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Chemical
Etching: |
- One company
claims to have an anti-slip product that
chemically bonds into the surface pores. When
the floor is dry, their product lies in the
pores below the surface line, unaffected by foot
or vehicular traffic. When contacted by
moisture, it reacts instantly to create an
extremely effective anti-slip condition. Even
the moisture from a wet shoe sole is enough to
cause an instant reaction, making wet-to-dry
transitional areas slip/fall safe. What they are
suggesting is that their chemical expands when
exposed to water, providing a competent tread.
This company is one of the chemical etching
companies that sells a heavy-duty cleaner which
includes a percentage of the chemical used for
etching floors. This is neither endorsed nor
accepted by the ceramic tile industry. Such
acidic cleaning compositions are NOT acceptable
as part of any regular cleaning regimen.
- Another
chemical product claims to have no acid-etching
compound within their formula. Their chemical
composition clearly includes an etching acid
within their product. For some reason, they
think that to etch ceramic surfaces carries some
negative stigma; however, it is the recommended
method by all floor safety experts.
They also describe that the antislip effect is
achieved from the formation of tiny, cup shaped
structures created on the floor surface. When
walked on, these valleys act like thousands of
tiny suction cups displacing water and creating
a vacuum effect, from the pressure of the foot.
This is simple fiction or creative marketing.
They show electron microscope photography of
their process, that clearly shows an aggressive
attack on the tile surface, but their
description is explaining a non-invasive
treatment.
They claim that the end result is harder than
the original kiln-fired product and will
increase the tiles life expectancy. This is one
of those remarks that clearly identifies to us,
that the company is unfamiliar with the
materials they’re being asked to treat. If their
product could do as they claim, there would be
no need to kiln fire ceramic tiles any longer.
- The chemical
components of some competitors products have
concentrations that must be handled on the job
site and diluted in advance of treating the
floor. Other chemicals compositions are a
reaction between components. Global Safe has
prediluted the chemicals and packed them for
safety and handling. In addition, our research
has shown that preparing chemicals in this way
produces poor treatment results. The
effectiveness of such treatments are
unpredictable and less controllable, compared
with the 'Safe Solution® Anti-Slip Treatment
System'.
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Tile Grooving or Tile Scoring: |
Tile grooving is a
floor scoring process that uses specially designed,
diamond tools to cut circular grooves into existing
hard surface flooring. They say that these grooves
act like treads on a tire to help channel water away
from the sole of the shoe. If this idea of a grooved
tile were better than a flat surface ceramic tile,
all ceramic tile manufacturers would make their
tiles this way.
This isn’t a rejuvenation of natural properties or
even an anti-slip treatment. It’s simply an
intrusive and destructive assault on the existing
ceramic tile surface glaze or tile surface patina.
Tile grooving collects water and holds grime and
impurities below the overall floor surface, making
cleaning the surface problematic.
It costs 2 to 3 times more than an anti-slip
treatment solution, is laborious, messy, and takes
four times longer to do. Sometimes the easier
solution is the better solution.
The promoters of this grinding and grooving say that
their process scores multiple concentric circles
into the floor surface to the “thickness of a credit
card”. They say that this grooving was initially
developed for the restaurant industry to reduce
slips and falls on wet, greasy kitchen floor
surfaces. Restaurant floors are continuously
subjected to an effective cleaning regimen and to
groove the tiles would simply open the surface
porosity to impurities and in a very short time.
Aside from quickly becoming slippery, as residues
collect in the scoring, the open pours will be
bacterial havens and promote mildew and fungus
growth. (See: Fig. 2) This illustrates what happens
when a quality vitrified porcelain tile has the
surface patina removed. Please note, this is the
highest quality ceramic tile and if this is done to
clinker/quarry tiles or vitrified (glass-like)
glazed Monocottura tiles they would be 2 to 6 times
more porous.
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Anti-Slip Treatment: |
They say that grooving is a permanent
anti-slip procedure. Of course, the damage is
permanent but the treatment does become slippery. In
fact, we have been called to treat these areas with
the ‘Safe Solution®’ anti-slip treatment, making
them more slip-resistant. At the same time, we
treated adjacent flat surfaces with the ‘Safe
Solution®’ and found they had superior
slip-resistance when directly compared with the
grooved area – i.e. the undamaged tiles provided
more direct surface contact and better traction.
They suggest, “that scoring the tile does not create
a cleaning problem and the circular pattern is much
easier to clean than the porous grout lines.” This
is also incorrect. New composition grout joints have
a pH level that inhibits bacterial growth and
includes an acrylic co-polymer that is very easily
maintained. No matter what solution, there is no
such thing as a permanent anti-slip solution. All
floors surfaces need periodic inspection and
maintenance to ensure they maintain acceptable
safety characteristics.
They suggest, “Chemical treatments can weaken the
floor structure, often reducing its useful life.”
They’ve got to be kidding! This is a clear lack of
understanding of new generation anti-slip surface
treatment applications, materials, tile properties,
floor safety, etc. There’s no question that to
aggressively grind the floor surface removes both
the designed natural resistance of a ceramic tile
floor but also decades of wear resistance.
If any company offers a one-time, anti-slip
treatment application, without follow-up inspection
and maintenance services, they have likely created
more problems than they have solved. |
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Factory Made, Ceramic Anti-Slip
Tiles: |
Factory manufactured
anti-slip tiles are ALWAYS flat surfaces with raised
surface textures, designed for easy cleaning and
maintenance. Even these tiles become slippery with
usage and regular commercial cleaning. They provide
less surface contact for shoes that do not have a
flat sole.
Some factories prepare tiles with granular surfaces.
These do wear off with time and only the tile
surface needs rejuvenation.
Sometimes tiles that have irregular stone-like
surfaces are considered slip-resistant. This is NOT
correct under wet surface conditions. These tiles
will simply collect a film of impurities and water
in their lowest surface points, promoting a greater
need for cleaning and potentially a slip-fall
hydroplaning condition.
Under dry conditions many of these tiles work well
for ramps and stairs. Under wet conditions, even
these tiles become slippery, if not immediately,
certainly over a period of time with wear and
cleaning activities.
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Floor-Mats: |
Some safety
precautions, such as using floor mats, are taken
because of misinformation, lack of information, or
out of expedience. Many unsafe commercial floor
conditions have caused the business owner to take
precautions that they feel are necessary, but may
only create secondary hazards.
Sometimes floor mats are purchased to stop patrons
from tracking dirt into the business, sometimes to
go overtop of an acceptable floor surface in an
attempt to avoid slippery floor conditions.
Floor mats are a potential hazard as they attract
and hold dirt and bacteria; patrons may trip on
upturned edges; and the mats will often slip,
particularly over ceramic or hard surface flooring.
They detract from the primary reasons ceramic or
granite floors were initially specified and
installed. These hard-surface floors are easily the
lowest cost and easiest floors for cleaning and
maintenance, if done properly and fully understood.
Mats may sound fine, when the service sales
representative suggests, “for only pennies a day the
mats will provide you with an acceptable
slip-resistant surface.” It’s not entirely true.
Often wet conditions occur at entryways, when water
accumulates within the mat. As it is tracked from
the mat onto the adjoining surfaces, they become
slippery. This potential slip-fall hazard is
compounded because the walker is often caught by
surprise, not anticipating the adjacent floors
slipperiness.
To properly maintain them, floor mats and doormats
cleaning, replacement costs, or service contracts
also have hidden costs. For a small business, it may
only be pennies a day, per sq. ft., but it adds up –
i.e. under most circumstances, this is several times
the cost of a 'Safe Solution®' antislip treatment.
In addition, the 'Safe Solution®' antislip treatment
includes the entire area, even beyond and between
the mats.
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Anti-Slip Coatings: |
Some business owners contact janitorial services
looking for advice on how to eliminate their
slippery floor condition. This sounds reasonable but
the result often doesn’t rectify the immediate or
long-term needs. Often antislip coatings are
recommended. This is NOT acceptable for ceramic tile
surfaces. It takes a low maintenance and durable
floor and leaves it with a high maintenance, poor
resistance traffic coating. Also, all products that
coat the surface are mostly fine under dry
conditions, but slippery when wet - aside from
yellowing, stripping, marring, blistering, peeling,
etc.
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Anti-Slip Soaps & Waxes: |
This is a solution commonly tried, then eventually
rejected. Soaps are being applied as a cleaning
solution that intentionally leave a residue or
dressing layer, following each floor cleaning. The
residue has been suggested to provide acceptable
slip-resistance and protect some stone or tile
floors. It does provide more slip-resistance than
the raw untreated natural stones and even more than
most coatings, but it is still insufficient when
wet.
In addition, it leaves the floor with a kind of film
that feels waxy, sticky and unclean, leaving streaks
and patches. This layer accumulates dirt and
promotes the need to wash floors more often, which
uses more of their product, which promotes the need
to wash floors more often, which uses more of their
product, which promotes the need to wash floors...
you get the idea. The good thing is, they are 100%
reversible and can be removed easily, not like some
ugly surface polymer coatings.
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Strips, Tapes and Vinyl Anti-Slip
Pads: |
These may be good as a
very temporary measure for where slippery surface
conditions were not anticipated. Often working
environments have not taken slip-resistance into
account as a result of poor initial design, poor
maintenance, poor janitorial procedures, high or
dangerous traffic patterns, or sudden environmental
changes.
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