How to Maintain ESD Flooring
ESD Flooring, or electrostatic discharge flooring, serves as way for electricity that accumulates on a person to be controlled and discharged into a ground point. Why is this important? Think about how many times you can remember the shock of static electricity after touching a metal door handle or even another person. To you, the transfer of electricity and the shock you feel from it can be jarring and even quite painful. To a printed circuit board or any other sensitive electronic component, the electrostatic transfer could damage or even destroy the parts you’ve worked so hard to create. In addition, working in flammable environments without ESD flooring could put you at risk for spark creation and explosions, causing injury or even death in some cases.
There are a variety of different ESD floor types to choose from including vinyl tiles, carpet tiles, rubber flooring, epoxy flooring, mats and floor finish. The type of flooring you decide upon will depend on your desired price point and the floor’s anti-static property levels and conductivity. Regardless of which floor type you go with, however, there will be some sort of maintenance required since the build up of dirt or dust on an ESD floor could prevent the static from dissolving properly into the ground.
The cleaning process can vary depending on which ESD floor you choose. For example, carpet and rubber only require simple maintenance in the form of vacuuming and steam cleaning for the carpet and mopping for the rubber. Vinyl is the most difficult to maintain, requiring regular buffing. It’s important to note that the process of cleaning ESD floors is not the same as cleaning the regular floors that you might have in your house. Many household products contain silicone, which leaves a residue behind and weakens the integrity of your ESD surface.
If your ESD floors are already treated with an ESD finish, the maintenance process could be made easier and your floors might be preserved longer. GoKimco offers several different ESD-safe finishes that are designed to provide high performance static control on any sealed or hard surface. These finishes have a durable, non-slip formulation and a high resistance to abrasion, all for an affordable price. You can find more information about these products here. We understand that the process of deciding whether you need an ESD finish might be confusing if you’re not sure which ESD floor you wish to choose yet. If you have any questions about the maintenance or cleaning process, be sure to contact us and we’ll be happy to assist.