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PLASTICIZER MIGRATION OF NEW FLOOR TILE
The advent of vinyl tile floors created a new problem in
floor maintenance. All resilient floors containing Polyvinyl
Chloride contain a flexing agent known as a plasticizer.
Without this plasticizer, resilient tile would be as brittle
and unflexible as a potato chip. Unfortunately for the first
six months to a year that a new vinyl floor is laid, the
plasticizer has a tendency to migrate surface. This phenomena
of plasticizer migration occurs to some degree in all new
floors until the floor has “cured” and the plasticizer goes
to its final resting place. This migration can penetrate
into a floor polish film, making it soft and tacky. The
result is excessive scuffing and even “gluing” down of furniture.
A tile which has laid in a warehouse for a considerable
length of time is less apt to experience this problem than
a tile fresh from the factory.
There is really very little that can be done to remedy this.
Prior to finishing the floor a good scrubbing with a butyl
cleaner does remove all the plasticizer which has migrated
to the surface, but it will continue to re-migrate for several
weeks to months until cured.
As long as the customer knows what to expect from a newly
laid floor he can react accordingly. |
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