Purchasing decisions for facility managers at universities and colleges present many difficulties: How can foodservice areas be properly maintained? What cleaning solution will quickly disinfect a classroom between day and night classes? How can restrooms deter vandalism? Not to mention other unfortunate messes that must be cleaned up weekend after weekend.

Yes, there are quite a number of challenges involved with cleaning higher education buildings. But no challenge is greater, perhaps, than finding the right floor burnisher. When queried by SM, facility managers across the board mentioned three characteristics that they look for when purchasing burnishers: durability, fit to the facility, and RPM speed. A flexible pad system was also mentioned as being important.

When these elements are carefully considered, managers can give a “like-new” shine to the thousands of square feet of flooring all across beautiful U.S. campuses, which they’re responsible for. Ornate university buildings are designed with more of an eye to form than function. They were built to inspire onlookers. But high gothic ceilings and solid oak fixtures won’t have the desired effect if floors are dull and dirty.

“At San Diego State, we have a beautiful campus with 3 million serviceable square feet that I’m responsible for cleaning,” says John Eaddy, chief of custodial services at San Diego State. “We have everything from metal floors to rubberized floors to concrete. There are also several older buildings with wooden floors. Each one requires special attention and care.”

Built to Last
Every cleaning manager SM spoke with mentioned durability as the No. 1 factor in selecting the right burnisher.

“We have a simple machine with no bells and whistles,” says Alfredo Abad, director of custodial services at the University of Denver, a campus where almost 3 million square feet need to be cleaned every day. “We don’t really need a lot of features, but it’s crucial that [the burnisher] last. A burnisher is no good to us unless it can last an extended period of time.”

Manufacturers have approach-ed durability in different ways over the years. Product designers struggle to make lightweight machines that will also stand up to wear and tear. Lighter burnishers are far better for end users who must travel from building to building — standard procedure for janitorial staff at most college campuses.

“In the 1980s, manufacturers were using too much plastic in their burnishers,” says Jim Veiga, director of environmental and landscape services at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, a campus with 200,000 square feet of hard flooring alone. “Apparently, the research that they were doing wasn’t realistic as far as actual use, because we had plastic handles and other plastic parts break off regularly on several different brand-name machines.” Fortunately, most manufacturers have gone back to using an all-metal structure, he adds.

Different Buildings, Different Burnishers
Aside from making sure that a burnisher is well-constructed with lasting materials, managers say that it’s also important to use the correct kind of burnisher for the floor type.

End users need to be careful about using burnishers on the wrong type of floor, however, says Veiga. “The reason it’s called a ‘burnisher’ is because you are actually burning the floor [finish], in a sense, when you are hardening it with extreme pressure. Some floors stand up to that well, but others could be severely damaged.”

In addition, some burnishers are better suited to certain facility types.

“The actual fit of the burnisher to the facility is so important,” says Veiga. “At our university, I have three kinds of burnishers: battery-operated, electrical and gas. Each one runs differently, and each one should be in the building that it is best-suited for.”

The gas-operated burnishers can do an extended amount of cleaning at a consistently high speed, says Veiga. They also provide the most mobility, because they travel around campus easily without extra attachments or the need for an electrical outlet. The biggest drawback to gas-operated burnishers is the noise level. “We have Honda motors on our gas burnishers just like you’d find in your car,” says Veiga. “They can get really loud and that interrupts professors who are teaching and students who are trying to study.”

Battery-operated burnishers are much quieter and also provide some mobility, but they must be recharged every evening, he adds. The electrical models are usually restricted to a specific building and operate in areas that have access to electrical outlets. “We keep the electrical burnishers in storage areas for the building that they’re used in, and they just stay there,” says Veiga. “A lot of the workers don’t like them as well because they have to deal with the cords getting in the way.”

Truth Be Told
Facility and custodial managers say power is the next biggest consideration when they look to purchase a burnisher. Because burnishers clean in a circular motion as they shine the floor, their power is measured in revolutions per minute (rpm). Some managers complain that the actual number of revolutions during use can be vastly different than what the manufacturer claims.

“During the past 15 years, I’ve bought from quite a few suppliers in the San Diego area, and I really trust those distributors who told me what the actual rpm were for a burnisher when it cleans — its on-the-floor measurement as opposed to its measurement in a testing laboratory when it is being spun in the air with little resistance,” says Eaddy.

Some managers are forced to buy a less costly burnisher because of budget constraints. They may compromise and purchase a 1,500-rpm model instead of the 2,000-rpm model that they prefer. “The problem is that it could really be a 900-rpm model when they start cleaning with it,” adds Eaddy. “I usually have to ask the supplier, but a few of them will come right out and tell me the truth without me asking.”

Take Care With Floor Care
The actual function of a burnisher is to harden the finish of the floor after cleaning so that it has a wet, shiny look to it. The type of floor finish and burnishing methodology both influence floor-care results, so distributors should ask their customers about their floor-care routine.

While manufacturers and distributors often stress that high-speed burnishers are not designed to work in tandem with a cleaning chemical, the reality is that many facility managers do put down a spray buff (usually from a trigger spray bottle) while they run the burnisher over the mist. Distributors can prevent problems for end users by warning them to keep any chemical application away from a burnisher’s motor.

“You can really damage the burnisher if a chemical gets into the mechanisms of the burnisher,” says Abad. “Some people think that they need to put down a chemical to make it shine, but the burnisher will make the floor shine by hardening the floor. There isn’t really a need for a chemical.”

If cleaning professionals spray a light mist away from the machine itself, any damage to the burnisher should be minimal.

On the Move
The last important requirement in selecting a good burnisher, according to university facility managers, is a flexible pad system that will work well with a variety of surfaces.

“Universities have so many different hard floors, and some burnishers seem like they are designed for only one of them,” says John Eaddy. “The best burnishers are those that are versatile and can move from floor to floor easily.”