Power to persuade 6 Jun, 2016

The advantages of battery power are persuasive, says Stephen Pinhorne, UK Sales Manager of Truvox International, especially when it’s harnessed to a floor cleaning workhorse.  

Keeping floors clean and shining in any busy building is daunting enough. When there are clients, visitors or other people present during the cleaning operation, the challenge is that much greater.  

Cordless cleaning machines are a major benefit to cleaning teams who, literally, have to work around those using the building.  

But the practical advantages that flow from battery power are not confined to daytime cleaning, or environments like hospitals and hotels where the noise of cleaning machines at any time of day or night can disturb occupants. Unfettered by power cables, cordless machines offer enhanced safety and flexibility. Combined with the performance and increasing range of modern battery technology, the potential efficiency gains more often justify the purchase premium compared with equivalent plug-in models.  

The benefits of harnessing battery power apply across the cleaning spectrum but they are well illustrated by two workhorses – the burnisher and scrubber dryer.  

Rotary burnishers need high speeds to produce a sparkling, high sheen, rapidly and efficiently. A powerful motor is crucial for high productivity as well as burnishing performance. Using battery power, this can be achieved without an accompanying high whine.  

For example, the Orbis UHS Cordless Burnisher has an operating speed of 1500rpm and yet allows whisper-quiet operation, at just 56.6 decibels. The operating range does not have to be compromised either. A single charge of the machine’s maintenance-free gel batteries will power up to two hours’ non-stop burnishing.   With no need to watch out for a cable snagging obstacles or to interrupt operation to switch between power sockets, polishing activity is seamless. Batteries can easily be swopped to continue burnishing over large areas. But if an operator is to sustain that performance, on a long shift, the machine must also be well balanced and easy to handle.  

The Orbis range of rotaries made by Truvox International are designed with a centre wheel to aid manoeuvrability and up-to-the-edge burnishing. Other important features include a floating pad drive that adjusts for uneven floors; a tough vacuum skirt to contain and suction up all dust; and build quality to ensure robustness and long-term performance.  

A high-speed rotary is a specialist machine but it can polish a wide variety of floor types, when fitted with the appropriate brushes or pads. These include stone, granite, marble, terrazzo, vinyl and PVC, as well as concrete, terracotta, quarry tiles, safety floors and raised rubber.  

The versatility of that other workhorse, the scrubber dryer, ranges from function to floor type.  An advanced scrubber dryer streamlines floor care by washing, scrubbing and drying in one pass, leaving floors safe to walk on.  

The Multiwash 340/Pump Battery was designed to match the output of our flagship scrubber dryer in a cordless package. With a cleaning width of 34cm, this scrubber dryer can tackle large areas on a single charge, which powers up to 50 minutes’ continuous operation. It is quiet as well as simple to operate and manoeuvre around obstacles.  

Multiwash technology, which uses cylindrical brushes that counter-rotate at high speed, minimises the use of water and chemical solutions. A spray pump applies cleaning solution to the floor. Then the cylindrical brushes – exerting 4-6 times more pressure than a rotary machine – scrub the surface, propelling dirty water onto a conveyor drum. This excellent pick-up accelerates the drying process. The Multiwash tackles hard floors from composite vinyl and concrete to marble and tiles, as well as trickier surfaces such as low-pile carpets and safety flooring. On tiled floors, it scrubs down into grout lines and crevices to remove embedded soils where bacteria survive and multiply.  

Operation requires minimal training and adjusting brush height is simple; and swopping over an optional replacement battery is quick. Removing and cleaning solution tanks is also straightforward. Colour-coded brushes help prevent cross-contamination as operative and machine move swiftly on to their next task – untethered.