It’s one thing to clean a large empty floor area, it’s another thing to clean a large area compromised with obstacles and restrictions such as aisles dividing the space. When cleaning a storage facility for example, using warehouse cleaning equipment with high productivity rates, a wide cleaning path to reduce labour whilst being manevraouable enough to move around and between obstacles is essential. Keep in mind that the sweeping and/or scrubbing path requires overlapping to ensure a uniform result is achieved.

Also be mindful of restriction points preventing entry to a certain area. Many areas such as major shopping complexes may have a large cleanable inside area, but with restricted entry access, (such as sliding doors) to transport cleaning equipment to the facility. The equipment chosen, regardless of whether it sweeps, scrubs or does both needs to realistically access the area in question. This could play an important part of your cleaning equipment selection process.

No matter the area size, this is a question that should be asked before any cleanup. How dirty are your floors? What type of dirt/product is on your floors (is it loose debris or stains on the ground)? What is the floor condition and material type you are cleaning? How frequently does it require cleaning? And how much time do you have to clean? Answers to these questions not only helps determine what cleaning method and type of cleaning equipment will be most effective, but this also assists in selecting the type of broom, brush or pad that will provide the best performance (ie, “bang for your buck”) for the application.

Our previous sweeping tips and scrubbing tips articles feature a broom and brush/pad guide for more information about the different abrasiveness of brushes/pads available. 

A traditional and least popular method of cleaning by today’s high cleaning standards is sweeping exclusively, but it can still be appropriate for some large applications. Outdoor areas such as external car parks or unit complexes where the surface is porous and too rough for a floor scrubber machine, ride on sweepers are an efficient choice for a light clean up. Trying to use a scrubber dryer on surfaces like this risk causing excessive wear and damage to consumable parts including the squeegee and brushes. Construction sites are another large area where a deep clean may not be essential, a general quick sweep-up of loose debris is all that is required to maintain tidiness. Areas that attract significant debris, have a porous floor type and/or when a deep clean isn’t required for safety, hygiene or quality purposes will find cleaning with a floor sweeper the most cost-effective method.

For best practice, it is always recommended to sweep, scrub and dry your internal floors for maximum cleaning performance.

The more popular cleaning method is to scrub as opposed to sweeping only with many scrubber dryers available in the market with varying scrub paths, scrub pressures and power types.
The advantage of scrubbing as opposed to sweeping only is the ability to clean to a much higher standard using water and disk/cylindrical brushes. A combination of water and cleaning agent is scrubbed into the surface then dried, providing a deep clean whilst containing fine dust and preventing it from upheaving and resettling on the floor. The Nilfisk SC8000 is a great scrubber example for dust control. Sweeping the floor area prior or during the scrubbing process eliminates streaking and blockages of the vacuum/squeegee drying system and allows for an improved cleaning result. Scrubbing also enables removal of impurities that stain the floor through a disc or cylindrical motion, guaranteeing a deeper clean over sweeping. In most large-area applications using an industrial scrubber dryer is the preferred equipment type for a thorough clean.

The most effective, holistic and recommended cleaning method for large areas is to sweep, scrub and dry the surface with a floor sweeper scrubber (true combination sweeper scrubber or cylindrical scrubber). Most large areas serve an industrial purpose that attract significant debris and stains on surfaces, needing a solution that can encapsulate both methods in a time-effective manner. For an area that is over 10,000 sqm, separate ride on sweepers and ride on scrubber dryers are simply not a cost-effective, nor time-effective option. A true combination sweeper scrubber dryer will allow you to conduct the cleaning process, sweep, scrub & dry in a single pass and/or to sweep only when required. This equipment is the perfect solution for large warehouse areas that require an effective internal cleaning method and the ability of only sweeping external areas or only sweeping high traffic internal areas when required. They are one machine to do both functions independently, or combined in a single operation reducing time and the overall total investment. 

Cylindrical scrubbing machines are floor scrubbers that use cylindrical brushes for scrubbing and light sweeping an area. The cylindrical shape enables a ‘flick’ motion to occur, enabling debris to be collected and loaded in an integral compact debris hopper. During this process the cylindrical brush is scrubbing the floor simultaneously, completing the process with the squeegee drying the floor. Cylindrical scrubbers are most effective on uneven surfaces due to the rotating cylinder brush movement, applying pressure in a downward motion. As mentioned before, the Nilfisk SC8000 is a great cylindrical scrubber available from Nilfisk.

Floor Sweeper and Scrubber (Combination Sweeper-Scrubbers)

Unlike cylindrical scrubbers, combination sweeper scrubbers are like two machines in one. The front half of the machine encapsulates the sweeping function complete with a vacuum fan, filter for dust retention and a large hopper, and the back half is fitted with a disc scrubbing and vacuum/squeegee system for drying. In the cleaning equipment market, this is the most heavy duty cleaning machine available that can manage highly dense/heavy debris as well as heavily soiled surfaces.

Combination sweeper-scrubbers are most popular for car-parks, warehouses, stadiums, universities and logistic facilities.
Visit our Instagram page to see the Nilfisk CS7010 in action, one of the best combination sweeper-scrubber models in the market.