Picking The Right Machines To Clean Your Floor
Floor care is an integral part of building maintenance. The dirt and grime that builds up all over the floor are a threat to its structural integrity, in addition to negatively impacting the ambience and putting the health of the persons on the premises at risk. The kind of equipment that is used has a direct impact on the effectiveness of the task. There are different kinds of units, and the choice will vary depending on the particular business needs.
So, what do you consider when making the purchase? First, the kind of flooring matters. This is especially with regards to the brush heads, since the brushes used for concrete floor cleaning are tough, and can be too abrasive for alternative flooring like marble or hardwood. The disc-attachment style units are usually preferable when dealing with laminated wood flooring. The level of traffic also matters. High traffic areas witness higher rates of dirt build-up, so chemical action will be needed as part of the floor cleaning, instead of just water. Some machines only permit water usage, others allow you to incorporate chemical mixes. Busy environments also need a machine that dries the floor faster, in order to limit the disruption to operations. Ease of use also matters. Here, you want to look at how easy the floor cleaning machine is to manoeuvre over the target working area, taking into account the size of the space involved. Speaking of size, the cheaper machines come with smaller discs, and these are more ideal for smaller office spaces, while for the large areas like indoor arenas and warehouses, these machines will take too long to get the task done, and call for larger units. There you want to work with models that have a powerful motor and wide disc.
What kind of options are available for you to pick from? Let’s dive right into it:
- Scrubber/Polisher units
These lightweight machines are styled like upright vacuum cleaners. A rotating disk that has padding buffs the floor as you push the machine across the surface. They are ideal when you’re dealing with areas where the floor needs to remain shiny, as well as highly trafficked areas like lobbies and entranceways into the building.
The polishers usually come with the standard buffing features, but many also allow you to fit a scrubbing brush to the disk. This enables you to remove the dirt from the surfaces being worked on. You can also fit an extra tank on the unit, which holds the cleaning solution.
The speeds involved with the scrubber/polisher machines vary. Use the lower RPM for the floor cleaning and scrubbing, and the faster speeds for the buffing and polishing. Given that these machines are easily manoeuvrable, most individuals can use them. The control systems are straightforward, and they also don’t take up much storage. The smaller head units however mean that things will get more laborious when you’re working on larger floor areas.
- Scrubber/Dryer machines
These come in for the heavy-duty cleaning. They feature a high-capacity stainless steel chassis to hold the fluids needed for the cleaning, and come with larger motors compared to the conventional floor cleaning machines to deliver powerful wet cleaning and scrubbing action. There are even some that come with 60L tanks and massive scrubbing heads, cutting down the amount of time needed for the floor cleaning task, where you can work on heavily soiled floors without having to keep pausing to empty and refill the tank.
While their design makes them easily manoeuvrable, the sheer size of the machines will make them difficult to operate in tight spaces. Semi-parabolic floor nozzles eject water or the preferred floor cleaning product onto the surface, while the disc handles the scrubbing and polishing. The vacuums then kick in to suction up the liquids that are on the surface, leaving the floor dry. This feature particularly makes the scrubber dryers ideal for businesses where you want to minimise downtime and allow traffic back onto the cleaned areas quickly.
The sizes of the scrubber/dryers vary, where the larger units come with bigger discs, which translates to more surface area being covered with each pass. When it comes to the power source, there are two kinds of machines here: battery-powered and those operated from the mains. The battery-powered units are typically charged overnight, and the batteries themselves usually last for around two years. On the flip side, you get more flexibility, compared to the mains-operated units where the reach will be limited to the length of the cords being worked with.
These take convenience to the next level, coming with a steering wheel and seat where the user gets to simply ride on the machine when cleaning the floor. Naturally, they come with a high price tag as well, and are usually used when working on massive industrial complexes where pushing around a scrubber machine would be inefficient.
The large motors of the ride-ons enable them to cover huge spaces in a short time, and the operator gets more control of the machine while seated – including options to alter the floor cleaning speeds, water flow, the brush speeds, all through to the mixture of chemicals. Program presents further come in handy by storing preferred settings in the memory of the machine, which can then be activated when the associated button is pressed. Tank capacities here can get to ranges as high as 120 litres, and there are models that come with the on-board battery storage options for more flexibility, and these are a favourite for large laboratories, factories and warehouses. Definitely, the cost here will be much higher, even close to a dozen more times more expensive than the average scrubber/dryers in the market, and they also require more specialised maintenance – so be sure to get clarity on the servicing available from the manufacturer, especially the aftercare packages they have on offer before you include this floor cleaning machine in your arsenal.
