You have the floor. You picked out the scrubber. You set your cleaning goals. The final step is to choose the best scrub brush for the job. The two most common scrubber brush materials are nylon and poly (polypropylene), yet each brush has its own unique features. Here’s a guide to selecting the best brush or pad for your scrubber:
White Pad
- Different than a brush, it’s held in place by pad driver and attaches to your floor scrubber the same way a disk brush would
- All-purpose pad safe for a variety of floor surfaces
- Soft, non-aggressive cleaning pad used to clean and polish delicate surfaces
- Comparable to
soft nylon brush
Red Pad
- Medium duty, mildly aggressive cleaning pad
- A step up from the white pad
- Comparable to soft poly brush
Black Pad
- Heavy duty, aggressive pad used
- Used to strip wax or clean heavily soiled floors
- Comparable to heavy grit brush
Soft Nylon Brush
- Great for light duty cleaning
- Softest scrub brush (won’t scratch delicate surfaces)
- Most common among bristle brushes
- Can withstand a textured floor
- Ability to clean low or uneven spots
- Often used for new concrete, epoxy, and some wax finished floors
Soft Poly/Black Brush
- Ideal for light to medium duty cleaning
- Great general-purpose brush for concrete and coated epoxy floors
- A step up from Soft Nylon
- More durable and long-lasting
- Most affordable brush
Light/Medium Grit Brush
- Great for aggressive cleaning purposes
- Equipped with silicon carbide grit
- Capable of removing buildup and stains
- Not suitable for sealed/finished floor
Heavy Grit Brush
- Great for extremely aggressive cleaning purposes
- Thicker silicon carbide grit
- A step up from Light Grit
- Capable of removing thick and stubborn heavy buildup/stains
- Typically for restoring older floor that hasn’t been cleaned recently
- Most expensive but extremely effective
- Not suitable for sealed/finished floor
Use this diagram to see what brush or pad is safe for your floor type. Remember that each brush/pad has its own unique purpose based on what you're trying to accomplish (from polishing to cleaning to stripping).
