Difference Between Floor Burnisher & Buffer

Operation

• A burnisher operates by slowing moving it back and forth over floor areas. Burnishers come in a variety of sizes based on the burnishing plate, which is covered by a burnishing pad. They can be operated by hand and some models are “ride-on” models for large hard floor areas that require frequent buffing. A burnisher is moved slowly across floor surfaces while the burnishing plate and pad rotate to polish floors. A buffer is a hand-operated machine and operates by applying light pressure on the handles to move the buffer in different directions.

Burnishing

• The high PRMs of a burnisher can easily shine and polish floors with no chemicals or products. For best results, a burnisher should be used on a clean, dry floor. It can be used on a variety of floor surfaces such as marble, hardwood and different types of tile. Chemicals such as buffing spray can be applied for additional shine. The buffing spray is applied to the floor’s surface and the burnisher slowly moves over the sprayed surface to polish the floor.

Buffing

• Buffers are used for a variety of cleaning applications, including stripping, cleaning and polishing floors. Stripping floors removes wax using floor stripper chemicals and the buffer to lift the wax off. Buffers can also scrub floors with standard floor cleaning chemicals to remove dirt and debris a standard mop can’t remove. Other applications include drying floors after mopping to leave the floors streak free.

Burnishing and Buffing Pads

• The pads used with burnishers and buffers are specifically designed for different applications and floor types. Pads range from abrasive to soft. Abrasive pads strip and scrub floors and softer pads shine and polish floors. Different soft textures, such as cotton cloth and lambs wool, shine different floor types. Along with cleaning and polishing floors, burnishers and buffers can be used to scrub carpets or lift carpet fibers after cleaning to improve the carpet’s appearance.