One of the most difficult issues for Green products has been the concern for a Green floor stripper and finish.  Anyone who has been involved in the floor care process knows how caustic the traditional products are.  Stripper will burn your eyes, irritate your lungs, and cause a pretty good skin burn.  The finishes are usually a zinc-impregnated product that has its own issues.

As you may recall from the Green Clean Institute Technician training, the pH of a product can give you a quick read about the Green quality of any product you might use.  Since the pH of water is 7, the suggested range of product might be as low as 4 or as high as 10.  Stripper, for example, can have a pH of 12 or worse.  Drain cleaner is an example of a nasty chemical that can be a pH 14.

The Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are pretty bad when it comes to most strippers and  finishes.  Workers who do this constantly are routinely breathing some bad fumes, and they already know that they are handling a hazardous substance.  

Be aware that anyone with asthma or chemical sensitivity may react severely when floors are being stripped and refinished.  So, far there was almost nothing that could be done about the problem except to have these people stay home until the air cleaned.  Of course, like the canary in the mine, these people should alert everyone to the fact that something bad is happening even though it hasn't hit the stronger people in the facility.

The reason for strong strippers is the zinc interlock floor finish is a hard finish that resists scuffing.  That virtue also means the need for some heavy solvents in the stripper to remove the old finish before the new one is applied.  So, that is the pro and con of the matter.  Zinc interlock is a resilient finish requiring volatile chemicals to treat it.

Fortunately, there are some new solutions out there.  Clean It Supply have something called Green Option floor finish that you ought to try on a floor or two just to prove it can do the job.  Enter the "Green10" code for an extra 10% discount for our readers.  The "Elements" line has a Low-odor floor stripper as well as the Green Option floor finish.

Dan Dillon of Clean It Supply is working hard to build a full line of Green Products for janitorial services.  The Elements line is a big part of his program, and maybe one day they will even earn the Green Clean Institute Certified seal. 

I get calls each week asking, "Where do I find good Green products?"  In Canada, I suggest you take a look at Greenforlife.ca, and Cassandra Dass-Pearce will help you with any questions.  There are plenty of janitorial supply companies out there, and I think Dan Dillon at Clean It Supply would love to hear from you as well.

In the Texas area, I'd like to recommend Shawn Dark of Coastal Green Distributing can find a complete line of Green products.

I'd also like to introduce the products at Sterifide Laboratories offering a very Green disinfectant called OneShot Plus Disinfectant and Deodorizer and OneShot Plus Cleaner and Degreaser.  The folks at Sterifde are enthusiastically Green minded, and these products have earned the right to use the Green Clean Institute Certified seal. 

Remember, products do matter!  Your training allows our students to learn about Green cleaning, but do not neglect the process of moving Green product into your inventory.  This need not be a full-scale transition to Green products, but you should look at changing nearly every product on your shelves that is not a Green product.  Green doesn't happen in a day and does not mean you should test products as you bring them into your practice.