If you manage a commercial facility with vinyl composition tile (VCT), sheet vinyl, or certain luxury vinyl plank floors, floor strip and wax is the most impactful service you'll schedule all year. It's also one of the most misunderstood — and most frequently under-scheduled.
What Actually Happens During Strip & Wax
Strip and wax isn't one step — it's five distinct phases that together restore a floor from its current state to a showroom-quality finish:
- Chemical stripping: A high-pH stripper is applied and allowed to dwell. It breaks down old finish layers — accumulated wax, embedded soil, scuff marks, and oxidation.
- Mechanical agitation: A floor machine with a stripping pad agitates the softened finish, lifting it from the floor surface.
- Extraction and rinse: The slurry of old finish and chemical is removed with a wet vacuum. The floor is rinsed thoroughly to remove all chemical residue.
- New finish application: 4–6 coats of commercial-grade floor finish are applied in thin, even layers. Each coat dries before the next is added.
- High-speed buffing: After the final coat cures, the floor is buffed to its maximum gloss level.
The result is a floor that looks new — mirror-bright, uniformly finished, and significantly more resistant to daily wear and scuffing.
When You Need a Full Strip vs. a Scrub and Recoat
Not every dull floor needs a full chemical strip. If the existing finish is still intact but simply worn and dull, a scrub and recoat — applying new finish over a properly cleaned and prepared existing layer — may restore appearance at lower cost and with less disruption.
A full strip is necessary when:
- Yellow or brown discoloration is visible (old wax and soil buildup embedded in finish layers)
- The finish has worn through to bare floor in high-traffic areas
- The floor has a hazy or uneven appearance that doesn't respond to buffing
- It's been more than 12–18 months since the last full strip
- Mop water or cleaning chemicals have been trapped under previous finish layers
Pro tip: If your floors look dull immediately after being cleaned, the finish layer is likely compromised. That's a signal that a full strip is overdue — recoating won't solve the underlying problem.
How to Prepare Your Facility
Before a strip and wax crew arrives, you'll need to:
- Remove all furniture, shelving, and portable equipment from the floor area
- Ensure adequate ventilation — open windows and run HVAC circulation
- Clear the schedule: a 5,000 sq ft strip typically takes 4–6 hours, plus 2–4 hours of cure time before occupancy
- Alert building occupants and coordinate access with security
Why Floor Finish Selection Matters
There's a significant difference between the low-solids consumer finishes available at supply stores and the high-solids commercial-grade products used by professional crews. High-solids finish contains more polymer per coat, builds a harder protective layer, and holds up significantly better to foot traffic, cleaning equipment, and cart wheels.
DeXtra uses commercial-grade high-solids finish on every job across our NJ, PA, and NY service area. The result lasts longer between services and maintains gloss level through more floor machine passes — meaning lower total cost over time for property managers on a regular maintenance schedule.
Strip and wax starts at $0.60/sq ft with an $800 minimum. For facilities requiring regular maintenance, we can build a scheduled recoat program that keeps costs predictable and eliminates the need for emergency strip services.