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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
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Many business owners are surprised at what a challenge it can be to clean small offices or shops. Their most frequent complaint is how hard it is to find the right cleaning tools that will properly fit into their small indoor and outdoor spaces. They need eco-friendly cleaning tools that can make tight turns, get into hard-to-reach corners, and remove all the grime that collects daily. Whether they run an outdoor café, a small car park, a corner shop, a clinic, a classroom, or a small office space, they know keeping their floors clean is essential.
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A wide-ranging survey found that 80% of customers cared far more about shop and office cleanliness than clever marketing ploys and high-tech experiences.¹
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With that in mind, we collected 10 of the most frequently asked questions we hear from small business owners about what tools they can use to clean small office and shop floors:
- What types of floor cleaning equipment are suitable for small spaces?
- Can professional floor cleaning machinery navigate tight spaces effectively?
- Are there specific considerations for choosing manual floor cleaning tools for small spaces?
- Can manual floor-cleaning equipment achieve results comparable to machines in small environments?
- Are there quieter commercial floor cleaning machines for small stores, hotels, or offices?
- Do professional floor cleaning machines come with adjustable settings for different floor types in small spaces?
- Can floor cleaning machines effectively handle both wet and dry cleaning in small spaces?
- What safety features should be considered when using floor-cleaning machinery in small spaces?
- How often should professional floor cleaning machines be serviced, especially in small spaces with high usage?
- Are there eco-friendly floor cleaning equipment that can be used in small environments.
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1. What types of floor cleaning equipment are suitable for small spaces?
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Measure your shop or office space so that you can choose a commercial compact floor scrubber dryer, a sweeper, or a commercial vacuum cleaner that can fit into your tight spaces. It’s also important to look for commercial sweepers that have easy-to-use manual tool attachments that make quick work of cleaning hard-to-reach corners. If your business has indoor and outdoor spaces to clean, look for commercial-grade floor scrubber dryers or sweepers that will work in both places. The 510 Manual Sweeper is one example of an indoor-outdoor sweeper that can remove dirt, leaves, bottles, and other debris from small workshops, car parks, or cafés.
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2. Can professional floor cleaning machinery navigate tight spaces effectively?
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Some professional floor cleaning equipment is designed with maneuverability in small spaces in mind. They can pivot easily or have additional tools to extend their reach into difficult spots. Typically, they should have a low profile, so they can go under furniture, and manual tools should be easy to attach and use. The i-mop Lite is a small, yet powerful commercial floor scrubber with a low profile that can efficiently clean tight corners and get under shop shelving, tables, chairs, desks, etc.
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3. Are there specific considerations for choosing manual floor cleaning tools for small spaces?
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Many small stores, classrooms, small clinics, or public administration offices find that manual floor cleaning tools are preferable because they are lightweight, so any employee can use them. They should also be able to pivot easily to reach tight spaces. A perfect fit for these needs is the One Frame microfiber mop system. This lightweight, easy-to-use tool has a no-contact foot release button and tab color coding to prevent cross-contamination, as well as an articulated neck to clean vertical surfaces.
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4. Can manual floor-cleaning equipment achieve results comparable to machines in small environments?
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This depends largely on the floor surface and soil involved, but often, the answer is yes! This is especially true for smaller areas. Mops, cleaning frames, and manual cleaning tools are often best for getting into tight spaces and corners of small shops and offices, often with greater efficiency. In cases like these, small cleaning trolleys are convenient solutions that help your team store all cleaning supplies in a small, portable area that makes cleaning faster and easier.
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5. Are there quieter commercial floor cleaning machines for small stores, hotels, or offices?
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Some commercial cleaning machines have advanced noise-dampening technology that significantly decreases the decibels released during cleaning. Any shop or office with a small space could benefit from quiet professional cleaning tools that won’t interrupt a quiet atmosphere. One particularly quiet solution is the silent vacuum LP 1/12 HOTEL. Its housing is built to muffle and lower typical vacuum cleaning sounds by 53 decibels.
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6. Do professional floor cleaning machines come with adjustable settings for different floor types in small spaces?
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Fortunately, the answer is yes. There are adjustable commercial floor cleaning machines that can be used on concrete, tile, hardwood, laminate, carpet, stone, and brick. IPC Worldwide floor scrubber driers, for example, are designed with a self-leveling system that applies even pressure to various uneven surfaces to clean all different types of indoor and outdoor floors in small spaces thoroughly and equally.
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7. Can floor cleaning machines effectively handle both wet and dry cleaning in small spaces?
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There are several different small-area wet-dry floor cleaning machines available. IPC scrubber dryers are specially built for this task, as they have both the vacuum function that removes soil, but also the wet cleaning scrub function that deep cleans, and the dryer function that removes water from the cleaned area for a clean, safe, and dry floor surface.
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8. What safety features should be considered when using floor-cleaning machinery in small spaces?
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This is an incredibly important question. Naturally, whenever electricity is being used in a wet or dirty environment, extra care should be used when cleaning. Look for professional floor cleaning machines with automatic shut-off mechanisms that will down-power the machine if it senses unsafe conditions. Non-slip tires are important for floor scrubber dryers that work in both wet and dry environments. There should also be an easily accessible emergency shut-off switch or button that the operator can quickly press if necessary.
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9. How often should professional floor cleaning machines be serviced, especially in small spaces with high usage?
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Naturally, all professional floor cleaning machines need to be emptied and maintained regularly, both for safety reasons (to prevent overheating) and for good performance. Water tanks and debris compartments should be emptied regularly—and more often in very dirty environments like workshops. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations so that you can get the longest, safest lifespan out of your professional floor cleaning equipment while saving money and resources.
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10. Are there eco-friendly floor cleaning solutions that can be used with professional cleaning machines in small environments?
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Absolutely. Use non-mechanized professional floor cleaning equipment to save electricity when possible (like cleaning frames and mops, which are usually great for small spaces). Small businesses with more intensive cleaning needs can also use rechargeable electric floor scrubber dryers with lithium-ion batteries that has been optimized to use less energy. Many of IPC’s professional floor-cleaning machines have also been made using a high percentage of recycled materials.
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Keeping a small shop or office clean may seem easier than cleaning a larger space, but it comes with just as many challenges. One of the biggest problems is that your customers will notice dirty floors faster in a small space than in a large space.
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The goal is to discover the right fit between the space you manage and the cleaning machine to keep it spotless.
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References
¹ServiceChannel. “The Brick and Mortar Retail Report.” ServiceChannel, 1 Sept. 2022, servicechannel.com/reports/the-brick-and-mortar-retail-report/