of time and with considerably less effort with the use of a floor buffer.
So, why isn’t there a buffer in every utility closet? The reason is usually a combination of cost and the fact they can be tricky to learn how to use. It is true that a reasonably good machine will run several hundred dollars. The flip side to that is that it will not be used nearly as often as a vacuum cleaner and will not need to be replaced for years, if ever. As for the difficulty in operating, that is a valid concern, but one that can be overcome.
There are lots of stories about hapless individuals who thought they could simply hit the “on” switch, like a buffer was as easy to manipulate as a lawn mower. Not true! More often than not, those folks found themselves being rapidly and roughly dragged across the floor, usually heading straight for a wall or some other object that was about to suffer serious damage. It doesn’t matter how hard someone tries to dig in their heels and make it stop, buffers are never controlled by brute force. Fortunately, however, very little strength is actually required once you have learned the proper technique and have taken the time to practice.
Once you have mastered the operation of your floor buffer, you will then need to learn which of the various accessories and attachments to use for each project. Depending upon which model of buffer you use, rotating brushes or abrasive strips are required for heavy duty jobs, like stripping those layers of built up polish or the finish from wood flooring. Regular cleaning and polishing is done with pads that are attached to the machine. These come in an assortment of colors, with each color indicating its function.
It may seem like a daunting task to learn all that is necessary to use a floor buffer. Perhaps, for many, it is more than they are willing to do, and they will choose to either hire someone or spend the extra time and muscle to do everything by hand. Those who do choose to make use of this versatile piece of equipment will be rewarded with great looking floors with far less expenditure of time and effort.
