Six vinyl composite tiles coated with client provided Enviro-Safe Green Floor Finish according to the ASTM 1792 Standard Test Method for Long-term Removability Properties of Emulsion Floor Polishes. The tiles were then heated at 37.8C (100F) for 48hours in order to simulate service aging.
The supplied floor stripper, Green Floor Stripper from EnviroSafety and the comparison floor stripper Floor Finish Remover from Spartan were both diluted to 1:3 (25%) concentrations using water. The cleaning pad was allowed to soak for one minute and then each solution-soaked pad was cycled one time on a coated floor tile and allowed to soak for 1 minute. After a minute the pad was cycled for 50 cycles on the tile making sure to keep floor stripping solution added as needed to keep the tile coated with stripper. The coupons were scrubbed clean using a section of a floor stripping plastic pad using a Gardner Straight Line washability unit and the unit was run for 50 oscillations. At the end of the scrubbing, the tile was blotted dry with a paper towel and then observed to determine the amount of finish remaining. If the tile was not completely stripped, additional stripper was applied, and the unit was run for another 50 cycles. The total numbers of oscillations to remove the coatings were recorded as a measure of removability.
Removal Ease Number of Oscillations Required for Complete Removal
Excellent <50
Good >50 but <100
Fair >100 but <200
Poor >200
Enviro Safe Green Floor Finish stripper passed the standard with an excellent level of removal. Its performance was better than that of the comparative green floor finish stripper with only one coupon needing more than 50 cycles to remove the floor finish. The other floor finish remover required more than fifty for two of the coupons.