Looking into a Floor Buffer Machine For Your Business?

Here’s the essential info you need to know, along with the TOP 3 things to consider when selecting the best floor machine for your needs:

What is a Floor Buffer Machine?

A floor buffer is a machine that is also commonly called a swing machine, a side-to-side machine, a bonnet cleaner, a floor polisher, or a floor machine.

So, a floor buffing machine has many names.

Essentially it is a machine that has a single motor that drives and rotates a cleaning tool like a floor pad, or a cleaning brush, or a carpet bonnet.

And typically, it’s the cleaning tool (i.e., the floor pad or floor brush) that the whole machine rests on so that you can easily swing the machine in a side-to-side motion or swinging motion over the floor surface.

What Do You Use A Floor Buffer For?

A buffing machine has a wide range of uses and that’s why it’s one of the main pieces of equipment in any professional or commercial cleaner’s set of tools.

A floor machine can be used for jobs like:

• Bonnet cleaning carpets
• Strip coatings off floors
• Scrubbing floors
• Tile and Grout cleaning
• Stripping wax off floors
• Grinding floors (when equipped with the right type of motor)
• Cleaning, scrubbing & stripping baseboards

It’s important to understand that not all floor machines are made equal. Some floor machines have more uses and versatility than others, and this becomes an important consideration when you’re looking for a floor machine.

It’s also important to note that you need specific tools and accessories with your floor buffing machine to do the type of job you want.

So, for example, if you’re looking to do carpet bonnet cleaning, you’d need a bonnet driver and bonnets to get the job done.

If you’re cleaning tile and grout, you’ll probably want to get a brush and a pad that is designed for tile and grout cleaning machines.

And if you are doing jobs like grinding a floor, you’d need a floor machine that that has the right kind of high-torque motor to handle these types of jobs.

So, while a floor buffing machine is very versatile, it also means you have to be conscious of the tools that you choose in order to do the jobs you want.

What’s the Difference Between a Buffer and a Floor Burnisher?

A floor burnisher is a very specific type of machine with a very single purpose.

A burnisher runs at a much higher speed of anywhere from 1000 to 3000 RPM.  A buffer, on the other hand typically runs slower at between 150 to 300 RPM.

The reason why a burnisher runs that fast is that the burnisher is used for a single purpose only – and that is to burnish or to polish floors and give it that high-gloss kind of “wet” shiny look.

What Are The Top 3 Things That Distinguish Floor Machine?

#1 – Size or Cleaning Path:

The first would be the size or the cleaning path of the machine. In other words, how big a brush or floor pad can use on your floor machine.

Sizes can range from 13 inches to up to 20 inches, but the most common size is 18-to-20-inch floor buffer.

#2 – Type of Motor:

The first thing to look at is the horsepower of the motor on the machine.

Smaller machines that are geared towards the residential market typically have a 0.5 horsepower motor.

Older carpet machines sometimes have 2.5 horsepower, buy the most common floor machines for commercial purposes run at 1.5 horsepower.

The second thing to look at the gear ratio on the motor. High-torque motors can handle more demanding jobs like stone grinding and polishing.

Regular torque motors for the more common jobs like stripping floors, carpet cleaning, tile and grout cleaning etc.

#3 – Machine Speed:

The third major distinguishing feature is the speed of the motor. This determines the speed at which the cleaning brush or floor pad rotates (revolutions per minute or RPM).

Most buffers come as a single speed (175 RPM) machine and some buffers have a variable or dual-speed (example 200 RPM and 300 RPM).

Don’t miss our previous blog: What Are the Benefits of a Floor Buffing Machine?

How Much Do Floor Buffers Cost?

A prudent way to determine what the machine would cost you is to look at the overall value for money that you’d get.

And here’s how:

As you know, labor costs are the most significant costs in providing cleaning services. Comparatively the cost of a floor machine is much less than your overall labor cost over a year.

So, if you’re able to save even MORE labor time and get your work done faster and with better cleaning results, then it makes sense to use that criterion in your assessment when choosing a buffing machine.

Example:

Let’s say floor machine “A” saves you 1 hr more for every job than floor machine “B”.  And let’s say you’re paying $20 an hour in labor. That means floor buffer “A” will save you $20 on every job.

If you do 5 such jobs a month with floor machine “A”, you’d save $100/month more than if you were using floor machine “B”.

Over 1 year, you’d end up saving $1,200 using floor machine “A” than using floor machine “B”.

Here’s a 2nd way to determine the value for money:

Let’s say a floor machine lasts you 2 years and sells for ONLY $1,000.  That means your floor machine is going to cost you $500 a year to own.

Now let’s say you find another floor machine that sells for $2,000 (double the cost) but lasts you 10 years. This means that this other floor machine will only end up costing you $200 a year (far less than the “cheaper” machine).

And here’s a 3rd way to determine the value for money.

If a floor machine breaks down on you causing downtime and loss of revenue, that’s going to cost you huge sums of money in the long-term.

So, a floor machine that keeps running well and minimum to no downtime will give you a better value for money. You won’t have to spend regularly on repairs and servicing.

Price Ranges:

And that is why prices of floor buffers can range wildly…

Basic use floor machines range anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000.

More versatile and premium quality floor machines range anywhere from $2,000 to $3500.

And then you’ve got specialized “high-load” machines which can do jobs like concrete and stone grinding. Those machines might run anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000.

Here’s WHY the Centaur Rabbit-3 is The Perfect Floor Machine that both MAKES and SAVES You Money on Each Job…