Carpet, Hard Floor Cleaning Prove Good Fit For Stand-on Machines

When Flagship Facility Services was first awarded the cleaning contract for MCO, Barton spent two months scoping out the airport to determine the cleaning tools and equipment purchases necessary to maintain the facility, including the floors and carpets. The airport featured large, open spaces that were frequently packed with travelers and airport staff.

For this floor-care job, Barton purchased nine stand-on HEPA vacuums, two stand-on carpet extractors and two stand-on burnishers.

“The stand-on vacuum is a very effective tool when you’re servicing large, open areas,” says Barton. “It doesn’t perform the detail work, but when you’re talking about a space that’s 25 to 30 feet wide, there’s a lot of ground to cover in a short amount of time, and the stand-on unit meets that challenge.”

At MCO, stand-on vacuums are used both landside — at the ticketing counters, baggage claims and rental car services — and airside — at the boarding gates.

In addition to vacuuming, MCO hires Flagship to spot clean carpets daily. The stand-on machine’s compact footprint and tight turning radius make it ideal for daily cleaning in busy airport environments.

“The stand-on extractor is a great companion to quarterly truck-mounted cleaning,” says Barton. “It’s very effective at cleaning small areas.”

Although carpeting covers approximately 60 percent of MCO, the remaining 40 percent is hard flooring that requires the use of high-speed burnishers. Stand-on machines work for this purpose as well; Flagship uses the stand-on burnishers primarily on polished limestone.