Company launches new product as diamond-media maintenance pads gain local traction

28th August 2015 By: Sashnee Moodley - Senior Deputy Editor Polity and Multimedia

Company launches  new product as  diamond-media  maintenance pads  gain local traction

BLUE TWISTER PAD The pad has a layer that contains billions of microscopic diamonds that clean and polish the floor mechanically

Flooring solutions supplier Superb Flooring earlier this year launched the latest Blue Twister pad, with diamond media, onto the local market.

Superb Flooring Systems Southern Africa sales manager Andreas Hasselmose says these diamond-media maintenance pads, developed by Swedish company HTC, have revolutionised the industrial cleaning sector, particularly in Europe and the US.

Superb Flooring Systems is the local distributor of HTC and is part of the Pan Mixers South Africa (PMSA) group of companies.

The pad, which is part of the Twister range, is manufactured from recycled polyethylene terephthalate and has a layer that contains billions of microscopic diamonds that clean and polish the floor mechanically.

The Blue Twister pad is ideal for most common floor surfaces such as terrazzo, ceramic tiles, linoleum, vinyl or plastic, natural stone and concrete.

The pad has been developed specifically for uncoated, hard resilient floors. A single pad has a life span sufficient to cover up to 45 000 m2, which Hasselmose says makes it an extremely cost-effective option.

He adds that the Twister range is gaining traction in South Africa in epoxy-coated floors and polished concrete floors in warehouse and logistics applications.

“Epoxy floors scuff easily, which accelerates wear and tear, and reduces the life span. Nor- mally, such scuff marks would need to be removed with an acid wash or jet-spray appli-cation. Instead, our Twister pads provide a cost effective and efficient means of maintaining epoxy floors,” he says.

Hasselmose notes that an added benefit is that the Twister pads require minimal water and no chemicals, which is an important environmental consideration. The cleaning sector uses a lot of chemicals, which have a marked environmental impact; therefore, any technology that can reduce the sector’s reliance on such chemical products is welcome, he adds.

Industry Revolution
Hasselmose explains that warehousing, supermarket and logistics applications are high-traffic areas that require regular cleaning and maintenance to retain their ‘as new’ appearance and prevent any long-term degradation or damage.

The traditional method of floor maintenance has always been to add a polish layer to give it a shiny appearance. Cleaning on a regular basis, however, does not prevent the ultimate deterioration of this layer, hence, the floor quickly loses its shiny appearance and becomes more susceptible to scuff marks and more permanent damage in the long term.

“The answer to this perennial problem has simply been to reapply the surface polish layer. What this means is that such floors require periodic maintenance. The industrial cleaning sector in South Africa focuses largely on rough, unfinished floor surfaces, from raw concrete to bitumen. However, a new trend, apart from the advent of epoxy coatings, is polished concrete,” he concludes.