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Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
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From the ground up: utilizing IPC surface cleaning tools
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There are many types of commercial floor scrubbers on the market, and choosing the best one for your business needs can take hours of deliberation and questions. It’s easier to figure out what you need if you first evaluate your floor space. Once you know what you need in a floor cleaner, you can choose between the available models more easily.
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One of the biggest questions we hear from people is “Should we choose a ride-on floor scrubber or a walk-behind floor scrubber?”
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Here are 3 specific factors that will help you answer that question:
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1. Floor Square Footage: Measure the area you need to clean
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The larger the area, the more likely a ride-on floor scrubber is the best choice. A walk-behind floor cleaner works better for smaller areas. But where is the dividing line between small and large when it comes to square footage? We’ve worked with companies all over the world to solve their cleaning questions, and we’ve got a good average measurement and suggestion. Areas that are 15,000 square feet or more should consider a ride-on floor scrubber. This will help cleaning teams clean larger areas more quickly and efficiently, thereby increasing productivity and reducing cleaning times. Does that mean you should choose a walk-behind floor scrubber dryer if your business has less than 15,000 square feet to clean? That’s up to you, but consider that larger, open spaces can take longer to clean with a smaller floor scrubber.
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2. When and how often do you need to clean?
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If you have only limited downtime for cleaning operations, your team needs to get everything done in that small time frame. Let’s refer back to the first question here: how big is the area you need to clean? If you have a limited amount of time for cleaning, a larger ride-on will clean it faster and more efficiently. On the other hand, you may have a cleaning schedule that covers certain areas at certain times a day. You have to consider those spaces as well. If it makes more sense to clean smaller areas on the spot over the course of the day, a walk-behind floor scrubber will work too. To answer this question once and for all, you should continue to the third question.
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3. Environment: What obstructions lie in the cleaning path?
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Maybe you do have a large manufacturing or warehouse area to clean, but there are many obstacles that create smaller spaces. For example, a supermarket has product aisles and checkout stations that might be too narrow for a ride-on floor cleaner. This is often the case with classrooms and offices as well. For organizations that have a combination of large, open areas and smaller areas where movement is more restricted, having a ride-on floor scrubber and a walk-behind floor cleaner makes sense. Schools, for example, often have large, open gym areas that can be cleaned with a ride-on machine. Classrooms would be better served by a walk-behind floor scrubber.
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Additional factors when choosing between a professional walk-behind or a ride-on floor cleaning machine
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The hope is that the above questions can help you decide whether to get a walk-behind or a ride-on floor scrubber for your organization. However, there are other factors to weigh as well. For example:
- How easy is it to maintain?
Maintenance is important to get the longest life out of your floor scrubber investment, whether it’s a walk-behind or a ride-on. Maintenance should be easy and any service you require should be quick and responsive to your needs. Your equipment should be durable and last a long time without any decline in cleaning quality.
- How easy is it to use?
The past few years have highlighted the importance of our cleaning teams, while also placing extra burdens on them. Any professional cleaning equipment, including professional floor scrubbers, must be easy to use so they don’t have to spend a lot of extra time on the learning curve. Ease of use saves them time and helps them do a better job.
- How long is the run time on the floor scrubber?
Efficient, long-lasting, quick-charging batteries and motors are important because they save time and energy, helping your cleaning teams work without any interruptions when productivity is on the line.
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Learn more about IPC’s commercial floor scrubbers
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Check out our wide selection of scrubbers talk to us to learn more.