Just wondering

[PRO.OUTLAW]

Hello everyone, been lurking around for a while, I really enjoyed the post with Mlynch, and Wolverine, but that's another story.
I was on line yesterday looking for a house cleaner, and came across a company called sure step

http://www.interlake-chemicals.com/

just wondering if anyone has used this product on a concrete floor, or epoxy covered floor, what do you think, will it work? if so, will it possibly have a negative reaction with the epoxy?

 

[trovato]

Well, it sounds like it would work on concrete, but I wouldn't think it would be necessary unless the concrete is highly polished. I think it actually etches into the hard surface, so I doubt it would be appropriate for a painted surface. You could always contact them and ask them directly.

 

[PRO.OUTLAW]

I just re read the article and found this..

Our product has been developed and proven for concrete, quarry tile, spanish tile, ceramic tile, glazed brick, marble, terrazzo, porcelain/enamel, and many other hard mineral surfaces.

So it works on concrete according to this, but still wondering if it has a reaction with a painted or epoxied floor?

 

[Mlynch]

This is a very interesting thread... there was heavy debate about this kind of product and its peers @ my families janitorial supply company. Even the distributors that sold us the stuff used very evasive language and never really explained what it was supposed to do. I noticed the website kind of does the same thing. I read thoroughly through it and still dont know what it is supposed to really do. It doesnt leave a coating or residue and it doesnt really etch the surface to any degree(it doesnt change the appearance of the floor any etching would in fact change the shine of the floor).

Furthermore their statistics are really wishywashy the nonslip coeficient of a wet floor is a sketchy issue to beggin with. For example asphalt can be slippery enough to hydroplain on if you combine the right forces and standing water. The same with any smooth non porous floor as there is nowhere for the water to go so texture is the only option. A dry floor however they can skew the statistics the other way... for example dry polished concrete vs regular concrete. The dry polished concrete has a better nonslip coeficient because there is more surface area in contact per square inch (hence more friction) but it is easier to get standing water on polished concrete rather than regular concrete(less porous)... You can really make these statistics say whatever you want depending how you do the testing.

Something to keep in mind is that most concrete coatings (epoxies, polyaspartics) follow an Osha standard for nonslip coefficient for commercial facilities... Bare concrete shouldnt have any issues to begin with it will absorb most standing water... I fail to understand how this could possibly work on a glazed tile without leaving a residue and without really etching. So where is the niche for this product?

Non slip is all about friction... when water creates a barrier lowering friction then you need texture to displace the water. So, assumably, it must either etch to create texture or leave a film to help create friction. It clearly says it leaves no film or coating. However if it etched the floor to any degree it would change the appearance, which it also claims not to do. A shiny floor that has been etched will lose its shine. If it etches to such a small degree that it doesnt change the apearance then it wouldnt be effective because it doesnt create enough texture to displace the water. By my logic they must be using some kind of voodoo.

It was the common concensus at the janitorial company that this type product was pretty much useless and if i am not mistaken they still have the few cases of the initial product order minus material for one or two test areas that didnt produce any amazing results.

I dont have a lot of eperience with the product and am curious if anyone on here has had any decent results with it. Maybe it uses some process that they fail to explain and I dont understand?

 

[PRO.OUTLAW]

Thank's for the reply Mlynch, but now I have more questions than I did before! In reading their add, they state that the product needs to be re-applied yearly for commercial use, or every two/three years for residential use, this leads me to believe that a residue, or coating is left behind?

 

[Mlynch]

there very same website said there is absolutely no coating or residue so go figure... also from what i remember the area we did the test on did seem to not be slipery afterwards. we think but we were really looking hard for a difference(it wasnt a very scientific test we just rubbed our shoe on the floor but a 400 percent difference like they claimed should be easy to detect) but it didnt even seem to be a huge difference. We did a demo for a customer (i think it was a bathroom at a country club where the tile floor was always wet and slipery) who said it lasted less than a couple weeks. Personally i think any results were just in our heads and there was not a big difference in the first place. I think it was a placebo effect we told them we put down something for antislip and they thought" hey yeah i think it is a little better" A couple weeks go by and they are thinking "no this is still really slippery"

Its just such a hard thing to detect and measure.