Faber Safe Marble Review
Slippery floors are a nuisance. Whether it is at home- especially with kids and the elderly who are at a higher risk of slip-and-fall accidents; in business premises where there are hundreds of people walking around on a daily basis- and complaints keep being lodged of workplace injuries; or for the cleaning contractors where you're working for your clients, and in the middle of the job innocent passers-by wind up sprawled all over on the floor. You don’t want your loved ones breaking a bone and grimacing in pain, or customers who have come over to your enterprise in search for your products and services winding up in the emergency room as a result of a nasty fall. The accidents can result in anything from a bruised ego, to actual injuries like sprains and strains, twisted wrists, hairline fractures to concussions based on the intensity of the fall, and how the body hits the ground.
Floors are slippery for different reasons. Take for instance during cleaning. The wrong chemicals may have been used, or the tools were soiled. The finishing coats applied may have been too little, or simply ineffective. Oily and over-treated dust mops are also a common cause. Then there are those floors that are simply slippery by nature- like marble and limestone installations. For these, the risks are heightened when they are wet. While they are elegant surfaces, installed everywhere from entryways and patios, kitchens and bathrooms, office buildings and hotel lobbies, in medical facilities, religious venues, recreational centres and even government institutions, they all come with this risk. However, you can still enjoy the aesthetic appeal of your installation and protect the persons on the premises at the same time. That's what the Faber Safe Marble has been developed for.
Benefits Of The Faber Safe Marble
- Enhances grip
This is its core mandate, and the water-based formulation delivers on it. It creates micro-erosions on the surface onto which it has been applied. Don’t fret- these are invisible to the naked eye, but still highly effective. In fact, they also boost water run-off, thus increasing grip even in wet conditions for both cases of persons walking barefoot and with footwear. By achieving this, Faber Safe Marble prevents slip and fall accidents- a particular concern for lime-based installations whether on indoor or outdoor surfaces. It does this without creating a film on the surface, and lasts for long, providing treatment for extended periods.
- Formulated for lime-based materials
These are by nature particularly troublesome to treat. However, Faber has developed the Safe Marble for effective application on them, to provide the non-slip attributes without also altering their colour. It achieves this while simultaneously enhancing their water-repellent properties. The product can be used on limestone, travertine, and agglomerates like marble-cement and marble-resin. It acts directly on the material, and you won’t have to worry about it affecting the structural integrity of your installation.
- Comes ready-to-use
No dilution is needed when treating the surface with the Faber Safe Marble. You get to hit the ground running. For the application itself, different equipment can be employed, from brushes and rollers to lambswool applicators. Remember to apply the product liberally on the surface, taking care to create an even layer. This should remain evenly wetted during the short curing period to follow. As such, you should redistribute the product as needed, and even apply an additional amount. This is to ensure a uniform appearance in the end, and an even non-slip surface. It's recommended that you work in small sections that are easy to manage. Note that the Faber Safe Marble should not be applied to the surface when it is damp or wet, and when it has been directly exposed to the sun. In fact, you should ideally wait for the coolest periods within the day to proceed with the application. Any pre-existing treatments such as wax and resin should also be first removed from the surface to enable the product to come into direct contact with it. Ensure that the floor has been thoroughly cleaned too before application.
- Fast drying
Floors treated with Faber Safe Marble will be ready to use in under an hour. For instance, the curing period for soft marble surfaces, limestone and the soft lime-based floors is 10-20 minutes. After this, simply remove the excess product from the surface, then rinse with water. Let it dry and voila! You can allow foot traffic back onto it. For the hard and more compact lime-based surfaces, it will take 15-30 minutes. The specific time varies from floor to floor, due to differences in terms of composition, surface hardness and the resistance. The final non-slip outcome depends on the particular material. If after 30 minutes of curing time the results aren't exactly as desired for your particular flooring, you can proceed with allowances of 10-minute intervals.
You can carry out a preliminary test for the time periods that you should follow for your installation. This can be done on a concealed area, or a piece of material that hadn't yet been laid. This will enable you to determine the exact contact time that you will allow after treating the surface with the Faber Safe Marble. It will be the guide that will use for the rest of the floor area. Assess the result after you've rinsed this test area. That way, you won’t have any residue giving you an incorrect impression of the end-result. When performing the test, assess the performance in wet floor conditions, and also simulate a person walking by manually pressing down on the surface with your fingertips, to gauge the level of grip that is provided.
- Cost-effective packaging
You can get the Faber Safe Marble in affordable 1L bottles, 5L cans, or the larger 10L cans. This depends on the maintenance needs of your establishment, and the size of the floor area that you have to cover. The formulation itself has a wide 20-30 m²/L coverage rate, hence each unit gets to provide you with optimal surface treatment. Avoiding the medical costs, and liabilities from workplace injury claims that would have resulted from slip-and-fall accidents, is a welcome bonus