You’ve seen them rumbling back and forth across empty parking lots late at night. But what do you really know about them?
If you’re responsible for maintaining a parking lot, you need to be acquainted with parking lot sweepers. They’re your best friend when it comes to protecting your investment, saving time, and keeping clients, guests, and residents who drive to your facility happy.
So here’s what you need to know—and why…
Parking Lot Sweepers—A Brief History
- Back when more than 100,000 horses called London home, city streets were…fragrant. “Crossing Sweepers,” usually boys working for tips, used brooms to clear paths for pedestrians crossing major thoroughfares.
- In 1843, Sir Joseph Whitworth patented a horse-drawn sweeper that scooped up refuse and deposited it into a wagon.
- American inventor John Murphy designed a motorized sweeper in 1914. Fun fact—the first city to use his sweeper was Boise, Idaho.
- Gradual advances over the next sixty years made sweeping up large debris quicker, but small particles and hazardous chemicals still remained on swept parking lots and pavement. Rain and melting snow flushed these contaminants into local water supplies.
- During the 1960s, environmental concerns prompted sweeper manufacturers to find better ways to clean paved surfaces more completely. Several generations of sweepers followed: mechanical broom sweepers, vacuum sweepers, and, most recently, regenerative air sweepers.
All three of these parking lot sweepers are still in use.
How Parking Lot Sweepers Work
All parking lot sweepers have this in common: they lift and capture debris. What separates them is how they do the job.
Mechanical brush sweepers use large spinning brushes to move trash up into a collection bin. These sweepers capture large debris well but tend to scatter smaller particles. That’s why these sweepers often generate a cloud of dust as they move across parking lots. Spraying water as the sweeper advances helps settle dust—but not completely.
Vacuum sweepers use spinning brushes and a water spray but add a powerful vacuum under the sweeper that sucks up the dust as well as larger debris.
Regenerative air sweepers churn up debris with air jets, swirling it under the sweeper as a vacuum lifts trash and particles into a collection bin. Filters clean the air in the collection bin and recycle it to blast the pavement as a water spray holds down stray dust.
How to Know Which Parking Lot Sweeper Is Best For You
Each type of parking lot sweeper has its advantages.
Mechanical brush sweepers are champs at cleaning up heavier materials. If your site has heavy soil track-out, we’ll tackle the job with this sweeper.
If capturing and containing pollutants is your chief concern, one of our regenerative air sweepers is perfect. It’s thorough, efficient, and allows very little polluted air back into the environment. It also clears a wider path, so fewer trips across your parking lot are needed. We can be in and out of your lot almost before you know we’re there.
Vacuum brush sweepers are the most effective at cleaning along curb lines. These are ideal machines for use in a parking lot with multiple curbed islands.
Ultimately, the best sweeper is one you can have at your site quickly and economically—and that’s where More Clean comes in. We’re ready to serve you 24/7, and we cover all of Texas. When you’re asking, “who provides parking lot sweeping services near me?” we’re your answer from Coldwater to Brownsville, El Paso to Nacogdoches.
Why Parking Lot Sweeping Services Matter
- Keeping your lot clean prolongs its life and avoids costly repairs. Passing cars grind debris into your parking lot, eroding asphalt and creating cracks and potholes. The pros at the Texas Asphalt Pavement Association recommend power washing and cleaning your parking lot two or three times per year.
And those cleanings also protect the surfaces inside your facility. There’s less debris tracked in by pedestrians who’ve crossed the parking lot or used sidewalks and pathways. Wear and tear on tile and carpet is reduced—another reason to make parking lot sweeping a priority.
- A clean lot increases your property’s curb appeal. Your parking lot is the first impression visitors have of your business or organization. A dirty lot signals that you don’t take your customers—or your business—seriously. And fine grit and dust will follow employees and visitors into your offices and production areas, potentially contaminating products.
- The environment will thank you. Thorough parking lot sweeping—the only kind More Clean provides—is kind to the environment.
Parking lots are carefully designed so rainwater drains off the asphalt. That means whatever is laying on the parking lot—dirt, litter, tire debris, gas, leaked motor oil, and radiator fluid—is flushed off the lot and into the local water supply. When lots are scrubbed clean on a regular basis, harmful chemicals are captured before they can do damage.
Are you ready for a clean parking lot? Contact us today!
