Best Floor Stripper

[Louis]

What is the best floor stripper. I have tried a few and they work most of the time. Sometimes I run into a floor that the leftover wax will not move. I have purchased a stripping brush, it helped but I have one of my regluar accounts that I can't get some of the wax off after going over it 2 times.
When I used to work for Gemco/ Luckys long ago we used to run a black pad over the floor after we stripped it and it would take off a layer of tile and would look like new. I guess they don't make pad like that anymore.

So what do you use when you need to nuke a vct?

 

[floorguy]

The next time i strip it...

seriously, if the strippers work most the time, then you are probably stuck...unless you want to pay the $45 a gallon stuff..

Strippers are subjective to each his own...

your in modesto there.....go check a jan san supply place and ask them if they carry Mission Lab products...thats what i have used for over 20 yrs...The brute works on 90% of the stuff i do, the other 10% is just a pita and probably isnt coming off anyway..

and yes they still make black pads...

 

[dealtimeman]

the best stripper i have used and it works on everything except concrete sealer is johnsons prostrip but it is expensive.

 

[Guest]

I use Proforce stripper. I also extract the stripper with hot water(better use defoamer); Haven't run accross anything yet I could get off with agitation and extraction.

 

[Jim Martin]

I think her name was Peg.......worked in some little dive off the main drag.......

 

[cbcsi]

I've used hundreds of gallons of floor stripper to strip VCT. The best I've found is a product by Spartan Chemical called Shineline Emulsifier Plus. It is a really good stripper. But I did a convention center one time that was an extreme PITA even using the stripper mentioned had to go over it twice and some places more than that. If they use propane buffers the wax can get really hard. And if the people that stripped it the last several years never really did more than scrub some of the dirt off and add wax you can be looking at an obscene amount of wax on the floor.

 

[Louis]

I tried johnsons fast strip, way too much $$$ for a gallon. The guy I bought my brush from said bare bones stripper would do the job , but only sold it 4 gallons at a time. Anyone ever try this stuff?

In my area I have Spartian, Johonsons, Hillard, SSS,and some house brands to pick from. One place is getting betco soon.

 

[ACE]

Stripper alone will only do so much for heavy build up and over use of sealer. It’s like carpet cleaning use some T.A.C.T. Get that water hot. Turn up the temp on the water heater; just don’t forget to turn it back down. Let the stripper set at least 30 min. You might end up having to use a 6” razor blade to take off the heaviest buildup. That black pad won’t do anything if it’s all gummed up so you have to keep rinsing it off. You should be charging for all this, but sometimes it’s hard to see on pre-inspection. I have very few refinish jobs go easier then anticipated.

 

[floorguy]

ummmm in regards to HOT WATER......

READ THE FOOKING instructions on the bottle, thats why they are there...


if it says COLD water then use COLD...other wise you flash off some of the good chem in it..


and use HOT TO RINSE

 

[cbcsi]

3000 PSI hot will take even Urethane off the floor FYI

 

[cbcsi]

Don't try that except on concrete. As far as Bare Bones I used a couple of 5 gallon pales once to sample. It was a respectable good stripper. NCL only pays freight on 1500 lb orders, and there isn't a distributor anywhere within an hour so I never used more than that. But it was a good stripper. Beware of using hot water in your stipper. The strippers we're talking about don't need it. The potential pitfall is if you use hot water in the stripper it will evaporate quicker. If you don't get the floor vac'ed and then rinsed off before it starts drying on the floor you have to go through the section again with the buffer. If you are grabbing a sizable piece of floor cold water gives you more working time with the stripper. You need to have adequate dwell time 20-30 min. And a very good High Productivity Stripping pad. don't get the cheapest thing out there. It needs to have an open weave. That means when you look at it it is very open. This lets you keep stripping because it doesn't fill up with wax. It kind of lets the wax flow through the pad. very important if you have a lot of sealer/wax to remove. Don't forget the edges... you'll need some sort of razor. 4" glass razors work good. If you have them a couple of handles is ideal (otherwise kneepads are recommended)

 

[jerry ACC]

I use the Home Depot stripper ($39 for 5 gallons)
or Hillyards.

 

[Fon Johnson]

Lot's of opinions here, and ya know what they say about those.. LOL

There is no "best" stripper. There are lots of good ones. Some brands of finishes will strip easier with the same brand fo stripper. I heard for years from MANY sources that SC Johnson's finishes were built so that you HAD to use their stripper to remove them. I have found this to be true to a point.. Their Pro Strip is a very good stripper, but it is pricey, and rough on the lungs. The best I have used so far is Spartan's Endura Strip. It is better than the Emulsifier Plus, and works at weaker dilutions. It is designed to remove thier laminator system, which is polyurethane enhanced. Polys are the toughest to remove.. There are some finishes that are just a bear to strip. You will find that complete, technique (a chemially resistand sealer by SC Johnson), on'n on, betco best and hybrid 25, and trilinc can all be tougher. Sometimes you just have to grin and bear it..

Be careful about using hot water. Hot water will evaporate quicker and leave you with goo on the floor. Hot water will also cause the solvents in stripper to flash of in some cases. Once that happens, the stripper has lost one of the components that strips! If you find that you are making goo, try diluting the stripper a little more. You HAVE to have the appropriate ratio for the stripper to work in many cases, more is not always better. If the finish is peeling up, or coming up in sheets, you can try mixing the stripper stronger, and/or use hotter water IF the stripper will allow. Sometimes you can get it hotter, but you have to apply it to smaller sections to get it scrubbed before it evaporates. Sometimes you just have a nasty sealer that will have to be scrapped off.. sad, but true.

Using a good aggressive brush will help too. It will not gum up with goo, and you can easily rinse it out if it does. There are three different basic PADS for stripping: brown (least aggressive), thick black (more aggressive but clogs easily), and the thin black high-pro (most aggressive and won't clog as badly, and can be rinsed out.) Sometimes it is a good idea to have more than one type of stripper on hand as one may work better than another. The best I have used are: Spartan's endura strip and emulsifier plus, Johnson's pro strip (I understand fastrip is even better), Pioneer Eclipse formula X. I have used lots of others, but they did not work as well as these.

Every once in a while you just smooch-the-pooch on a VCT job, but the above will help elminate a lot of them.

 

[steve frasier]

I think her name was Peg.......worked in some little dive off the main drag.......

Katie Morgan is her name Jim

Re: Best Floor Stripper

the brand that is made for the finish that is on the floor if you have that info

if it says COLD water then use COLD...other wise you flash off some of the good chem in it..

yes follow direction and it pretty much turns cold once it hits the floor, I would think putting down enough solution is more important

I have used quite a few and lately tend to go with the low odor

 

[Charles Anhalt]

Any of you folks ever tried Spartan's Square One and if so, how well did it work?

 

[dealtimeman]

Never used the square one or even heard of it. Will look into it.

We like the cost and overall performance of shine line emulsifier plus from Spartan.

Have you tried this product. Smells pleasant, is by no means the fastest emulsifier but also does not dry as fast as others.

Always good to have multiple gallons of different strippers on the truck every time you are going to strip a floor.

 

[Charles Anhalt]

Shineline Emulsifier has been my "go to" stripper for many years. Spartan Square One, if I remember right, is also very good, less expensive and has a better mix ratio. For the real tough strips, I wouldn't want to be without the emulsifier but would like to try Spartan Endurastrip. Heard good things about it. I don't remember why I discontinued using the Square One stripper.

 

[John Olson]

BETCO Extreme. and a High Pro strip pad. Luis call me and i'll go pick a gallon up for you to try with your next order. We don't offer betco except through the local Jan San I have been dealing with for nearly 20 years. I still for the life of me don't get why Doug will spend $1000 to drive to California to save $5 a bucket on stripper but he "likes" to drive...Everyone might have a favorite but i'll guarantee you'll love the extreme. I have MILLIONS of sq ft behind my opion and that is MILLIONS plural.

 

[Chris A]

I think her name was Peg.......worked in some little dive off the main drag.......

Is that because of her wooden leg?

 

[Jack Zipper Zerkie]

I don,t care to do floors but had one that the wax was over 20yrs and many coats. I tried many things and pads and had a supplier give me a steel wool pad and said just keep it wet and moving. The pad worked well and removed the wax. I haven,t done a floor job in over 25 years, love carpet cleaning the dirtier the better.jz

 

[dealtimeman]

Betco extreme s very good and very similar to Diversey (formally Johnson wax) prostrip except the price. It cuts very fast but it Erie fast too, so baby sit all areas. We do large areas at a time so it is not our go to stopper but we always have at least 5 gallons on the truck for each job.

 

[steamron]

Any good stripper works, the most important thing is:
LET IT DWELL for at least 15 minutes. Let the chemical do its job.

 

[Ray Burnfield]

It really helps to know what type of finish is on the floor. Acrylic finishes are the easiest to remove they are the most common, just about any stripper will work.
Apply the stripper to the floor according to the directions.
Let the stripper sit for at least 5 minutes.
Scrub the area a few times with a black pad.
Let the stripper set 5 more minutes.
Scrub the floor again.

If you're not slipping or sliding on the floor there's a good chance that it's stripped.

We have the products you need and can coach you through the process if you need some help.

 

[dealtimeman]

What brand do you carry ray?

 

[Ray Burnfield]

Our biggest seller in floor products is Maintenance Pro.
Most of the products out there will work if used correctly.
Talk to a small jan-san house out your way. They can help you.