FEATURE TECHNOLOGY pristine and minimising cleaning costs – seem to be conflicting. But that’s not necessarily so. Striking the balance is all about efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Whatever the current cleaning routine, even if it’s mopping by hand, start with a few calculations: the size of the area(s) to be cleaned, including different floor types, and a measure of current cleaning costs. That should include cleaning hours, wages and labour on-costs, materials and expenditure on running the equipment used. For mopping, the purchase cost of equipment may be low, but the consumption of cleaning solution may be arbitrary, and excessive. The cost of mopheads also adds up over a year, if they’re replaced responsibly. This spending may seem frugal, but the cost of low productivity and low worker esteem is a constant drain on the cleaning budget, not to mention staff turnover and recruitment and training costs. Hand-mopping is labour-intensive and menial work. With a scrubber dryer, operatives will get the job done quicker (and better), so they’re freed up for other tasks, and the budget can be reduced or may fund additional activities. The costs of the current cleaning regime need to be compared with (other) mechanised floor cleaning solutions. Managers can then make a more informed decision based on costs and efficiency, not neglecting hidden costs and the machine and method’s effectiveness. Floors are constantly under attack from grit and soil on people’s footwear and other sources. Apart from the visual impact of dirt and stains, there is the toll of accelerated wear on flooring and also the contamination risk. Crevices and cracks in any floor, and The Orbis Battery Scrubber has a 38cm brush/pad diameter and cleaning path with an output of 1100m2 per hour on a battery run time of 80 minutes. Among the most compact, the Orbis MotorScrubber 20 is a 20cm battery scrubbing machine, ideal for more cramped High manoeuvrability, ease of control and low noise levels are essential as the cleaning team work around the building.” situations ranging from kitchens, stairs and toilets to leisure centres, changing rooms and hospital wards. Lightweight and easy to manoeuvre, using a 75cm telescopic handle, its 12V battery pack provides a four-hour runtime for maximum productivity. A quick-change battery system allows the machines’ range to be extended easily. Their sealed gel batteries are maintenance-free. Scrubber dryers also need to be well balanced and ergonomically designed so they are easy to operate and control. Switching brushes or pads, filling and emptying solution and recovery tanks, and cleaning the machine are all straightforward. This makes it easy to train new team members, who can quickly get up to speed. Brushes are easily interchangeable depending on the cleaning task and the surface. The Multiwash range has colour-coded brushes that prevent crosscontamination between areas such as washrooms and kitchens. So to sum up, any equipment purchase – or cleaning plan – is best decided on a holistic view of cost-effectiveness and return on investment. When it comes to cleaning hard floors, a scrubber dryer not only offers a competitive advantage in terms of productivity and versatility, but the additional flexibility of battery power. That’s a powerful combination. 26 SEPTEMBER 2016 CLEANING HYGIENE TODAY grout lines between tiles, are fertile breeding grounds for bacteria. Mopping is widely used but is the least effective cleaning method, and also the most disruptive to building users and dangerous given the slip risk on damp floors. By contrast, a scrubber dryer equipped with cylindrical brushes counter-rotating at high speed makes it easy for the operator to apply the pressure needed to scrub down into grout lines and crevices coated with stubborn soil. The scrubber dryer’s brush action propels the contaminated liquid into a holding tank so only clean solution is applied to the floor. The efficiency of the process reduces the volume of solution required dramatically, so there are valuable savings in chemical consumption too. And where the scrubber dryer has the added flexibility of cordless operation, it does not come at the expense of productivity. Around 930m2 per hour can be scrubbed and dried by the Multiwash 340/Pump Battery, which has a 34cm cleaning width. This boasts a continuous run time of 50 minutes, and a quick-change battery system. As well as being ideal for daytime cleaning, the unit has a low height and longarmed hand control for cleaning under desks and furniture. Cordless scrubber dryers are available in many shapes and sizes for most applications.
Cleaning Hygiene Today September 2016
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