Floor Machines and Scrubbers for Schools: Benefits and Recommendations

Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone who entered your school took their shoes off at the door? Imagine all of the dirt and grime buildup that could be prevented, especially during the winter months, when snow and salt are tracked into buildings in large quantities.

Obviously, implementing a no-shoes policy at a school isn’t feasible. But you can do the next best thing: clean your floors regularly, using high-quality equipment, so that the dirt and grime that’s tracked in doesn’t stay around long enough to damage your floors or create slip-and-fall hazards for students and staff.

In many schools, the floors are still cleaned using mops and brooms. Manual cleaning is inexpensive, but it’s also ineffective, sometimes causing more problems than it solves. This article briefly outlines the advantages of switching to a floor scrubber, and then provides some recommendations for machines that were designed to meet the unique cleaning requirements of schools.

Advantages of floor scrubbers over manual cleaning

Think about your goals for cleaning. Do they include providing a productive learning environment, promoting health and safety, and making a good impression? By enabling faster, more efficient cleaning, floor scrubbers can help you accomplish all of these goals better than mops and brooms.

Let’s look at three main advantages of upgrading your equipment.

Higher productivity = more comprehensive cleaning

Do you find that you can’t get all of your cleaning jobs done on a daily basis? This is a common complaint we hear from prospects using manual cleaning methods. As a result, they have to pick and choose, doing some jobs, like cleaning hallways, only every other day or even once a week.

A floor scrubber will significantly increase your productivity. Your results will depend on your applications and your equipment, but our customers tell us that a floor scrubber cuts their cleaning time by at least half. Think about all of the other tasks you could perform if you had that extra time!

Lower cost of cleaning

While it may seem counter-intuitive, cleaning with a floor scrubber actually saves money compared to manual cleaning. The main reason is the productivity gains mentioned above. As much as 90% of cleaning costs are related to labor. By decreasing the time it takes to clean, you reduce the labor requirements, thus lowering your associated costs.

There’s another area where you save as well — cleaning chemicals. Floor scrubbers use dispensing systems to control the amount of chemical used. In some cases, they can scrub floors clean with no chemicals at all. This is not only good for your budget, but it also helps you achieve your green cleaning goals.

Improved student and staff health

Finally, do you ever feel like your clean floors are actually still dirty? That’s not just a feeling. A 1971 study of housekeeping procedures found that, unless precautions are taken (laundering and replacing mop heads daily, replacing wash and rinse waters every 60 minutes, etc.), mopping amounts to nothing more than “the daily painting of…floors with thick suspensions of…organisms.”

Infections can spread quickly in schools, particularly during cold and flu season. While mopping just spreads bacteria around, a floor scrubber will help you get your school truly clean.

Equipment recommendations: Floor scrubbers designed for schools

Floor scrubbers are available in many models and sizes to clean everything from closets to large warehouses. These two machines are recommended for schools.

Advance FM810 XP Orbital Floor Machine

The Advance FM810 XP is an easy-to-use, versatile orbital floor machine that provides unmatched performance in both wet and dry applications.

What makes the Advance FM810 XP ideal for schools

• It’s compact and maneuverable for easy cleaning in small, tight areas, like restrooms and cafeteria kitchens. It also features removable weights for easy transport.
• It cleans baseboards, eliminating a task that often needs to be dun manually.
• It can remove top floor finishes without the use of chemicals.
• Thanks to its wheels-up/wheels-down feature, it’s more ergonomic than traditional floor machines.
• It’s quiet, so it can be used when people are around without causing a distraction.

Advance SC100 Upright Floor Scrubber

The Advance SC100 is a compact, cost-effective, and efficient alternative to mop-and-bucket floor cleaning in small spaces.

What makes the Advance SC100 ideal for schools

• It’s lightweight and easy to use, with ergonomic features like a two-hand grip.
• It can scrub and dry in a single pass, eliminating wet floors that can cause slip-and-fall incidents.
• It can lay flat for easier cleaning in hard-to-reach spaces, like around fixtures in bathrooms.
• The solution tank dispenses only clean solution, unlike the mop-and-bucket method, which reuses solution.
• You can easily add clean water using a faucet in the bathroom, kitchen, or teacher’s lounge.

As you know, students learn better in clean environments. A floor scrubber will help you provide that necessary environment quickly and effectively. To learn more about these machines and the other school cleaning equipment Nilfisk provides, visit our Education page or contact us.