Keeping floors clean in a manufacturing plant, warehouse, retail store, or other commercial or industrial facility is crucial for appearance, functional and safety reasons. But cleaning floors in these settings is a much more challenging task than performing the process in a home. These areas can be expansive and often require dealing with stubborn materials like oil, grease and chemicals. 

While an old-fashioned mop and bucket might work in a small area, most commercial and industrial cleaning jobs demand large, powerful equipment to get the job done:

• Sweepers: These machines allow the operator to sweep dirt and debris from an area but don’t perform scrubbing or drying.
• Floor scrubbers: A floor scrubber applies a cleaning solution, uses an aggressive brushing action to scrub the area and dries the floor in a single pass. 
• Sweeper/scrubbers: As the name implies, this all-in-one commercial floor maintenance system sweeps and scrubs floors simultaneously. It combines a high-performance debris collection system with a power scrub deck, eliminating the need for two separate machines. 

These machines are available in walk-behind versions that allow manual operation and ride-on models that offer more speed and efficiency when covering large or open areas. 

Assessing Your Commercial Floor Maintenance Needs

The machine you should choose for cleaning commercial flooring depends on several factors, including your facility’s square footage, surface type and the amount of time and human resources you intend to devote to the task. The layout of the area also requires consideration. For example, a walk-behind machine provides extra maneuverability for navigating narrow aisles or obstructions such as poles or stacks of materials. 

If you’re only concerned about sweeping up dirt and debris and aren’t worried about removing stains, a walk-behind sweeper can offer the most practical and budget-friendly solution. On the other hand, if you need to clean large, open areas thoroughly, a ride-on sweeper scrubber can reduce time and labor by up to 50%, as you’re using one machine to handle two jobs. 

How to Clean Commercial Floors

A comprehensive process for cleaning commercial flooring consists of the following steps:

• Clear the area: Ensure that all tools, equipment and other items are off the floor and out of the way. 
• Target tough stains: Before scrubbing the floors with a machine, you may need to work on tightly packed stains consisting of grease or oil. Pre-condition the area by applying an industrial degreaser.
• Machine scrubbing: If you’re using a floor scrubber or sweeper/scrubber, choose and attach a pad designed to clean your specific flooring material (tile, vinyl, concrete, etc.).
• Accessing hard-to-reach areas: An industrial floor machine might not be able to reach corners or other tight spots. You may need to clean these areas manually.

The Cat® Rental Store Has the Right Floor Cleaning Equipment 

The Cat® Rental Store can provide an assortment of walk-behind sweeper/scrubbers and ride-on floor scrubbers for rent that can handle your most demanding commercial cleaning challenges. Our dealer network offers competitive rates, and your local Cat dealership will provide exceptional service throughout the rental process. Call us at 1-800-RENT-CAT or contact us online for more product and pricing information.

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