Weinheim, June 2012. With regards to hygiene and cleaning, rubber in hospitals is far superior to any other kind of resilient floor covering. That is the finding of a study that has just been published by the University of Linz in Austria.

In collaboration with GESPAG, the body responsible for hospitals in Upper Austria, scientists had spent several months closely examining various types of resilient floor covering. The purpose of the study was to ascertain whether and how the optical appearance of the coverings changed during the course of normal day-to-day use and cleaning in a hospital. The experts also tested the hygienic properties of all the floor coverings.

Different cleaning methods

For the study, two commercially available PVC coverings (PU-coated and UV-cured), two linoleum coverings (PU-coated und water-based) and two uncoated rubber floor coverings (norament grano and noraplan signa) from the global market leader, nora systems, were installed in the corridors of the pathology department at the Wagner-Jauregg State Psychiatric Clinic between July and December 2011.

The floor coverings were cleaned during the test period using different cleaning methods, either manually and with a machine using readily available cleaning agents, as well as with a machine and nora diamond pads, a method which only requires water.

Bacteriological tests

The test set-up also included a so-called contact test to determine how the different cleaning methods influence the bacterial contamination. This involved contaminating all the coverings with the same bacterial concentration of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli and then cleaning them in different ways. Afterwards, the scientists spread a breeding ground over an area of the floor in the form of a gelatinous mass and measured the bacterial count and types.

PU coatings peel quickly

First result of the study: In a hospital environment, PU coatings only have a very short service life which is diminished even further by the use of cleaning machines. After five months, the coating on the tested floor coverings had even disappeared completely. After the end of the test phase, the surfaces of both the linoleum and the PVC coverings were marked by distinct scratches.

Rubber displays “excellent cleaning behaviour”

The two linoleum coverings and one of the PVC coverings were judged to be “hard to keep clean” by the cleaning staff, while a second PVC covering was only slightly better. The rubber floor coverings were the easiest to keep clean, with “norament grano” being favoured by the cleaning staff.

The scientists came to the conclusion that the PVC and linoleum coatings would have to be renewed at short intervals to acquire satisfactory cleaning results and avoid any damage to the floor covering. “The uncoated nora floor coverings, on the other hand, displayed excellent cleaning behaviour with all the cleaning methods throughout the entire test period,” the study found. At the end of the test phase, the rubber coverings still practically looked like new.

High satisfaction with nora pads

A further interesting finding was that the results of the bacteriological tests showed that cleaning with pads and without chemicals, but just with water, is at least just as effective as traditional cleaning methods. “It became evident that cleaning with diamond pads and just water produced equivalent results, and no increase in the recovery rate of the bacterial count could be observed,” reported the scientists.

The optical appearance of the rubber coverings after being cleaned with nora pads was outstanding: “Cleaning nora coverings with diamond pads leads to a high level of customer satisfaction, and allows the choice of anywhere between a high-gloss finish and a matt surface without diminishing the cleaning capability.”