The floor cleaning equipment industry is vast, with a ton of different options to choose from. When deciding what floor cleaning machine is best for your business, be confident the fuel source and cleaning capability are both ideal matches for the job, ready to effectively and efficiently meet your cleaning needs.
Corded Electric / Plug-in Machines
The benefits:
- Corded floor scrubbers are a constant, endless supply of power.
- They are typically cheaper machines upfront.
The downsides:
- The cord can get in the way of cleaning, can become covered in dirt or the solution, and can be a tripping hazard.
- Storage of the cord (and untangling) can get complicated or frustrating.
- The cord limits how far you can scrub before having to plug it in elsewhere, which can limit productivity (something to keep in mind since the scrubber is trying to improve efficiency in the first place.)
Battery Powered
The benefits:
- Walk-behind and ride-on battery powered scrubbers and sweepers are more cost-effective up front when compared to propane and gasoline machines.
- Battery-powered is more environmentally friendly and produces no fossil fuels.
- With maintenance-free batteries (the name says it all), you don’t have to do anything to maintain them.
- With on-board battery charger options, you can charge your floor cleaning machine anywhere.
The downsides:
- Replacing the batteries can be pricey long-term.
- Average run time is around a few hours, but this depends on flooring incline, as well as the speed and pressure of the brushes.
- There’s a decent amount of cleaning downtime recharging the batteries (typically overnight).
- While these machines are less expensive upfront, be aware of higher battery replacement costs down the line (potentially thousands).
Propane Powered
Liquified petroleum gas (LPG) is frequently used for fueling vehicles and particularly popular in facilities that utilize forklifts. Since many forklifts are powered by propane, it’s convenient to also have a scrubber or sweeper that uses the same power source.
The benefits:
- Well maintained propane/LP scrubbers can have a typical life-span of up to ten thousand hours.
- Propane is simple to replace or refill a tank.
- LP scrubber sweepers are extremely efficient machines with little to no down time (unlike a battery-operated unit).
- They have more sustained power on graded surfaces, typically why they’re recommended in parking garages.
The downsides:
- They’re more expensive machines upfront.
- They give off emissions, making them less environmentally friendly than their battery-powered counter parts.
- Having propane available on site can be tricky if you’re not already utilizing it.
Gas Powered
The benefits:
- If your outdoor equipment and vehicles are gas driven, then a gasoline powered sweeper or scrubber is convenient.
- Similar upfront pricing to LP and diesel machines.
The downsides:
- If forklifts are present and it’s for an indoor application, then it’s not as common to have easy access to gasoline
- They give off emissions, so are not as environmentally friendly.
- Potential explosion from fumes.
- Pretty rare machines.
Diesel Powered
Diesel powered sweepers, rather than scrubbers, are more common since they are outside. They are more common than gas, but not as popular as LP. And the diesel engines are typically different than gas and LP sweepers.
The benefits:
- Heftier in colder environments.
- Typically, diesel sweepers and scrubbers perform best in harsher applications.
- Typically, diesel floor cleaning machines are able to get more use in before wearing out.
- Similar upfront pricing to LP and gas machines.
The downsides:
- Diesel must be readily available on site, which can be rare. Storage of diesel can also be tricky.
- Diesel scrubbers and sweepers are not as green, don’t burn as clean, and have pollutants in the exhaust.
Not sure what floor sweeper or floor scrubber you want, but know you need help? Our cleaning professionals at Factory Cleaning Equipment have been helping businesses like yours find the best scrubber or sweeper for the job.