ish marble, terrazzo, concrete and VCT tile to a shine, and permanently eliminate the need for stripping, burnishing or refinishing. Also, an autoscrubber and floor machine that uses a square oscillating head and an aggressive floor pad for chemical-free strip-ping and scrubbing is available. Bucketless mopping eliminates the need for a mop pail and wringer while reducing water use and disposal by up to 90 percent. Micro autoscrubbers with the footprint of a 14-inch upright vacuum cleaner will replace the damp mop for daily cleaning of most hard surface floors. They are ideal for use in small restrooms and classrooms as well as patient rooms or an operating suite in a hospital. Another example of a newer innovation on the market is a high-production walk-behind system for large areas that can scrub 30,000 square feet per hour and strip 15,000 square feet per hour. Further, microfiber flat mops are more productive and do a far better job of captur-ing and removing soil from all types of flat surfaces (floors, walls, glass and stainless steel) than a string mop. If you want to truly clean a floor — remove soil — you must use some type of wet or dry vacuum recov-ery system. Backpack vacuums with a high-produc-tion wand that handles like a dust mop is the most effective way to remove dry soil from a hard floor. Spray and vacuum floor and wall clean-ing systems remove up to 40 percent more soil and bacteria from surfaces than string or microfiber mops. Activated dry-vapor cleaning systems can kill microorganisms and mold, thereby eliminating the need for detergents, sanitiz-ers and disinfectants. Increase Productivity Utilize super-concentrated detergent car-tridges that provide enough product to clean 1 million square feet of flooring before they need replacement. Interchangeable battery packs for riding and walk-behind scrubbers, sweepers, bur-nishers and extractors allow the equipment to be at full capacity on all three shifts, eliminating the need for additional equip-ment purchases and long downtimes for recharging. Fast-fill systems for large capacity auto-scrubbers reduce refill times to 15 minutes or less, compared to up to 45 minutes per refill, allowing for higher equipment and staff productivity on each shift. Stand-up riding autoscrubbers, burnish-ers, vacuums and extractors increase visi-bility, production and quality as compared to sit-down equipment. Several companies have introduced a hard floor wand that incorporates a spinning power head and vacuum attachment that uses a pressure washer, portable or truck-mounted carpet extractor as a power source. www.cmmonline.com 21
CMM – Archives Apr 2009: 21
