Industrial Cleaning Equipment Key Terms

Tidy up your vocabulary with industrial cleaning equipment key terms

By Denise Brown

If you are in charge of building maintenance, you need to know industrial cleaning equipment key terms. The type of flooring you have can affect the type what kind of cleaning equipment you should purchase. This guide to industrial cleaning equipment key terms can help you figure out what pieces of equipment you will need for the job.

Sweepers

Sweepers clear industrial workspaces of debris and dirt. You can find small sweepers that you can push, as well as large, riding sweepers. Sweepers can be electric powered, battery operated or gas or diesel fueled. Many sweepers come with optional accessories.
Try: Tennant Company sells a variety of sweepers.

Scrubbers

Scrubbers have brushes and water jets that clean industrial floors. Some models of scrubbers are combination sweepers and scrubbers. As with sweepers, you can find push models as well as riding models.
Try: See the various scrubbers offered by American Surplus.

Extractors

Extractors are useful for cleaning up wet messes. They are especially good for cleaning sludge, sewage lines and other types of thicker debris that you cannot clean with a sweeper or scrubber. Extractors can also serve as a wet or dry vacuum.
Try: Daimer Industries has a photo of an extractor on its website.

Pressure washers

Pressure washers deliver water and high pressure to clean industrial and commercial areas. As you purchase a pressure washer, look at the water pressure per square inch as well as the water volume or gallons per minute. Pressure washers come in hot- and cold-water models. They can be portable or you can find stationary models.
Try: There are pressure washers in many configurations at Ultimate Washer.

Dispensing system

A dispensing system mixes the detergent and water in the right combination and makes it available on the scrubbers or through the pressure washers. A dispensing system saves mixing time and materials because it mixes the exact proportions.
Try: Bortek Industries explains how its dispensing system works.

Polishers or buffers

Polishers or buffers clean, shine and polish stone, wood or tile floors with a rotating pad. Different types of pads are available to accomplish different cleaning tasks.
Try: Parish Maintenance Supply offers a good explanation of polishers and buffers. You can see its list of accessory options as well.