The abrasive disc: an essential accessory for your machine?
You have just purchased a single-brush machine or a scrubber-dryer to mechanize the cleaning of your floors and surfaces. These machines can be delivered bare without any accessories but also with a standard nylon brush and/or an abrasive disc holder plate. Working with abrasive discs is almost a must to adapt to all floor and work configurations that the professional must face.
Let’s discover all the tips for using and managing your range of discs.
Understand how a disc is made up?
The general manufacturing takes up a construction with a mixture of fiber, crystals associated with each other by binders . It is the aggressiveness of these nylon fibers and crystals which will determine the range of use of the disc. The abrasiveness is measured on the Shiefer scale in g . It is this value which will determine the aggressiveness of the disc. For example for stripping the expected value is between 2 and 4 g. This value is generally included in the technical data sheets and a historic and recognized manufacturer in the world of collective cleaning indicates it for each type of disc.
Depending on the use, a disc can take another form, for example, using melamine for effective stain removal, or steel wool for crystallizing limestone. For certain surfaces such as wood or parquet, abrasive discs based on silica carbide meshes of different grains will be used, ranging from finishing to sanding and whitewashing the parquet.
At what rotation speed do you use a disk?
As we saw previously, the composition of the disc will determine its aggressiveness and therefore its capacity for "adherence" or "grip" when it comes into contact with the ground.
To fully understand the risks incurred in the event of poor adaptation of the machine's rotation speed in line with the structure and purpose of the disc, you must first understand how a single-brush machine or a scrubber-dryer works.
A single-brush or scrubber-dryer is at least equipped with a motor that drives the disc holder plate and the brush. This motor is generally designed to operate at a fixed rotation speed (150 rpm, 300 rpm... and up to 3000 rpm for ultra-high-speed single-brush machines).
This speed delivered by the engine is associated with a "motor torque" . This motor torque has a driving capacity which has its limit. Consequently, using a disc which would have an adhesion coefficient too high compared to what the single-disc or scrubber-dryer can deliver could create serious damage to your machine and the surface being treated.
Who are the manufacturers of abrasive discs?
The leading manufacturer considered to have the most significant expertise in the field of abrasives and 3M. 3M through its community department has developed over many years a depth of range with very specific solutions for the treatment of marble, modern floors, carpets ... to offer cleaning companies and more particularly maintenance and cleaning professionals high-performance solutions.
The goal of a cleaning service company is to achieve a brilliant result for the client, but one that takes as little time as possible and by spacing out maintenance operations as much as possible. In the service provided by a cleaning company, the cost of products and consumables represents on average 3% of the service invoice . It is therefore the labor cost that has the greatest impact. In this context, it is easy to understand that any solution that allows for the reduction of labor costs by optimizing the number of hours spent by the agent on the cleaning "site" is essential...
This is why, despite higher prices than the competition, 3M discs remain essential for those who calculate the "cost per use" rather than the unit purchase cost.
Since 2024, 3M France Collectivité has entrusted its distribution to a very limited number of Master partners, including Voussert. Voussert's recognition is linked to our efficient logistics capacity, the quality of our service, the depth of our product range and availability, and some of the lowest prices on the market.
Voussert is also a partner of other manufacturers such as Janex and Taski, through the integration of the Twister range, also offers complete solutions at prices sometimes lower than 3M.
Our range of professional abrasive discs is one of the widest on the market.
Can you use an abrasive disc on both sides?
On the range of nylon discs it is even an obligation in order to optimize the cost of your investment . To do this, you must not have worn down the face used first. This face is then used to be fixed to the pad holder plate using pins or Velcro adhesive, it is easy to understand that there must be enough fiber left to ensure correct adhesion.
On some discs that have a specific side for fixing to the platter and a side dedicated to working on the surface, such as a cotton carpet disc, this will obviously not be possible.
On a stripping, polishing, cleaning disc, etc., this allows substantial savings to be made and the cost per m2 to be reduced.
The benefit of doing a test on the ground before any work!
A recommendation from experienced professionals is to systematically schedule a test on a few m2 of the trio disc, detergent product, rotation speed. Indeed, the reaction of a surface such as a thermoplastic or vinyl floor, marble, etc. can be discoloration, excessive tarnishing, etc. These reactions are often the case on old floors. Another precaution to take is to consult the manufacturer's technical data sheet clearly indicating the types of detergent, cleaning method, abrasiveness of the discs, etc.
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