A tile floor scrubber is a critical tool in keeping your commercial facility not just clean, but safe. There’s also another amazing side benefit you’ll gain from a quality floor scrubber machine… and that is the life of your flooring.
That’s right, a commercial floor doesn’t have to wear out within a couple of years!
In the hustle and bustle of daily life, however, with so many fiscal and budgetary challenges and concerns and a seemingly endless parade of responsibilities for your maintenance department to field, the floors tend to get a quick ‘once over’ daily, if anything.
When you have any decent amount of floor surface – from ceramic to linoleum tile to polished concrete, and more – you need a quality floor scrubber.
Additionally, when your floors have grout, you need to pay attention to the kinds of machines and cleaning solutions you’re using as well as the technique with which you clean.
Choose the Right Floor Scrubbing Machine
There are plenty of manufactures out there making floor scrubbing machines. Some, for example, are focused more on affordability. This may seem fine on the surface, but when the machines break down, wear out, and begin scrubbing the grout away from the tiles due to uneven wear, you’ll be look into additional costs and repair jobs soon after.
Therefore, its best instead, on finding a tile scrubber that is built to last from the get-go (longevity is the first key component after all). And yes, this may require a bit more financial outlay up front, but right off the bat you’ll be ahead of the game in protecting your floor surfaces and enjoying those floors for a long, long time.
Second, Choose the Right Floor Scrubber Brush
When it comes to floor scrubber brushes, you need to find the right balance between one that is strong enough to thoroughly clean the grout, but that also won’t be so aggressive that it will damage the tile or wear-out the grout.
If you damage the tile… dirt, grease, oil and other foreign contaminants will eventually work their way into the porous layers below the sheen and start breaking it down. Small pieces will start to flake off and, in time, you’ll need to replace the tile.
Additionally, if you accidentally rip out some of the grout, dirt will get deeper and deeper into the grout cavity, make its way beneath the tile, and start breaking down the adhesive. When that happens, the tile begins to crack.
That is why it is essential to make sure that the floor scrubbing brush you select is optimal for the tile and the grout.
Select the Best Floor Cleaning Agent…
Which is just a fancy way of saying ‘cleaner.’ The cleaning agent should not only be able to safely clean the grout, but also avoid being a contaminant that ends up being harmful to your staff, clients, or anyone else who comes onto your property.
If you choose an acidic cleaner, you run the risk of damaging the grout, which will eventually cause damage to the tile. If you go with something more basic (higher pH) however, there is also a risk of damage.
That’s why we recommend choosing a cleaning agent with a neutral pH (or as close to neutral as possible). Then, once you have the right cleaning agent and the floor scrubber ready to go, all that’s left to do, it to let the machine do all the heavy lifting.
Operate the Machine Evenly
A quality commercial floor scrubbing machine will do most of the hard work for you. Your job (or your maintenance crew’s job) will be to guide it and ensure that the floor brush isn’t causing damage to the tile. It’s best to ensure that the machine isn’t being worked over one spot for too long (which will eventually create uneven wear), and that the entire floor surface is being targeted evenly.
If a floor scrubber seems out of balance, it could be due to several factors, including damage to the components, weight displacement that could be caused by worn-down brushes, or too much force being applied by the operator.
This can happen when an operator leans too much on one side of the machine. When the machine is held evenly, you will enjoy a smooth, even cleaning across your tile surfaces.
Use a Wet/Dry Vac for Cleanup
When you have completed the cleaning of the floors, turn to a quality wet and dry vac to pick up the water that has been left behind by the tile scrubber. This will ensure no foreign particles remain lingering on the floor surface once the work is complete.
When you rely on these tips to choose the right tile floor scrubber, you will be able to enjoy cleaner floors as well as the added benefit of years and years of quality floor surfaces in your space.