Other kinds of scrubbers
"Scrubber" names several unrelated machines. Scrubber Guide covers floor scrubbers: machines that wash hard floors and recover the dirty water. Here is how the other kinds differ, so you can tell which one you need.
| Type | What it cleans | How it works | Where it is used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Floor scrubber (auto scrubber) | Hard floors | Applies solution, scrubs with brushes or pads, and vacuums the water up with a squeegee | Warehouses, retail, schools, hospitals, factories |
| Air scrubber | Indoor air | A fan pulls air through filters, usually including a HEPA filter, sometimes with carbon or UV stages | Water and fire damage restoration, mold remediation, construction dust control |
| Exhaust gas scrubber (marine) | Ship engine exhaust | Washes exhaust with seawater or treated water to remove sulfur oxides | Ships complying with international sulfur limits |
| Industrial wet or dry scrubber | Process gases | Removes particles or acid gases from industrial exhaust with liquid sprays or dry sorbents | Power plants, chemical plants, manufacturing |
| Pool scrubber or pool robot | Pool floors and walls | A brush head or robotic cleaner scrubs surfaces underwater | Residential and commercial pools |
| Pressure washer surface cleaner | Outdoor flatwork | A spinning pressure-washer bar under a hood cleans concrete | Driveways, sidewalks, parking areas |
Common confusions
- Floor scrubber vs floor buffer. A buffer or floor machine (rotary) agitates the floor but does not recover water. See orbital vs rotary and scrubber vs burnisher.
- Floor scrubber vs sweeper. Sweepers collect dry debris and do not use water. See scrubber vs sweeper.
- Commercial vs home floor scrubbers. Cordless home wet-dry floor cleaners work on similar principles at a much smaller scale. See cordless home floor scrubbers.
If you are here for floor scrubbers, start with how to choose a floor scrubber or how an auto scrubber works.