Walk-behind floor scrubbers are a lot bulkier than their residential-grade upright counterparts. These simple-to-use devices are the ideal scrubbing tool for commercial establishments, such as hotels, corporate buildings, and hospitals.
Today, we’ll show you what the top-4 best walk-behind floor scrubbers are and what to look for in the ideal model for your business. For those in a hurry, our top pick is the SUNMAX RT-50, due to its quick scrubbing speed, simple-to-operate design, and humungous water tank.
Best Walk-Behind Floor Scrubbers in 2023
4) SUNMAX RT-50
The SUNMAX RT-50 is a 20-inch, 50-liter floor scrubber that has the ability to clean up to 3,000 square feet of hard floors per hour. It’s a battery-powered tool that lasts for up to 3.5 hours per charge, which should be plenty of time to clean an entire floor. The battery requires roughly 8 hours of charging to reach max capacity.
As a cordless floor scrubber, the SUNMAX RT-50 is ideal for use in busy supermarkets and other establishments during work hours. A telescoping handle makes this tool easy to stow away while charging.
- Specifications: Brush width: 560mm. Suckcing width: 800mm. Clear water tank volume: 50L....
- Easy to operate, flexible: Push-pull handle operation, can achieve forward, stop-Stop and...
3) Global Industrial 20-inch Auto Floor Scrubber
The Global Industrial Auto Floor Scrubber features a 20-inch disc pad that spins at a rate of 180 RPM. The tank only holds onto 15 gallons of a cleaning solution, but the tool can clean as much as 18,000 square feet of tiled or hardwood floors per hour. The 30-inch-wide squeegee system is easy to raise and lower when needed.
This corded walk-behind floor scrubber comes with an 82-foot-long power cord that guarantees uninterrupted performance in spacious buildings. The scrub brush and floor pad are sold separately, so make sure you pick up a set if you don’t have any on hand,
- Clarke MA50 15B Floor Scrubber (CLARKE380B)
2) Viper Cleaning AS430C
The Viper Cleaning AS430C is a smaller-sized walk-behind floor scrubber that features a 17-inch disc brush that spins at a rate of 160 RPM. The tank only has a capacity of 13 gallons but has a productivity rate of over 12,000 square feet per hour. The power cord measures in at just 65 feet, so you might want to utilize an extension cord for maximum cleaning efficiency.
The control panel is conveniently located right at your fingertips for quick scrubbing and solution dispensing. The entire unit is made of durable materials to withstand long-term scrubbing in the dirtiest environments.
- Easy-to-use, fingertip controls
- Compact design, simple to maneuver in tight areas
1) Clarke MA50-15B
Last up, we have the Clarke MA50-15B, which is the smallest floor scrubber on our list. Its brush/pad is only 15 inches wide and has a mere 7-gallon capacity. This is a cordless model, and its battery only provides around 2.5 hours of productivity before requiring 6-8 hours of charging.
However, its small size allows it to move effortlessly around corners and in tight areas. The squeegee sits just behind the brush attachment, so it only requires a single vacuum hose to pick every last drop of dirty water. It also features an ergonomic handle with all of the controls at your fingertips for quick adjustments.
- 12 gallon solution tank and a 15 gallon recovery tank
- 20"W cleaning path, 30"W cast aluminum squeegee assembly for removing cleaning solution
Walk-Behind Floor Scrubber Buying Guide
In this section, we’ll teach you everything you ever need to know about walk-behind floor scrubbers, including determining whether you need one and how to find the ideal model for your building.
What Is a Walk-Behind Floor Scrubber?
The tool’s name is pretty self-explanatory. If you’re unaware, floor scrubbers are deep-cleaning tools used on hard floors (tiles, laminate, concrete). They come with powerful motors that move their wide brushes at high speeds to scrub the stubbornest stains away.
A walk-behind floor scrubber is the second-most powerful type of floor scrubber—stronger than uprights but less powerful than riding floor scrubbers. As such, they deliver extraordinary amounts of downward pressure to loosen and remove caked-on stains in just one or two passes. These tools are ideal for buildings with between 10,000 and 100,000 square feet of hard floors.
How to Choose the Best Walk-Behind Floor Scrubber
Below, we’ll briefly go over the various specs and features you need to consider when shopping for the best walk-behind floor scrubber for your business.
Brush Type, Size, and Speed
One of the most crucial variables to consider is the brush. Take a look at the brush to determine its type, size, and how quickly it rotates or oscillates. The types of brushes and pads available are disc-shaped (like in the models on our list) and rectangular shaped. The size of the brush refers to how wide of a path the floor scrubber cleans with every pass. As for the speed of the brush, anything over 150 RPM would serve you well.
Pressure
A walk-behind floor scrubber’s brush or pad pressure is typically measured in pounds. A higher pressure rating is indicative of a harder-working scrubber that can remove greasy stains or caked-on messes in fewer passes. Ideally, you should look for a model that delivers at least 50 pounds of pressure. Some of the best models let you adjust the downward pressure of the brushes on demand.
Water Tanks
Walk-behind floor scrubbers come with two tanks—a clean water tank and a recovery tank. The clean water tank holds onto a solution of clean water and your choice of floor detergent. As for the recovery tank, the water used to clean your floors is suctioned and stored in this tank, dirt and all. Larger water tanks allow you to work for longer with fewer refill disruptions.
Squeegee Shape
The squeegee sits behind either the brush or behind the tool’s rear wheels, the latter being the case in the SUNMAX. The most important thing to consider regarding the squeegee is its shape. Make sure that the squeegee is semi-circular in shape and not straight as it might end up pushing dirty water to the side.
FAQs
1. How do walk-behind floor scrubbers work?
Using a walk-behind floor scrubber is pretty straightforward. The tool automatically saturates the brush or pad in the clean-water solution. The pads rotate at high speeds to scrub dirt and hard-to-remove stains off of hard floors. Finally, a built-in suction system pulls in the polluted water and stores it in the recovery tank for later disposal.
2. Should I get a walk-behind floor scrubber for my home?
Probably not, unless your home takes up more than 10,000 square feet of land. For the most part, homeowners can get by with an upright floor scrubber or even a steam mop. A walk-behind floor scrubber is the ideal cleaning tool for large establishments with lots of foot traffic.
3. How often should I clean my floors with a walk-behind floor scrubber?
The frequency at which you should deep-clean your hard floors depends on how dirty your floors get. Don’t neglect regular cleaning rituals like dusting, vacuuming, and mopping. Most places that use walk-behind floor scrubbers (hospitals, hotels, warehouses) use them every one to two weeks.
4. Is corded better than cordless?
It ultimately boils down to whether you value maneuverability more than performance. For the most part, corded walk-behind floor scrubbers deliver greater amounts of pressure. On the other hand, cordless floor scrubbers are great if you have several backup batteries on hand. On average, a single charge can deliver up to 180 minutes of continuous cleaning.
Conclusion
And that concludes our brief guide on the best walk-behind floor scrubbers you can get your hands on today. To sum up, these devices are ideal for scrubbing between 10,000 and 100,000 square feet of hard floors. The best model you can get today is the SUNMAX RT-50, but any of the other models listed above will certainly get the job done. If you have any questions, please feel free to let us know down below.
If you have any questions or comments, please add them below in the comment section. Similarly, please let us know if you spot any mistakes or omissions. Thanks!
Last Update: 2024-04-25 | Affiliate links/Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Very helpful!