Dry Floor Products Won’t Slip Up

All dry floor products currently require moisture to be activated. As moisture generated from production, on the bottom of boots or forklifts, or from the general environment comes into contact with a dry floor compound, the chemicals are released. Without moisture, dry products have the potential to clean or sanitize, but water is always needed in order to solubilize the active agents. However, the moisture needed to activate a dry product does not always have to be manually added. In some cases, environmental moisture may be sufficient to activate the floor product.

Dry cleaners and sanitizers are most active in areas that will be coming into contact with water during the day. Floors near and around drains, trench drains, and difficult to reach areas under processing equipment are ideal areas for application of dry floor treatments. In addition, many processors are now incorporating dry floor sanitizers in footbaths and floor mats at the entrance to processing areas. As personnel walk through the activated dry products, the bottoms of boots are sanitized, preventing cross contamination.

It is common practice to “broadcast” dry floor treatments onto a floor using either large scoops or fertilizer spreaders. While these methods may be efficient in spreading large quantities of dry compounds in a short period of time, it is highly recommended to apply a dry product as per the label instructions (for EPA registered floor sanitizers, it is required that label dosage directions be followed). Simply broadcasting large quantities of a floor cleaner or sanitizer can result in unnecessarily wasted product.

When applying any dry product, proper PPE should be worn by anyone applying the product. By their nature, dry products will release some dust when applied. At a minimum, dust masks, gloves, and eye protection (goggles/face shields) are recommended when applying dry products to a floor and application should be done in a well-ventilated environment. In addition, dust can be minimized by avoiding shaking the drum of dry chemical which can cause granules to break up into smaller, dustier particles. If possible, applying the product to a damp floor can also help to diminish dust particles and activate the product.

It is also important to be aware of your dry product’s compatibility with floor materials such as concrete (treated and untreated) as well as terrazzo tiles. Treated as well as untreated concrete floors are generally compatible with most QAC-based and percarbonate-based dry floor products; however, individual products should be tested in a small area prior to general use to verify compatibility.

Choosing a Floor Treatment

The first factor in choosing a dry floor treatment to use in your facility is determining required product performance attributes; what do you expect the product to accomplish? If you wish to use the dry treatment to sanitize floors and prevent organisms from cross contaminating, you are limited to a dry product which is EPA registered to sanitize floors, of which there are two currently available on the market.

However, if your goal is to clean and deodorize, your options are less limited. Your choice of an ideal active agent depends upon the organic load you expect to be on the floors, the residual cleaning, and deodorizing activity provided by your floor treatment, as well as your wastewater sensitivity to QACs or high levels of ammonia.

Another factor to consider is the size of granule. Larger granules are generally less dusty than powders and may last a longer period of time in dry form before needing to re-apply. However, they can also make a floor slippery.

When comparing the cost of dry floor treatments, price per pound is usually not the best method to estimate the total cost of a dry program. Instead, look at each product’s label for dosage recommendations and instead compare price per square foot. For example, if a floor sanitizer costs $3.00/lb. and has label instructions to apply 4 oz./100 SF, the total cost of this program is $0.75/SF. However, a floor sanitizer sold at $1.50/lb. but labeled to apply at 4 oz./10 SF, would cost $3.75/SF to apply.