OREANDA-NEWS. August 29, 2012. Basotect® delivers cost and time savings for professional floor cleaners in the USA: The melamine resin foam from BASF is used as a floor pad in standard cleaning machines. These machines, which are sold through specialty suppliers in the cleaning trade, are used for polishing, scrubbing, and removing layers of grease and heavy dirt.

The main component of the floor pad is Basotect W, an improved cleaning version of the melamine resin foam, which was launched on the market two years ago. This new type of pad system offers advantages to cleaning companies: “A great benefit of this floor pad is that it cleans without the use of aggressive cleaning agents,” says John Miller, Vice President of Sales and Marketing from Americo, a manufacturer of cleaning products and the supplier of the new pad system, located in Georgia, USA. Thanks to its slightly abrasive properties, Basotect works like soft sandpaper. All you need to do is add water or very mild cleaning solution to thoroughly clean floors.

In addition, cleaning companies save time. “Compared with the usual process, which involves scrubbing and then the application of wax protective layers, the Basotect pad does not take the luster off the floor,” adds Miller. This means that fewer work cycles are required and the final polishing step can be eliminated entirely. The pads are suitable for cleaning and restoring ceramic or porcelain tiles, VCT, concrete, terrazzo, and epoxy floors.

Basotect W is certified to the Oko-Tex® Standard 100 in the highest and thus safest product class I: this indicates that the foam is deemed to be harmless to health when used or processed. No substances that are harmful to health are released or absorbed through the skin.

Queen City Manufacturing has actively championed this new system solution in the cleaning market in the USA. "Basotect is already used very successfully as a household cleaning eraser. We have now made it possible to utilize the high cleaning power of the foam in professional floor cleaning," explains Steve Nappo, Vice President of Queen City Manufacturing, manufacturer of melamine sponges, located in Grand Island, New York, USA. To achieve this, the BASF foam is bonded to a nonwoven fabric made from fully recycled polyester fibers that allow it to be securely attached to the cleaner. Then, the foam is cut to the required sizes to achieve a perfect fit.