Floor cleaners and scrubbers

Floor scrubber cleaning machines

Professional cleaning machines for floors are used for large indoor and outdoor surfaces. Floors can be cleaned quickly and thoroughly. Floor cleaning machines can be divided into two main categories: industrial vacuum cleaners and sweepers for dry floor cleaning and scrubber dryers for wet cleaning. In addition, there are hybrids such as wet-dry vacuums or scrubber-dryers with a sweeping function. Learn more about functionality, application and types of floor cleaning machines and find the right model for your needs and your floors!

Hard floor cleaning machine

Industrial vacuum cleaners and vacuum sweepers are designed for dry cleaning. The basic operation is similar: air and contaminants are sucked in by negative pressure. The dirt is caught in filters, and cleaned air is blown out. In contrast to industrial vacuum cleaners, sweeper vacuums also have rotating brushes or sweeping rollers. These loosen dirt and dust from the ground and can thereby remove even stubborn dirt without any effort. Both cleaning devices are used in a wide range of applications and must meet the relevant requirements and regulations. The most important key data at a glance.

Wood floor cleaning machine

Whether in the automotive industry, metal processing or mechanical engineering, in the production of foodstuffs, medicines or plastics, in the skilled trades or in construction: industrial vacuum cleaners have to meet a wide variety of requirements. They should reliably absorb both light and heavy materials, dust, chips, sand or organic substances such as food residues. The dust class is decisive for the selection and safe use in terms of occupational safety. This provides information about the harmfulness of the respective dust:

  • Dust class L: slightly hazardous dust such as house dust, sand, gypsum, lime – such as may occur during building cleaning

  • Dust class M: moderately hazardous dust such as wood and metal dust or paint particles – such as may occur in carpentry stores, painters' workshops or locksmiths' stores

  • Dust class H: highly hazardous dust such as asbestos, mould spores, lead dust, mineral fibres or flour dust – such as may occur in bakeries or during renovations

Choosing the right dust class is crucial for compliance with safety standards and for optimal working conditions. In addition to this basic distinction, there are other special forms that are designed less for floor cleaning than for ensuring optimum production processes or for maintenance. These include, for example, industrial vacuums with explosion protection, the wet/dry vacuums that were already mentioned, or ash vacuums for cleaning fireplaces, stoves, or grills.

Vacuum scrubber

For heavily used or quickly soiled floors of large areas, vacuum sweepers are often the most efficient solution. They remove stubborn and coarse dirt – how to clean block paving.

These floor cleaning machines are used in many different areas, but most often they are found in warehouses and logistics facilities, the manufacturing plants of various industries, parking lots or sports and recreational facilities.

Depending on the size of the area, there are manual or handheld floor cleaning machines for small areas or areas with corners; ride-on vacuum sweepers are ideal for larger jobs. The surface cleaning performance provides orientation for the selection. This ranges from about 2,500 to 4,500 m²/h for hand-held
devices and from about 5,000 to almost 30,000 m²/h for ride-on models for industrial cleaning machines.

Another advantage is that manually operated vacuum sweepers in particular have replaceable disc or roller brushes. This means that the devices can be used flexibly on different grounds and different types of dirt. The cleaning heads differ according to their degree of hardness:

  • Soft brushes are suitable for removing light dirt from smooth floors – especially indoors.

  • Medium brushes are ideal for road debris, leaf removal, and uneven surfaces such as asphalt.

  • Hard brushes are used for rough surfaces and stuck or heavy soiling – for example, grit and gravel.

Single floor scrubber

In industries such as the food industry, healthcare or educational institutions, dry cleaning of floors is often not enough to meet all hygienic requirements. To efficiently clean large or structured floors, neither mops nor cleaning trolleys are the means of choice, because scrubber-driers save both time and cleaning agents here.

Tile scrubber

A mopping machine first sprays clear or water with detergent onto the floor. Depending on the design of the floor cleaning machine, the cleaning agent can be added to the freshwater tank or automatically via a dosing system in front of the brush head. The latter model is particularly suitable when working with disinfectants. The roller or disc brush head now loosens the soaked dirt from the floor surface with appropriate pressure, while the dirty water is sucked into a separate tank via the suction bar.

Combi floor scrubber

Similar to vacuum sweepers, wet sweepers can be divided into handheld scrubber dryers and ride-on scrubber dryers. Another distinction is the brush head: a scrubbing machine with a roller brush is the right choice for uneven and heavily soiled floors; disc brushes are more suitable for regular use on light soiling and for polishing floors. They are available as single disc machines or with multiple brush discs. In addition, a floor cleaner machine with discs is much quieter and therefore particularly suitable for areas where noise should be kept at a low level.

In order to buy the right scrubber-dryer, you should decide according to the floor, the type of dirt and the maximum intensity of noise. But there is another decision criterion to consider: The type of drive.

Scrubbing machine with battery

Whether the floor is to be cleaned dry or wet: The type of drive plays an essential role in deciding which floor cleaning machine is the right one. There are four types available:

  1. manually through the rotation of the brushes,

  1. via mains connection,

  1. via a rechargeable battery,

  1. or with fuels such as liquid gas, gasoline or diesel.

Manual and electric powered cleaning machines are less expensive. However, they either require a lot of power or are dependent on a power supply. The two latter models can be used more flexibly. Gasoline and diesel, however, can have a higher impact on the environment and health. Devices such as scrubber dryers with a battery, on the contrary, can only be used for a limited time. Here, prerequisites and requirements determine the right choice.

Durability, ergonomic, accurate and other benefits of our scrubbers

expondo offers professional solutions for demanding floor cleaning and much more. With the large selection of UV sterilizers or ultrasonic cleaners from our range, you can disinfect small devices just as efficiently and reliably as large areas with one of our pressure sprayers. The air purifiers in our portfolio effectively prevent mould and filter mites or the smallest dust particles from the air. Discover professional cleanliness with the cleaning equipment from expondo's industrial supplies!