How to Clean Synthetic Sport Floors

Taraflex®, Pulastic®, Elastiplus® and Herculan® Sport Floor Cleaning Procedures

Experience dictates that synthetic sport floors look great when they’re first installed, but after they’re put to use for sport related activities or non-sport social functions, the floors tend to get marked up, scuffed, and become real dirty very quickly. The supplier or installer of your new floor suggests you purchase a cleaner specifically designed for your new synthetic/rubber sport floor. However, they rarely ever explain or demonstrate the proper technique to keep the floors looking like new. And technique is the key!

These floors typically possess a very slight orange peel texture on their surface. This tends to grab the dirt and soil off of the street/sport shoe and after a few weeks of use, the floor looks dingy. To prevent future dirt build-up on the floor, Gym Floor Resource has developed some proven strategies and techniques for scuff removal, daily, and restoration cleaning. Along with removing marks on the gym floor, minimizing dust and dirt is also essential for keeping floors looking their best. If dirt and dust are allowed to build up and scuff marks are left unattended, floors will become dull.

Daily Cleaning with: Tac-Tite Speed Mop or CourtClean Unit

  • Check for and remove from entire floor any foreign sticky matter such as gum and loose tape with a putty knife.
  • Dust mop the entire sport floor thoroughly with a clean 60″ or 72″ Dust Defender™ Microfiber Gym Mop.
  • Mix 2 oz. of Tac-Tite Neutral Sport Floor Cleaner per 1 gallon of cold tap water in a large clean bucket with a properly working wringer.
  • Immerse several clean Tac-Tite Speed Mop heads or 2 CourtClean Towels (if using the CourtClean Unit) into the mixed cleaning solution.
  • Push the Tac-Tite Speed Mop up and down the floor changing the heads as needed. Pull the CourtClean Unit changing and moving the towels to a clean side as needed.

Daily Cleaning with: Auto-Scrubber

  • Check for and remove from entire floor any foreign sticky matter such as gum and loose tape with a putty knife.
  • Dust mop the entire sport floor thoroughly with a clean 60″ or 72″ Dust Defender™ Microfiber Gym Mop.
  • Mix 2 oz. of Tac-Tite Neutral Sport Floor Cleaner per 1 gallon of cold tap water in an Auto-Scrubber with a properly working vacuum squeegee.
  • Using a blue scrub pad or scrub brush, clean entire floor using the single scrub method(applying cleaning solution, scrubbing, picking up in 1 pass).

Maintenance Tips

  • Use WatherHog™ at entrances to gym and high-traffic areas. Vacuum daily.
  • Dust mop the entire floor 2-3 times per day if possible.
  • Put properly functioning wheels and supports on chairs and movable equipment to minimize indentations.
  • When using a battery operated auto scrubber, be sure it is properly charged so battery acid does not leak on the floor.
  • Make sure that the squeegee is in good working order to pick up water.

Scuff and Black Mark Removal

  • Using a pump up tank sprayer, mix 8 oz. of GFR’s Citra Blaze cleaner to 1 gallon tap water Front Mounted Squeegee Wet Vac
  • Spray any black shoe marks and white scuffs with a semi-mist setting on the sprayer.
  • Leave cleaner dwell on the floor for 2-3 minutes
  • Using the Fas-Stick Scuff Removal Tool with the yellow scuff pad, scrub the marks off the floor.
  • Rinse the entire floor with an auto-scrubber, or use the Tac-Tite Speed Mop or the CourtClean Unit with a bucket and wringer containing clean rinse water.

Restoration Cleaning (Getting the floor to look like new again)

  • Check for and remove from entire floor any foreign sticky matter such as gum and loose tape with a putty knife.
  • Dust mop the entire sport floor thoroughly with a clean 60″ or 72″ Dust Defender™ Microfiber Gym Mop.
  • Mix 4 oz. of GFR’s Citra Blaze cleaner to 1 gallon tap water in a clean bucket and wringer.
  • In controlled areas using game lines as a guide apply copious amounts of mixed cleaning solution with a fan-tail mop or auto-scrubber
  • Leave cleaner dwell on the floor for 2-3 minutes
  • Using a 20″ rotary 175 RPM floor machine (scrubber/buffer) and a blue cleaning pad, scrub the wet areas back and forth overlapping a third. Heal the floor machine on any stubborn black or white scuff marks.
    ( If floor is heavily scuffed utilize a 1 part of Citra Blaze cleaner to 4 parts water mixture using a pump up tank sprayer. Heavily soiled areas on the floor can also be pre-sprayed before applying diluted cleaner)
  • Rinse the just cleaned area of the floor with auto-scrubber using red scrub pad and clean water.
  • Dry floor with a high velocity air mover if needed.