POLYFLOR of the UK, a commercial flooring specialist, says that two new-generation safety floors that it has launched on the market will be 60 per cent cheaper to clean, thanks to a unique soil-releasing polymer system developed by the company in partnership with DuPont.

''The new system , called Supratec, enables Polysafe Astral and Polysafe Design to be quickly mopped clean and ensures that light shades will retain their original appearance even after years of wear, says company spokeswoman Katie James.

''And the fact that no harsh cleaning chemicals are needed is a major plus for the environment,'' she adds.

"This is a major breakthrough in safety flooring technology,'' says Polyflor market and product development manager Adrian Birmingham. "Cleanability of safety floors, in terms of both effort and long-term appearance retention, has always been a challenge because high friction safety surfaces inevitably pick up and retain dirt.

He continues: "But the introduction of Supratec means that our new ranges can be cleaned at less than half the cost of conventional safety floors, without compromising the proven slip resistance, durability and other performance benefits of the Polysafe formulation.

"The Supratec system has also enabled us to bring in the cleaner, brighter colours we know that architects and end-users prefer, but which were previously impractical because of soiling. Now these colours can be specified with confidence because they will retain their original fresh appearance and won't dull or yellow even over time.''

Polysafe Astral features 12 new shades, each enhanced by coloured, co-ordinating flakes. Polysafe Design provides a choice of 16 bright, stylish colours, 12 of which are colour matched to Astral shades to give wider design opportunities.

''Both ranges meet the general requirements of EN 649 and perform to the maximum Agrement wear rating of G5ws,'' James says. ''They have a Class 1 fire rating to the current BS476: Part 7 and, fully tested to the proposed new prEN 13501-1, are certified as Class Bfl-S1, achieving the criteria prEN ISO 9239-1 > l0kw/sq m and the mandatory requirement of prEN ISO 11925-2 pass.''

''Both also contain Polyflor's Bioguard bacteriostat for enhanced hygiene protection and, in common with all Polyflor sheet vinyls, they can be welded at the seams and to coved skirtings to create continuous, impervious floors which give no sanctuary to dirt and bacteria,'' he adds.