How to Choose the Right Floor Scrubber for Your Business
Many companies often invest in commercial-grade machines for their carpeted areas, such as powerful vacuum machines and carpet extractors, while neglecting other non-carpeted surfaces like tiles, concrete, vinyl or wood. If your business operates on large floor areas that require thorough and efficient cleaning, an industrial floor cleaner, or the descendant of the mop-and-bucket combo, might be the right device to invest in.
Whether you own a warehouse, a distribution centre, a hotel or a hospitality venue, or are responsible for cleaning public facilities like healthcare or educational centres, here’s everything you need to know about these machines.
What Is a Commercial Floor Scrubber?
A commercial floor scrubber is an industrial-grade machine that cleans floor surfaces using a cleaning solution and an integrated floor scrubbing brush or pad. It usually operates by dispensing the detergent, scrubbing the floor with the brush, and vacuuming excess water. Combining these three steps into one saves time and energy, leaving the floors squeaky clean and dry, which is why users love and recommend using these machines.
Why Invest in a Floor Scrubber?
It’s understandable if you’re wondering why you should invest in an industrial tile scrubber and you need more reasons than powerful and efficient cleaning. These machines can be a bit pricey but have so many benefits for your business that make every dollar invested in them worth it. Here are five of them:
- Cleaning with floor scrubbers is quicker and more effective than mopping or other traditional cleaning methods because they cover large areas in less time. That allows your staff to focus on other important tasks and minimises the need for frequent repairs and floor replacement due to wear and tear from unsuitable cleaning, saving time and labour costs. Although investing in an industrial tile scrubber can cost you initially, it can save you money in the long run.
- The scrubber’s pads or brushes can reach into crevices and remove embedded dirt and grime, providing a more thorough and consistent cleaning than mopping. It leaves your facility looking clean and professional, creating a positive impression on clients, customers and visitors.
- Features like water-recovery systems leave floors clean dry, and safe to walk on right after cleaning, creating a safer environment for employees and customers. They’re versatile; most options have adjustable settings for different floor types and cleaning requirements.
- Scrubber floor machines effectively remove bacteria and allergens, which helps maintain a higher level of cleanness, contributing to a healthier environment – vital for settings like hospitals, schools, and hospitality.
- Regulations for maintaining a certain cleanliness level exist in some industries, such as the hospitality sector. In that case, a commercial scrubber can help you comply with those standards.
How Do I Choose a Floor Scrubber?
When choosing a floor scrubber, consider the different types, with the size of the area you need to clean and the frequency of use in mind, to pick the correct option for your business.
Scrubber Types
There are different types of industrial scrubber machines, with ride-on and walk-behind being the most commonly known. Learning about each kind can help you decide which one would be the best for your commercial space.
Walk-Behind Scrubber
As its name suggests, this type requires its operator to use it while walking behind it. There are manual options that you need to push, while self-propelled versions assist you in moving them. Their compact design makes them versatile and ideal for smaller areas, such as medium retail offices, schools, and healthcare facilities, where more oversized machines can’t fit and spaces with obstacles and tight corners.
Ride-on Floor Scrubber
The ride-on options are larger machines the operator rides on, as their name shows. They have high cleaning capacity with wider cleaning paths and larger refill tanks, making them ideal for large areas, such as warehouses, large retail stores, airports, manufacturing plants, and large educational institutions. They’re faster than the walk-behind scrubbers and their use is more comfortable, reducing operator fatigue.
Disc Scrubber
The most common scrubber type uses flat, circular pads or brushes to clean floor surfaces, making them ideal for cleaning smooth surfaces (in retail, healthcare and office environments) and excellent for general-purpose cleaning. Their simple versatile design makes them easy to use and maintain, as they’re compatible with different brush and pad types. Disc scrubbers, both single- and dual-disc options, are often more affordable and easier to find replacement parts.
Cylindrical Scrubber
This scrubber type uses rotating cylindrical brushes at high speeds, making them ideal for cleaning textured, tiled floors with grout lines, and industrial environments with heavy dirt, spills, and debris. Some options have an integrated dual function capable of sweeping and scrubbing simultaneously, effectively handling larger debris that flat pads might miss.
Robotic Scrubber
This type operates automatically using advanced sensors and navigation systems to move around and clean without a manual operator. You can easily program their cleaning routines and schedules, and monitor and control them remotely via an app or a computer interface.
The main advantages of investing in a robotic scrubber are the cleaning consistency and reduction of manual labour. They’re typically battery-operated for enhanced flexibility and mobility and are ideal for cleaning large open areas, such as airports, shopping malls, hospitals, and distribution centres.