Polyurethane flooring is a remarkable invention with impressive features especially relevant to food and beverage manufacturing applications. Ask anyone in the industry with polyurethane flooring installed in Johannesburg, and they will tell you the proof is in the pudding.
Easy on the eye, polyurethane flooring boasts impressive practical benefits making it a superior choice for the food and beverage sector.
Superior Hygiene
For any business in the food and beverage game to remain operational and uphold a squeaky-clean reputation, mandatory health standards must be adhered to, and immaculate hygiene conditions maintained.
Food contamination and health scandals can have reputational implications for a company, which could cost them dearly.
While there is an operational aspect to maintaining hygiene, much of it comes down to how food and beverage processing and manufacturing facilities are built. One of the key factors to incorporate into a well-designed and low-risk food and beverage plant is a hygienic floor.
Polyurethane flooring offers a hygienic and sanitary solution with a smooth and seamless finish that is easy to clean and impossible for bacteria to find nooks and crannies to grow in.
Better yet, certain polyurethane flooring solutions in the Technical Finishes Polyscreed© range of screeds and coatings contain antimicrobial silver ion technology that kills up to 99.9% of all known bacteria upon contact. Quite literally, such a floor would be safe to eat off.
Chemical Resistance
Food and beverage flooring facilities see a lot of spills daily, some relatively harmless, some harmful. Spills involving highly acidic ingredients, oil, grease, and boiling hot liquids regularly end up on floors.
Flooring solutions need to be able to withstand regular spillage without corroding. When floors corrode, they become a tripping hazard, a hotbed for bacteria, and look shabby.
Polyurethane floors offer exceptional chemical resistance and withstand the harshest chemicals and nastiest spills, comfortably handling the harsh cleaning agents and sanitising chemicals required in the daily cleaning processes of food and beverage manufacturing facilities.
Non-slip Safety
Aside from being able to handle caustic chemicals without issue, polyurethane flooring also makes food and beverage manufacturing facilities physically safer. Somewhat rubbery, the texture of polyurethane flooring is naturally slip resistant, a critical feature for a frequent spill environment.
For even greater safety, some polyurethane flooring solutions are formulated to enhance the slip-resistance properties, making it almost impossible to slip at all. The Polyscreed UT product, for example, is a Technical Finishes special formulation designed to have an extremely high coefficient of friction, effectively eliminating slippage, even in very wet conditions.
The perpetual smoothness of polyurethane flooring also makes for a safe and predictable surface on which to walk and work as there are no seams, cracks, or uneven sections that could cause a person to trip and fall.
Temperature Resistance
Food and beverage facilities are often subjected to extreme temperatures, sometimes switching from one extreme to another very rapidly. This kind of temperature shock can cause lesser flooring solutions to crack. However, polyurethane takes it all in stride.
Thanks to the inherent flexibility and unique molecular construction of polyurethane, it can handle extreme temperature fluctuations without becoming damaged, expanding and contracting with temperature changes with relative ease.
Polyurethane withstands the high-pressure and high heat of steam cleaning sanitisation processes, and copes with the very low temperatures of refrigerated rooms.
Keen to discover firsthand why polyurethane flooring is ideal for your food and beverage business? To experience our high-quality polyurethane flooring solutions in Johannesburg, contact us at Technical Finishes today. Shop some of the best brands in the business and get expert advice on which formulation is best for your food and beverage facility.