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What Is The Best Food Factory Flooring?

Food processing facilities are subjected to a greater level of wear and tear in comparison to other commercial premises. Historically, Polyurethane (PU) and Epoxy resin floorings have been the ‘go to’ solution, due to their perceived durability and acceptable compressive strength.

However, is this the only solution for your food and drink manufacturing facility?

In this post, we highlight some key features to look out for when specifying resin flooring for your food factory setting. Read on…

Hygiene In Food Manufacturing Plant Floors

Hygiene is a huge factor when it comes to specifying your flooring for your food factory floor.

Now you may be thinking “it’s a floor, how hygienic can it be?” But there’s a lot more to it than just the surface of your floor.

Over time, floors can be vulnerable to dirt and bacteria that can sometimes build up inside the floor. This is exacerbated with PU resin floors, which, during the curing process, small air bubbles are formed and gas off through the floor leaving pinholes. These pinholes are big enough to be penetrated by dirt and bacteria through general activity.

This causes an entry to get into and under the floor, resulting in bacteria growth in the floor, as well as between the layers of your floor, again a perfect place for bacteria.

Selecting flooring that doesn’t allow for these air bubbles to form is key to a resin floor that remains hygienic.

As an example, with  Acrylicon’s unique formula there is no gassing off in the floor and thus no pinholes, making your food manufacturing floor more hygienic. Acrylicon also has the highest compressive strength in the market sector, making it the most cleanable and the most difficult for anything to penetrate.

Slip Resistance Is Essential In A Food Manufacturing Facility

Slip resistance is a very important aspect of your food factory floor. After all, with all the fluids that may end up on there as well as other food waste, it is important to maintain this area from a health and safety standpoint.

When specifying your slip resistance, it is important to factor in your cleaning regime and come up with the ideal solution that provides the correct level of slip resistance for the area, as well as allowing for it to be cleaned properly without the slip resistance damaging the cleaning equipment or the cleaning equipment damaging the slip resistance.

When specifying resin flooring for a food manufacturing facility, we recommend opting for a provider that offers tailored cleaning advice, so that the longevity of your slip resistance is maintained.

Reducing Downtime In Your Food And Drink Production Factory

If you’re considering a floor replacement, you should factor in potential downtime and how this will affect production in your food factory environment.

The type of resin you choose will impact the time it takes for your food manufacturing facility to be back up and running again. Here’s an example:

With PU resin floors, it can usually take around 3-5 hours to dry and a further 3-5 days to fully cure, depending on the temperature. In lower temperatures, this could take even longer.

With Acrylicon, cure time is greatly reduced, and thus, so is downtime. In fact, your facility will be able to continue production within two hours of the final coat is applied.

Standard MMA-based resins are criticised for their relatively low compressive strength – particularly when you compare them to PU and Epoxy resins. With Acrylicon’s unique formula, it has an incredibly high compressive strength with a similar cleanability to Teflon and stainless steel, so not only do you get reduced downtime but an overall stronger solution, too.

Conclusion

When choosing resin flooring for your food and drinks manufacturing facility, you should take a holistic approach – choosing a solution that provides a multitude of benefits to you or your client.

If you’re interested in a value-based solution, or if you just want more information, pick up the phone or drop us an email. We’re more than happy to help.