It's something cleaning staff across the country are used to. The more snow there is, the more ice melt is required, and the more mess it leaves behind on floors. This year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is forecasting a wetter-than-average winter for the northern part of the US, and drier than average conditions to the south. See the map provided by NOAA:
NOAA doesn't make predictions about actual snowfall, as that can usually only be determined within a week or two. However, it does mean that the portions of the country with above average expected precipitation could have more ice and snow. For the Pacific Northwest and into the Northern Plains, lower than average temperatures are expected this winter as well.1
There are three main issues with ice melt residue:
- The most obvious—the white powdery residue looks unattractive.
- If left on the floor, it can dull or damage floors.
- Ice melt made of calcium chloride or magnesium chloride can also leave a slippery residue.
There are some steps to help prevent this residue from being deposited on floors in the first place, however. Consider installing floor mats or runners. They can absorb a lot of moisture and debris from the outside. A scraping mat can also work wonders preventing the outside mess from getting tracked in. Also, consider using a fertilizer spreader to distribute the ice melt more evenly. Using a scoop or pouring from the bag can lead to an excess of ice melt being used.
However, no matter what steps you take, cleaning the floors regularly will be necessary. Cleaning 2-3 times a day may be needed so that the ice melt residue doesn't sit on the floor's surface for too long and cause damage. Unfortunately, ice melt residue is known to be difficult to clean up.
For this, we recommend our Green Certified Neutral Floor Cleaner. It’s been proven to cut through ice melt with ease and replaces your neutralizer and detergent with one product.
Here’s our recommended cleaning procedure using this product:
Equipment Needed: Pump-Up Sprayer and Mop OR Autoscrubber
- Assess the soil load/residue on the surface.
- Fill Pump Up Sprayer with Heavy Duty cleaning solution.
- Pre-Spray area with Heavy Duty cleaning solution. Be sure to saturate the surface thoroughly. Keeping the surface wet is key to residue removal.
- Let the product sit for 2-3 minutes.
- Use a mop buck or autoscrubber with clean water to remove the excess liquid. Change your water frequently to make sure you’re not putting salt residue back on the floor.
If you need a handy recap of their benefits, we have info sheets that cover what our products can do for you to get rid of the ice melt mess. Click on the preview picture to download the info sheet for our Green Certified Super-Concentrate Neutral Floor Cleaner, or our Green Certified Hyper-Concentrate Neutral Floor Cleaner from our Absolute Cleaning System.