Floor Cleaning 101: How to Choose the Right Scrub Pad
The first step to cleaning a floor is to remove the loose debris. In many commercial and industrial settings, walk-behind or rider floor sweepers are utilized to quickly and efficiently clear large spaces. Some even use industrial sweeper-scrubbers which, as their namesake implies, combine the first two steps of the cleaning process.
To sweep the floor, you’ll need a broom. That part is simple. What isn’t necessarily simple is that between all the different fill materials and patterns, there are many variations in floor sweeper brooms. We created this guide to help you determine which type of broom will work best for your sweeping needs. As an added bonus, we’ve included our FREE downloadable buying guide at the end of this article!
Deciding what scrub pad you should use to most efficiently get the job done depends on the type of floor, level of soil, and intended purpose of use (stripping, scrubbing, or polishing). It’s important to note that scrub pads work best on smooth floors like tile, terrazzo, vinyl, linoleum, and concrete and do not perform well on uneven floors with deep cracks and crevices.
First, let’s discuss which floor scrubbers are capable of using scrub pads.
Disc Scrub Decks & Pad Drivers
Disc scrub decks are the most common type of scrub deck on walk-behind scrubbers. Conveniently, they accommodate both disc brushes or scrub pads. However, in order to use scrub pads on a disc floor scrubber, a pad driver must be installed to hold the pad in place if it does not already have one.
If you are interested in switching from using scrub brushes to pads but don’t have a pad driver installed, contact our service department to set up this service. Just call us at (888) 834-9948 or email us at service@triadservice.com.
Types of Scrub Pads
While scrub pad offerings may vary slightly between manufacturers, the color coding system is relatively universal.* Each color is associated with a level of aggressiveness in regards to cleaning action. Check out the following color explanations for an overview of each color in order of most aggressive to least aggressive:
*Please note that this is a rough guide. When choosing scrub pads for your floor, always start with the least aggressive option applicable to your floor type and desired purpose (such as for scrubbing or stripping), and test the pad in an inconspicuous location first to make sure it does not damage your floor.
Super Black
Super Black is the most aggressive scrub pad and is used for heavy-duty floor stripping. Not all manufacturers offer this pad type. Super Black scrub pads can be used to strip ceramic tile, concrete tile, and concrete floors.
Disc brush alternative: 46-Grit
Black
Though not quite as aggressive as Super Black, Black pads are commonly the most aggressive scrub pad offered by manufacturers and are used for stripping floors. Black scrub pads can be used to strip vinyl, ceramic tile, concrete tile, and concrete floors.
Disc brush alternative: 46-Grit or 80-Grit
Brown
Considered to be a high-medium level of aggressiveness, Brown scrub pads are a good option for the aggressive scrubbing of floors but not necessarily stripping. However, they may remove floor coating and are often used for preparing floors for re-coating. Brown scrub pads can be used for aggressively scrubbing linoleum, vinyl, ceramic tile, terrazzo, concrete tile, and concrete floors.
Disc brush alternative: 80-Grit
Green
Green pads can be used for moderately aggressive general scrubbing on linoleum, vinyl, ceramic tile, stone carpet, terracotta, terrazzo, concrete tile, and concrete floors.
Disc brush alternative: 120-Grit, 180-Grit, or 240-Grit
Blue
Great for general scrubbing and every day cleaning, Blue pads are a slightly less aggressive option than Green pads. Blue scrub pads can be used to scrub linoleum, vinyl, resilient, ceramic tile, stone carpet, terracotta, terrazzo, concrete tile, granite, epoxy floor, and concrete.
Disc brush alternative: 180-Grit or 240-Grit
Red
Red pads are one of the most versatile and commonly used scrub pads for every day cleaning and light scrubbing of linoleum, vinyl, resilient, polyolefin, ceramic tiles, stone carpet, terracotta, terrazzo, concrete tiles, marble, granite, epoxy floor, and concrete floors.
Disc brush alternative: 500-Grit
White
As the softest pad option, white scrub pads have the most gentle cleaning action and are most commonly used for polishing linoleum, vinyl, terrazzo, marble, and granite floors. White scrub pads work well to remove light soil and scuff marks.
Disc brush alternative: 500-Grit
*Please note that Black Diamond scrub pads are ranked by grit size and their color ordering is slightly different.
Common Questions about Scrub Pads
When do I need to replace a scrub pad?
The most simple answer to when you should replace the pad on your floor scrubber is that if you start to notice that it isn’t cleaning as effectively as it should or used to, it’s time to replace it. It’s a good idea to regularly inspect your pad to check for obvious signs of wear such as fraying or loss of texture (smooth appearance). Don’t be afraid to break out a fresh pad for comparison.
Just like scrub brushes and brooms, a good rule of thumb is if the material is more than 50% worn, it needs to be replaced. If you are unable to determine how worn your pad is, don’t hesitate to give us a call so we can offer guidance.
What type of floors should I not use a scrub pad on?
We recommend using scrub brushes instead of pads on excessively rough floors, such as anti-slip or slip resistant flooring that are gritted. This type of rough flooring can shred scrub pads and will require more frequent replacement. Scrub pads are also less effective at cleaning deep cracks, grooves, and crevices than scrub brushes.
Can I use a more aggressive pad on my floor?
If the current pad you are using to clean your floor is wearing too quickly or doesn’t seem to be cleaning your floors effectively, you may want to switch to a more aggressive pad. We recommend referencing our pad buying guide to help you determine the right pad. You should only increase the aggressiveness by one level at a time and always test new pads on an inconspicuous part of your floors first to make sure it is safe to use on your floors.
Need help figuring out which pad to buy? Check out our helpful buying guide below or call us at (888) 834-9948. We’ll need to know what kind of floor you will be using the pad on, so be sure to have that information handy.
Click here to download our comprehensive buying guide for brushes, brooms, and pads:
Questions?
Call us at (888) 834-9948
Email us at parts@triadservice.com
Or submit a help request here: Parts Request (triadservice.com)
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