Diamond floor pads for sparkling results
August 1st 2006

Delivering superior shine, eradicating the use of harsh chemicals and eliminating periodic cleaning, diamond encrusted Twister pads are a genuine innovation, yet extremely simple, says Andrew Baird, director of The Cleaning Pad Company. His only problem now is keeping up with demand. Brendan Coyne reports

Developed by Swedish floor care and grinding specialist, HTC, Twister Pads contain billions of microscopic diamonds to achieve, according to users, noticeably better results. The pads fit any make of scrubber or polishing machine, cut out chemical usage and reduce and even eliminate the need for periodic floor maintenance. Already popular in Scandinavia, The Cleaning Pad Company began distributing Twister in the UK earlier this year. Director of the business, Andrew Baird, says it's now a case of keeping up with orders.

"It's effective on any hard surface floor you're effectively giving a diamond cut finish to your floor every day in the normal cleaning window for your site. It's a very simple process if you have cleaners who can use scrubber dryers or buffing machines they can use the Twister pads in exactly the same way. But they deliver the best clean possible there is no other pad out there that can do what the Twister pad can do. They deliver a high gloss non slip finish; reduce chemical use (you don't have to use any chemical at all) and eradicate periodic cleans which involve sealing a floor every three or four months. Which is a significant cost and labour saving." Baird says these savings offset the purchase cost which he says is neither dirt cheap nor astronomical to make them a "very viable option".

Baird explains it's a progressive, three stage process: first grind the floor down and then bring up the shine and gloss on the floor surface and that standard can then be maintained on a daily basis. "The only thing the operative has to do is ensure the pad is on the right way up and give it a 3 minute clean with a brush and some water at the end of the shift so that it stays effective for as long as possible," says Baird. "And by doing that, the pads will last for three weeks performing a daily clean over a floor area of 40,000sq ft."

So far he says the UK market reaction has been extremely positive. TC Cleaning Contractors has rolled out the pad across the 330 Tesco stores it manages and Baird says he has not had a single piece of negative feedback. "On the contrary, within a few weeks it was 'Get me more pads!' which we are more than happy to do. And the pads are now starting to move across all the markets: MITIE Retail has started to introduce the pads to its various sites and I'm trying to get as many trials on the go as possible because once people see what the pads can do, they are won over. It's almost too good to be true, so keeping up with demand is my biggest problem. But that's a great problem to have!"

Whereas retail relies on high standards to maintain the customer's experience, it is not the only market for Twister. Baird says any premises with hardfloor and machinery to clean it should at least take a look at the technology, as it's simply a case of changing the pads on their existing scrubbers or buffers, and so no real investment risk.

"Just give me a call," says Baird. "It's a simple system so all we need to arrange a trial is some simple information: What size pad your machine takes, and what type of floor is being cleaned. After that, it sells itself..."

For further information or to arrange a trial, simply call the number below or use the reader enquiry service.

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