BUFFING vs burnishing
Find out why it matters whether you use a burnisher or buffer and how variables such as:
- Traffic
- Traffic Type
- Finish Type
- Facility Type
All matter and will determine if your VCT floor maintenance is a success.
Buff or Burnish?
Understanding The Difference 300 rpm vs 3000 rpm
In the commercial cleaning industry many janitorial “pros” don’t even know the difference between a buffer and a burnisher and pretty much call everything “buffing.”
To make it simple a buffer is used for multi-purpose operations from carpet cleaning to stripping / refinishing to creating / maintaining a low level shine on finished floors while a burnisher is for finish quality / shine maintenance only.
The Buffer
This multi-purpose machine is available in sizes between 10″ to 20″ (and larger but it’s rarely used) and rpm ranges between 175-300. Don’t spend money on the 175 RPM version as it’s too slow and you’ll waste more labor than the $50 you’d save going slower. Also 17″ is about the ideal size as 20″ is typically awkward and harder to use in hallways/etc while smaller buffers don’t have enough weight behind them making them less effective.
Buffers are designed to be heavy concentrating the bulk of the weight over the center of the pad driver where the motor sits directly over. Buffers are more durable and the motor bearings are designed to handle extreme resistance when scrubbing floors. They can be used to:
- Strip floors
- As carpet cleaning machines with bonnets
- Create a low level shine on finished floors
- Repair finish damage from scuffs/etc
- Cleaning floors
Keep in mind that buffers are limited on how well they repair floor finish because of the low speed operation. They also cannot handle more modern “high speed” finishes that require a burnisher.
Burnishers
Burnisher models typically spin at a maximum rpm of between 1500-3000. The most practical range is between 1500-2000 which uses electric versions that are more reasonable vs the big propane powered versions required to perform at 3000 rpm.
Burnishers are lighter with the weight focused off the pad driver and towards the back wheels of the machine. The pad driver has almost no weight on it by design and almost floats on the floor as the bearings are designed to spin as fast as possible with little resistance or they’ll burn out fast. They can be used to:
- Maintain high speed floor finishes
- Maintain all burnishable finishes
Burnishers are the best overall for maintaining modern floor finishes but are limited to this only – nothing else. They also are unforgiving when using over dirty floors so do not try and burnish a dirty floor – you’ll ruin the finish and possibly burn up the motor bearings as well.