A Sweeper-Scrubber Can Do Wonders for Your Warehouse’s Image—and Safety!
A clean and well-organized facility has proven time and again to increase worker pride and productivity. Investing in a sweeper-scrubber can help you achieve that goal. If you have clients, vendors or visitors regularly spending time in your warehouse or plant, the spiffed-up floors will add to the overall appearance of your plant and become a great PR tool for advancing your firm’s reputation in the community and among your business associates. And let’s not forget that a clean, well-maintained floor can help prevent slips and falls and can help improve warehouse/plant safety. Maintaining a floor free of debris such as nails, screws and scrap metal pieces is an act of kindness towards your forklift fleet’s tires. It can really help lengthen their lifespan and avoid unnecessary premature tire replacement.
Do You Need a Sweeper or a Scrubber?
Before you embark on buying a cleaning vehicle, your first decision is: do I need a sweeper or scrubber? If your warehouse handles integral boxes or palletized products, and you have very few incidents of liquid or oil spills, you can probably use a sweeper to clean your facility. You may want to employ a scrubber over a longer interval to do a more thorough cleaning of your floors. If you are handling perishables like food, beverages, or produce or have vehicles or machinery that leak oil or other fluids, your best move would be to buy a scrubber that can keep your floors in clean and safe condition.
Scrubbers are more expensive, are more time-consuming and labor-intensive to operate, and require more maintenance – a scrubber needs to be filled up with water before using, and discharged and cleaned after each use. You also will need to keep cleaning chemicals in stock. However, they can make a real difference in the appearance of your floors. By contrast, sweepers are easier to set up and use. Cylindrical scrubbers can pick up floor debris and scrub your floors.
Finding the Right Model – a Breakdown of Sweeper-Scrubber Types & Sizes
Your next decision is based on the size of your facility. A 200,000 sq. ft. warehouse will require a different sweeper-scrubber than a 5,000 sq. ft. storage area. Here’s a rundown of the basic types and sizes of sweeper-scrubbers available from Apex.
Walk-Behind Sweepers – For smaller facilities that just require sweeping, say under 50,000 sq. ft, a walk-behind vacuum sweeper is ideal. Smaller models are not much bigger than a home upright vacuum cleaner and can be easily transported in the back of an SUV. Larger models use collection brushes and are available in varying widths, so be sure to specify one that will fit through doorways and narrow aisles.
Stand-On or Ride-On Sweepers – These are designed for larger facilities and can clean up to 120,000 sq. ft. per hour. They feature a cylindrical brush roller that collects debris in a chamber toward the rear of the vehicle. They’re available in cleaning widths of up to 58 in., so be sure to check your aisles and openings before making a purchase. Most ride-on sweepers offer the option of one or two side sweepers.
Walk-Behind Scrubbers – Like their sweeping counterparts, walk-behind scrubbers are designed for smaller facilities. The smaller scrubbers feature the same upright design that sweepers offer, while the larger walk-behinds are self-propelling and are available in cleaning widths of up to 36 in.
Stand-On or Ride-On Scrubbers – Designed for larger facilities, these range from battery-powered models for warehouses to IC-powered models for outdoor cleaning. Both walk-behinds and riders offer disk brushes to wash the floor, roller brushes to pick up debris and a squeegee to remove excess water. Like sweepers, they are available in widths of up to 58 in.
Robotic Scrubbers – The latest technology in floor scrubbing. Your maintenance person can program a robotic scrubber to follow a predetermined route in your warehouse and factory, and the vehicle will follow it. Robotic scrubbers are programmed to avoid obstacles and can be controlled via mobile phone apps.
Combination Sweeper-Scrubbers – Some available models offer separate sweeping and scrubbing functions, allowing the operator to make one sweeping pass, and then switch to scrubbing for the second pass.
Considerations Before Purchasing a Sweeper or Scrubber
Power source – Smaller walk-behind sweepers and scrubbers are available as AC plug-in models, although the lion’s share of both walk-behinds and ride-ons feature sealed, maintenance-free, AGM lead-acid batteries that don’t require refilling with water. Some units now also feature Li-ion batteries that permit longer use times. Larger industrial scrubbers, especially those designed for outdoor use can be powered by LPG, gas or diesel fuel.
Disk or cylinder scrubbers – Walk-on and ride-on scrubbers come in two types–disk brushes or cylindrical roller brushes. If your floor has very little debris and you want that squeaky clean look, a disk-type scrubber is for you. Cylindrical scrubbers have a pick-up roller brush similar to their sweeper counterparts and are designed to clean floors that have a higher level of debris on the floor.
Cleaning Capacity – Scrubber manufacturers’ specs outline how long the machine can operate between charges (typically between 2.5 to 6 hrs.), the size of the clean water and dirty water tanks, cleaning rate in sq. ft. per hr., and the optimum area in sq. ft. that offers the greatest productivity for a particular model.
Given all the sweeper-scrubber models and variations available, your best bet is to have a representative from Apex visit your facility and review your floor cleaning needs. Apex offers a whole spectrum of industrial floor cleaning machines from IPC Eagle, Tennant, Minuteman, PowerBoss and Factory Cat. We also offer a range of burnishers, carpet extractors, carpet cleaning equipment, cleaning products and floor coatings. When it comes to making your plant or warehouse floor shine, Apex is your go-to source in the Chicagoland area.