Stripping floor finishes using composition that thickens following dilution with water
AssigneesEcolab Inc., Rohm and Haas Company
InventorsGregory Griese, Mark Levitt, Brian Leafblad, Minyu Li, Robert Hei, Steven Lange, Jan Shulman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Floor finishes can be stripped using a substantially nonchlorinated concentrate comprising a floor finish dissolver and an at least partially water-unactivated water thickener. The concentrate is diluted with water at an intended use location to activate the water thickener and noticeably increase within sixty minutes or less the viscosity of the resulting mixture, then applied to a hardened floor finish atop a floor and allowed to soften or dissolve the floor finish so that the finish may be removed from the floor.
Claims45
A method for stripping a floor comprising:
- a) providing a substantially nonchlorinated concentrate comprising a floor finish dissolver and an at least partially water-unactivated water thickener;
- b) diluting the concentrate with water at an intended use location to activate the water thickener and noticeably increase within sixty minutes or less the viscosity of the resulting mixture;
- c) applying the resulting thickened stripper to a hardened floor finish atop a floor;
- d) allowing the applied stripper to soften or dissolve the floor finish;
- and
- e) removing the softened or dissolved finish from the floor.
A method for stripping a floor comprising:
- a) providing a substantially nonchlorinated concentrate comprising a floor finish dissolver comprising benzyl alcohol, a dibasic ester, an essential oil, a dialkyl carbonate, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, diethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylene glycol phenyl ether, propylene glycol phenyl ether, ethanolamine, caustic material or mixture thereof;
- an at least partially water-unactivated water thickener comprising Xanthan gum, diutan gum, gellan gum, an acrylate copolymer, natural clay, synthetic clay, or mixture thereof;
- and less than 3 percent water based on the concentrate weight;
- b) diluting the concentrate with water at an intended use location to activate the water thickener and noticeably increase within sixty minutes or less the viscosity of the resulting mixture;
- c) applying the resulting thickened stripper to a hardened floor finish atop a resilient flooring substrate;
- d) allowing the applied stripper to soften or dissolve the floor finish;
- and
- e) removing the softened or dissolved finish from the floor.
A water-thickenable floor finish stripper concentrate composition comprising a floor finish dissolver, an at least partially water-unactivated water thickener and a metal ion-containing compound, wherein when the concentrate is diluted with at least an equal volume of water the viscosity of the resulting diluted mixture noticeably increases within sixty minutes or less, and wherein the metal ion-containing compound can interact with the water thickener to lower the viscosity of the concentrate without appreciably reducing the increase in the diluted mixture viscosity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.