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Trial Number 7

Trial Purpose:

To evaluate bio-based floor strippers on ceramic tiles.

Date Run:

01/13/2005

Experiment Procedure:

Three products were used at 100% v/v concentration. Nine pre-weighed plastic composite tiles were coated with Johnson Wax Professional Show Place floor finish (40861-29-8, 78-51-3, 34590-94-8, 111-90-0) using a hand held swab. The finish was dried using a hand held heat gun for two minutes at ~300 F. Once the finish/coupon had cooled, three more coats were applied following the same procedure. Coupons were reweighed to determine the amount of finish that was applied.

The coupons were sprayed with a cleaning product. The formulation was allowed to sit on the finish surface for 10 minutes. Three coated coupons were firmly held against a rotating abrasive pad (175 rpm) which was purposely designed to imitate the working properties of the floor stripping machine. The cleaning lasted for 5 minutes at an interval of 1 minute with spraying of the cleaning agent on the pad as well as on the tiles in between (175 * 5 revolutions). At the end of the cleaning, the coupons were wiped once to remove any cleaner or dirt and then they were left to dry for about 12 hours. Final weights were recorded and efficiencies were calculated. Additionally, what was done was to evaluate the coupons qualitatively for cleanness. A UV-light source to examine the coupons was used. Two examiners were asked to evaluate the cleanness in accordance with their own perception and judgment.

Trial Results:

The table below lists the amount of finish applied, remaining and the percent effectiveness for each coupon cleaned.

Cleaner Initial wt Final wt % Removed
Bio-T-Max 0.2988 0.2878 3.68
  0.3018 0.1919 36.41
  0.2951 0.2566 13.05
Botanical Gold 0.2544 0.0626 75.39
  0.2488 0.1257 49.47
  0.3807 0.1871 50.85
SC-Actisolv 0.3158 0.6886 -118.05
  0.339 0.2422 28.55
  0.323 0.2348 27.31

Qualitative Assessment of the cleanness:

Cleaner   Observer 1 Observer 2 Overall Efficiency
Bio-T-Max        
  Coupon 1 40 48  
  Coupon 2 70 65 48%
  Coupon 3 17 45  
Botanical Gold        
  Coupon 1 97 88  
  Coupon 2 97 85 86%
  Coupon 3 78 70  
SC-Actisolv        
  Coupon 1 50 50  
  Coupon 2 50 50 49%
  Coupon 3 45 50  

Success Rating:

A follow up test, usually based on company input.

Conclusion:

Most coupons seemed to have gained weight as a result of absorbing the cleaners. The results here are therefore not conclusive.  Qualitative assessment showed that Botanical gold was more effective in removing about 86% of the dirt.

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