Choosing the Right Colour Floor Pad
What colour floor pads should you use?
Get the best out of your Scrubber Drier or Rotary Cleaning Machine by using the right colour floor pad for the job.
Did you know that you can seriously damage a floor by using the wrong colour floor pad?
To make sure you and your team know the correct colour floor pad to use with the correct machine, for the correct job, we’ve put together the following guide.
Floor pads are ideal for relatively level floors. However, if you have uneven floors, a brush may be more suitable.
As a general rule of thumb, the lighter the colour, the less abrasive a floor pad will be. For example: White pads are very soft and ideal for polishing floors, whereas Black pads are much more abrasive and generally used for stripping or deep scrubbing tasks.
White
The mildest floor pad, non-abrasive and is very delicate on floors.
Ideal for dry burnishing or buffing of soft floor dressing and perfect for producing a high gloss finish to floors.
Use dry or with a fine water mist to produce a high gloss finish.
Can be used on an Ultra-High-Speed burnisher as long as you keep moving as it will overheat the floor if you stay in one spot too long.
Use with high-speed Scrubbing/Rotary machine or automatic Scrubbers at 350-2000 rpm.
Tan
The Tan pad is a mild polishing pad. Generally would be used dry for dry burnishing and Light cleaning or dry buffing on traditional floors.
Removes scuffs and black heel marks as well as producing a high gloss shine.
Very mild, and won’t damage even the softest of dressings. Used for waxed wood floors with a high-speed machine.
Use with high-speed Buffing Machine at 350-500 rpm.
Red
The Red pad is a great all-round pad and will remove light scuff marks and dirt while producing a high gloss shine. Suitable for dry buffing, regular light cleaning and polishing.
It’s a mild floor cleaning pad. Often recommended for use by flooring manufacturers for Scrubber Dryers as there is no risk of it damaging the floor or coating.
Not aggressive enough for scrubbing.
Use with slow or high-speed cleaning machine or Scrubber Dryer at 300-500 rpm.
Blue
The Blue floor pad is a very useful wet scrubbing or medium-duty spray cleaning pad, and great for areas that are prone to heavier scuff marks and heavy dirt.
Ideal for school corridors or other high-traffic areas that require a deeper periodic spray clean.
Also can be used for scrubbing/cleaning delicate floors where you might be nervous about using a Green pad.
Use with slow or high-speed Cleaning Machine or Scrubber Dryer at 100-500 rpm.
Green
Ideal for wet scrubbing/cleaning and a perfect choice for deep cleaning or light stripping tasks. Also can be used to “knock-back” polish before re-coating.
Perfect for deep cleaning and removing tough marks – ensure the pad is wet before use.
Not to be used on polished floors, unless you want to remove polish.
That said, green is not good for stripping polish, as it is not aggressive enough.
Ideal for cleaning heavily soiled or hard-to-clean floors.
Use with slow speed Scrubbing / Rotary Machine or Scrubber Dryer at 100-200 rpm.
Black
The standard stripping pad, for heavy-duty wet stripping of emulsion polish.
Very aggressive in removing wax, dirt, and any finish.
The black stripping pad can also be used to clean heavily soiled hard surface floors, such as concrete when used with proper cleaning solutions.
You can’t effectively use any other colour for stripping and you must use this wet. If you use this pad dry you may damage floors.
Use with slow speed Scrubbing / Rotary Machine at 100-200 rpm.
Melamine
The Melamine floor pads are gaining massively in popularity among floor maintenance teams. If you have ever used a magic sponge or eraser sponge, these are the same material in the form of a floor pad.
Excellent for deep cleaning of safety flooring with no harsh chemicals needed. Can remove stains and scuff marks and restore a new appearance to the floor in a way that other pads can’t, using only water.
Although they are not cheap but will save you valuable cleaning time.
Use only with slow-speed cleaning machines or Scrubber Dryer at 100- 200 rpm.
Caution: These pads are powerful and may remove floor coatings, so use them with care. Also do not use them dry, as they will wear out very quickly. Always use them with water.
