Cleaning machine market changing to meet demand for greater productivity and manoeuvrability

- Gordon McVean of Truvox International reports.


Every business or organisation, whether in the public or private sector is prioritising cutting costs over almost every other consideration.  So cleaning teams, cleaning contractors and facilities managers are constantly looking for ways of getting more cleaning done with greater effectiveness for less money.  Facilities managers are also looking to increase the return on every square metre of office or workshop space, so are getting more people and equipment into less space right up to legally permitted limits.  That in turn reduces the gaps between furniture, limits access to areas of floor and makes it more necessary for machines to be manoeuvrable.

Trends to daytime cleaning as a means of cutting overtime for anti-social hours and reducing labour costs are imposing new health and safety limitations on cleaning teams and contractors.

Customers require risk assessments from contractors, and those risk assessments need to explain clearly how the contractor will minimise or eliminate the risks associated with slipping on damp floors or tripping over trailing power leads.  Meeting those requirements is increasingly likely to mean purchasing machines designed for current conditions and current health and safety requirements.

Another great issue is that of transport costs.  Hugely increased fuel costs mean that cleaning contractors need smaller, lighter machines so that more equipment can be carried in smaller vans at lower cost.  Lighter machines are also vital to occupational health, especially where machines have to be transported in lifts to other floors.

Benefits of battery power

These considerations apply particularly to classes of cleaning machine that have historically been large and heavy such as scrubber dryers have been.  Cleaning teams are proving enthusiastic about the Truvox Orbis Battery Scrubber, introduced last year, for cleaning where space to manoeuvre is limited, or where cleaning has to be carried out during working hours.

The sheer manoeuvrability of the compact Truvox Orbis Battery Scrubber is a major benefit when you have to clean quickly and efficiently around multiple obstructions in a crowded space, and the fact that the Battery Scrubber Dryer has no trailing power lead is also a big safety benefit when there are staff or customers about during cleaning times. 

Easy manoeuvrability is also vital to the occupational health of the operator.  Anyone who has ever tried to get a large traditional scrubber dryer into a lift will know that it can take considerable effort and be a factor in back strain.  The Orbis Battery Scrubber is easily and quickly fitted into a lift and loaded back into a small van when the job is done.

Powered by two minimum-maintenance rechargeable 12 V Gel batteries, providing a 24 V power supply, the Orbis Battery Scrubber is also making a big impression on hospital cleaning teams.

The Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust has recently purchased a total of eight Truvox battery scrubber dryers to assist in improving cleaning standards at Sandwell Hospital and Birmingham City Hospital.  Bought through Truvox distributor ‘The Clean Machine Direct Limited’ in Telford, the compact and highly manoeuvrable battery-powered scrubber dryers have made cleaning both easier and more efficient, particularly in the maternity unit at Birmingham City Hospital.  Senior Hotel Services Officer Karen Godwin confirmed that, although the hospitals already had scrubber dryers, they were much larger and had trailing cables.  The new battery-powered machines have no trailing cables and are therefore safer and more easily manoeuvrable.

“We have had excellent feedback from the cleaning teams” she said, “and the standard of cleaning of many of our floors has improved markedly.”

Largest capacity for compact machine

A handsomely designed scrubber dryer for small or middle-sized areas, the recently launched machine has a 17 litre solution tank with adjustable solution flow, and a removable and easily emptied 26 litre recovery tank. The squeegee is sensibly located behind the brush for best possible drying performance and shock absorbing wheels either side of the squeegee to prevent it from being damaged and to protect furniture and fittings from impact. Its ability to cut cleaning times will be particularly useful for contract cleaners under pressure to do more work for less money.

Capable of longer continuous spells of work than competitive compact machines, the Orbis is supplied with two 28 A/h batteries as standard.  The battery power frees contract cleaners from the need to gain access to power points to be able to do their work and typical battery run time is 80 minutes.  Additional batteries can be supplied on request.

Contract cleaners who purchase additional gel batteries can work more or less continuously with a brief break of about five minutes for a change of battery every hour.  The machine is designed to clean at a rate of up to 1,100 square metres per hour.

For further information or a product demonstration phone +44 (0) 23 8070 2200, visit www.truvox.com or email truvox@truvox.com.