How we made this guide: picks, prices and specs come from our catalog and the makers' published specs, owner quotes come from customer reviews on our product pages and every guide is checked and edited by Trevor Hall.
Floor stripping and waxing on VCT means applying stripper mixed to the label's dilution, letting it dwell, scrubbing with a 175 RPM machine and a black pad, picking up the slurry with a wet vac and rinsing twice. Then you lay 3 to 5 thin coats of finish, each dried to the label's recoat time, so plan on a long day for one room and a moderate job for a first-timer.
A low-speed machine such as the Mercury Lo-Boy L-21E at $1,199.95 does the scrubbing, and a wet/dry vacuum such as the Tornado Taskforce 20 at $699 clears the slurry.
Quick answer
Dilution, dwell time, recoat time and full-hardness time come from the labels on your stripper and finish, and they override any rule of thumb. Work in small sections so the stripper never dries on the floor. Browse the low-speed floor machines for the scrubbing step or all floor machines we carry.
What you need before you start
Each tool does one step. The machines below are the ones we carry for it.
- Stripper and finish made for your floor type. Read both labels before you start.
- A 175 RPM floor machine with a black stripping pad and a pad driver.
- A wet/dry vacuum or squeegee tool for slurry pickup.
- Mop buckets, a flat mop or finish applicator, neutral rinse, wet-floor signs, gloves and eye protection.
Stripping workhorse
Mercury Lo-Boy Ultra Quiet Floor Machine 21" Apron 1.5 HP Motor 175 RPM Brush Speed L-21E
$1,199.95
A 175 RPM, 21 inch apron machine with a 50 ft cord for scrubbing off old finish.
| Machine | Job in the strip | Price | Key specs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury Lo-Boy L-21E | Scrub with a black pad | $1,199.95 | 175 RPM, 21 in apron, 105 lb, 50 ft cord |
| Tornado M Series 17 | Scrub on low, spray-buff on high | $1,099 | 175 / 320 RPM, 17 in path, 100 lb |
| Mytee ECO17-PRO | Orbital machine for floor cleaning | $3,158 | 17 in path, 120 lb, 50 ft cord, 20 A |
| Tornado Taskforce 20 | Slurry pickup | $699 | 90 in water lift, 20 gal tank |
| EDIC Saturn 20 burnisher | Burnish fully hardened finish | $1,488 | 2,000 RPM, 20 in head, 96 lb, 15 A |
| Powr-Flite Multiwash 14 | Clean between strips | $1,911.68 | 13 in cleaning width, 1 gal tank, 53 lb |
Step 1: Clear the room and read the labels
Move furniture out, dust-mop the floor and put out wet-floor signs. Read the stripper's label and safety data sheet for dilution, dwell time, ventilation and gloves and the finish's label for coats and dry time.
Check the floor's age before you strip. OSHA's asbestos guidance says flooring installed around 1980 or earlier should be presumed to contain asbestos unless a lab test shows it does not, and its asbestos standards call for stripping such floors with wet methods, low-abrasion pads and machine speeds under 300 rpm, with no sanding. A black pad is the most aggressive stripping pad, so have older tile tested before the first strip and follow the standard if it tests positive.
Step 2: Mix and apply the stripper
Mix the stripper to the dilution on its label, with the water temperature the label asks for. Work a section small enough to finish before the stripper dries, typically a few square yards at a time. Lay a generous, even coat with a mop or applicator, without puddling it at the seams. Stripper that dries on the floor leaves a film that is hard to rinse out, so keep the section wet for the whole dwell time. Armstrong's VCT maintenance guide gives the same rule.
Step 3: Let it dwell
Dwell is the time the stripper sits softening the finish, and the label sets it. Do not scrub early, and do not let it sit past the label's time. If the floor starts to dry at the edges, add more solution to that section.
Step 4: Scrub with a 175 RPM machine and a black pad
Fit a black stripping pad to the pad driver and scrub the section with overlapping passes. The low-speed class suits stripping because it drives an aggressive pad with steady torque without slinging the stripper across the room. Use the Lo-Boy for open rooms, or a dual-speed unit like the Tornado M Series 17 for spray-buffing later. Edges and corners need a hand pad or a detail tool, because a round pad cannot reach into a corner or tight to the baseboard (the Lo-Boy L-21E runs a 19 inch pad driver under its 21 inch apron).
Budget dual-speed pick
Tornado M Series 17" Metal Floor Machine, Dual Speed,175/320 RPM (98476)
$1,099
Strips on 175 RPM and runs 320 RPM for spray-buffing, for crews that want one machine.
Pad colors for stripping and finishing
This is the common industry color code. Makers' charts differ, so check your pad maker's chart before you buy. The 3M pad chart, for example, lists black and brown as stripping pads and red as a light-scrubbing pad.
| Pad color | Common use | Machine speed |
|---|---|---|
| Black | Stripping old finish | Low speed (175 RPM class) |
| Brown | Stripping on uneven floors | Low speed |
| Green | Heavy scrubbing before refinishing | Low speed |
| Blue | Heavy scrubbing, removing the top 1 or 2 coats before a recoat | Low speed |
| Red | Light scrubbing and spray buffing | Low or dual speed |
| White | Light cleaning and polishing | Low speed |
| Tan or other burnishing pads | Burnishing fully hardened finish | High speed only |
Step 5: Pick up the slurry
Do not let slurry dry on the floor. Pick it up with a wet vacuum or a squeegee tool while the section is still wet, then move to the next section. The Tornado Taskforce 20 lists a 90 in water lift and a 20 gal tank. See all our wet/dry vacuums.
Slurry pickup
Tornado Taskforce 20 Wet/Dry Industrial Canister Vacuum With Trot-Mop (94236)
$699
A 20 gal tank and 90 in water lift for clearing stripper slurry section by section.
Step 6: Rinse twice
Rinse the floor with clean water and a neutral rinse as the stripper label directs, then pick it up and rinse again.
Before you rinse, check that the old finish is gone: re-strip any spot that still looks glossy or where a fingernail scrapes up finish. After the second rinse, wipe a dry spot with a clean white cloth. A hazy or powdery film means stripper residue is left, so rinse again. Let the floor dry fully before the first coat.
Step 7: Apply 3 to 5 thin coats of finish
Lay finish thin and even with a clean applicator, and keep it off the baseboards. Armstrong's VCT maintenance guide calls for 3 to 5 coats of polish after a strip, laid only once the rinsed floor is completely dry. Wait for each coat to dry to the finish label's time before the next, and run the next coat in the opposite direction to the one before.
Lay the first coats edge to edge, then stop later coats a little short of the walls, where traffic never wears them, so finish does not build up along the baseboards.
| Coat | What to do | Wait before the next step |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thin, even coat, edge to edge | Dry to the touch, then the label's recoat time (one maker lists 20 to 30 minutes) |
| 2 | Second thin coat, opposite direction | Dry to the touch, then the label's recoat time (one maker lists 20 to 30 minutes) |
| 3 | Third thin coat. Many floors stop here | Dry to the touch, then the label's recoat time (one maker lists 20 to 30 minutes) |
| 4 and 5 | For high-traffic floors, if the label allows | Some finishes allow no more than 4 coats in 24 hours, so coat 5 may wait a day. Then the label's wait before burnishing |
What most people call floor wax is a polymer floor finish, and it dries fast but hardens fully only over days. Recoat times vary by product: one large finish maker's data sheet lists 20 to 30 minutes between coats, while other makers' sheets list 2 to 5 hours. Heat, humidity, airflow and coat thickness move those times, and your finish label has the final word.
Step 8: Burnish only after the finish has hardened
A burnisher polishes fully hardened finish to a higher gloss. Dry to the touch is not fully hardened: one large finish maker asks for 24 hours before burnishing one of its finishes and 48 to 72 hours for its high-speed finish, so wait for your label's burnish time. The EDIC Saturn 20 runs at 2,000 RPM with a 20 in head and a 5 year parts and labor warranty. Compare our floor burnishers.
Burnish last
EDIC Saturn 20" High-Speed Floor Burnisher, 2000 RPM 20HS2000-BK-SV
$1,488
A 2,000 RPM burnisher for polishing fully hardened finish, not for stripping.
175 RPM or orbital for stripping
A rotary 175 RPM machine like the Lo-Boy is the usual stripping tool: a round pad spinning at a steady speed against the floor. An orbital machine moves the pad in small oscillations and keeps solution closer to the floor, so there is less splash. The Mytee ECO17-PRO at $3,158 is a 17 inch orbital whose listing names VCT among its uses. Mytee's ECO-PRO manual covers cleaning with its spray jets and gives no stripping instructions, so apply stripper with a mop as in Step 2, not through the onboard tank and pump. Ask Mytee before you strip with it. The manual also calls for a 20 amp, 115 V outlet, so check the circuit first. It is one of our best-selling floor machines.
Orbital option
Mytee ECO17-PRO All Surface 17″ Orbital Floor Machine, 1.5 horsepower
$3,158
Choose it for orbital scrubbing on VCT, LVT and tile, at the highest price of the machines here.
Skip it if you only strip a few times a year. A rotary machine costs less.
Keep the finish between strips
Regular cleaning keeps you from stripping as often. When the top coats wear but the base is sound, a scrub and recoat (scrub off the top coat or two with a blue or green pad, rinse, then lay 1 or 2 fresh coats) restores the floor without a full strip.
A small walk-behind scrubber like the Powr-Flite Multiwash 14 at $1,911.68 cleans floors with counter-rotating brushes, a 1 gal solution tank and a 69 dBA sound level. We do not suggest it for stripping. Owner reviews on our product page average 4.9 from 10 reviews. One owner wrote:
“Works great where I’ve used it so far only downside is I wish it had a bigger dirty water tank”
Powr-Flite 14" Multiwash Automatic Scrubber PFMW14 owner · 4 out of 5 stars
Between-strip cleaning
Powr-Flite 14" Multiwash Automatic Scrubber PFMW14
$1,911.68 · 4.9 from 10 reviews
A compact scrubber with a 13 in cleaning width for routine cleaning, not for stripping.
For routine care, see our VCT floor maintenance guide.
Common mistakes
- Letting stripper dry on the floor. Work smaller sections.
- Skipping the second rinse. Residue clouds the finish.
- Laying thick coats. They dry slowly and cloud.
Frequently asked questions
How do you strip and wax a floor?
Mix stripper to the label dilution, lay it on a small section, let it dwell for the label's time and scrub it with a 175 RPM machine and a black pad. Pick up the slurry, rinse twice, then lay 3 to 5 thin coats of finish, each dried to the label's time.
How much does it cost to strip and wax a commercial floor?
Contractors usually price by the square foot, and the rate changes with region, floor condition, room access and the number of coats. Ask two or three local floor care contractors for a written per-square-foot bid that states how many coats of finish it includes. If you do it yourself, the main costs are stripper, finish, pads and a machine, such as a low-speed floor machine.
Should you wax your floors?
On VCT, a finish protects the tile from scuffs and makes routine cleaning easier. Some floors are not made to take a polymer finish, so check the floor maker's care guide before you apply one.
How can I remove wax from tile?
Use a stripper made for the floor type, mixed to its label. Scrub it off with the right pad, then rinse until the water runs clean. Test a small spot first. For VCT, follow the steps above.
How long does floor wax take to dry?
Each coat must be dry before the next, and recoat times vary by product: one large finish maker lists 20 to 30 minutes between coats and other finishes list several hours. Hardening takes longer, and that maker asks for 24 to 72 hours before burnishing depending on the finish. Never put the next coat over finish that is still tacky.
Get the right machine for the strip
