Do you need uncompromising versatility? Need to tackle virtually any hard surface condition? Do you have a modern floor surfaces, polished stone, Teknoflor® or porcelain tile? Then consider Tennant’s Orbital scrubbing technology across its range of commercial and industrial walk behind scrubber dryers!

Why Orbital?

The orbital head is rectangular in design and is able to give you a superior edge-to-edge clean. For entrance ways, larger foyer spaces and aisles that may be of uneven, textured or grouted floors, Orbital heads can also clean baseboards and cove moldings. The orbital pad pressures are able to be maintained due to the balanced rectangular orbital design which means the clean is even across uneven floor surfaces.

Not All Orbital Machines Are Alike. The orbital environment can be harsh unless you design for it. Tennant’s T300 orbital scrubber is designed for thousands of oscillations per minute and with 10 isolators to minimize vibration. Tennant’s orbital design ensures machine durability, operator comfort and maximizes performance on the floor. The orbital head draws less power so overall and improves (T300) battery runtime up to 45% compared to a traditional disk head, and pad life is extended. This translates into a lower cost of ownership and increased productivity for businesses and facility managers.

Tony Applin – Tennant Australia’s Commercial Distribution Manager, states that Tennant’s three variable down pressure settings means operators can easily optimize down pressure by choosing from three down pressures at the touch of a button. There’s no need to add or remove heavy counter weights from the scrub head. This delivers our customers savings in terms of extended run times, which means better productivity per shift and safe OH&S operating conditions.

Who would benefit most from an Orbital scrubber?

Orbital heads provide a deep daily clean and with the ability on our machines to change pad pressure they maximise your overall cleaning performance. Industries we find most suited to this type of cleaning are education, healthcare, retail and hospitality. Such facilities may have multiple floor types and need to maintain their image to a high standard – on a daily basis.

Applin also adds that “More and more facilities are using modern decorative tiles and natural stone for their flooring which brings new challenges to cleaning regimes.  And we’ve had great success with customers who have facilities with grout lines and non-slip surfaces.”

What Tennant machines are compatible with Orbital technology?

The current range is for our mid to large Walk behind Scrubber dryers starting at the T300 moving into the larger T500 family and finally our latest addition the even larger T600 workhorse. All available with ec-H20 NanoClean™ and IRIS® intelligent insights software where customers require it.

What Pad would I use and for when?

In simple terms, the darker the colour of the pad, the more aggressive the cleaning will be.

• Orbital pad backer with hook and loop tape: The pad backer allows for compression of the working pad to the floor for optimal scrubbing or removal of floor finish. Uniquely designed to prevent the working pad from falling off during use or transportation.
• 3M™ Red Cleaning Pad: Red pads are designed for everyday cleaning and light scrubbing to remove light soil, scuff marks and black heel marks.
• 3M™ Blue Cleaning Pad: The blue pad is used in heavy-duty scrubbing. It removes dirt, spills, and scuffs while leaving a clean, prepared surface.
• 3M™ White Polishing Pad: Use the white polishing pad for light cleaning to help remove soil and soft scuff marks with minimal dulling of finish.
• Melamine Pad: The Melamine pad is made of an open-cell polymeric foam that produces outstanding results when cleaning VCT, Terrazzo, Tile, Concrete and Epoxy floors. Effective at removing black marks and can restore tile and grout without using harsh chemicals.

Today, in addition to scrubbing there is a growing movement towards chemical-free floor stripping and Orbital dual technology is the perfect multi-purpose solution for this. This versatility in having a dual purpose solution is a great investment for any facility who not only wants to reduce their environmental impact but save money in the long term.