It’s 3:32pm. You park your car and stroll up to the happy, red brick building to pick up your daughter from daycare. Once inside, as you search for your little girl amid the giggling toddlers, you’re struck by how clean everything is, especially the vinyl floor—you can almost see your face in it.
You and your daughter are lucky; the daycare has a smart owner. She’s hired a dynamite school cleaning crew to keep the place clean, and they’re especially good at vinyl floors.
Mop the floor with clean, warm water, and then rinse thoroughly with fresh water. Use one mop to clean with and one for rinsing; soap scum collects dirt, as any owner of a school cleaning company knows. For resistant dirt and stains, use cleaning products recommended by the vinyl’s manufacturer. If all else fails, use an ounce of liquid dish detergent mixed in a gallon of clean, warm water and don’t forget to rinse thoroughly.
A quick word about waxing a vinyl floor from a professional school cleaning crew: Don’t. It will destroy the polyurethane finish that gives the flooring its glossy finish. If, for whatever reason the vinyl loses its shine, use a polish or sealant made for vinyl flooring to restore its gloss. Make sure the floor is thoroughly clean and dry, and then apply one or two thin coats. Done correctly, the shine should keep for a year.
Unfortunately, linoleum has two drawbacks: it doesn’t come in white and it has a dull surface—in other words, you have to wax it, something the owner of a school cleaning company knows only too well. Also, its surface isn’t as resistant to dirt and grit as vinyl is, so it should be swept every day. Wash linoleum with a mild dish detergent, using one mop to wash with and one to rinse. Let dry thoroughly, and then wax when it loses its sheen, using only the amount called for on the floor wax container.
A clean daycare center is one of the best joys in the world. If your child goes to a daycare center, it’s nice to know there’s a school cleaning crew out there committed to providing you and your child with a clean, beautiful environment to learn and play in. Such a school cleaning service deserves an apple from the teacher.
