Blog: How To Clean Escalators and Travelators

Why Clean Your Escalators and Travellators?

It is easy to underestimate how important it is to keep escalators and travellators clean in a business or public area, not just from a maintenance and safety perspective but also because escalators are often one of the first things people will come into contact with at a location, and first impressions count for a lot!

Things To Consider Before Cleaning Escalators and Travellators

There are several aspects that make cleaning escalators that bit more of a challenge. Because escalators and travellators are not flat surfaces and often have deep tread or grooves, debris and dirt cannot simply be wiped or vacuumed. Likewise, one has to consider the timing of cleaning escalators and travellators, as extended downtime could mean losing the main means of access for customers, staff and/or the public.

This is why specialist machines are highly recommended for the most effective finish, as they thoroughly scrub, vacuum and dry the escalator in a single pass. This speeds up the process, limits downtime, and gives the best possible results.

Cleaning Techniques For Escalators

Firstly, you need to assess how dirty the escalator or travelator is. If it has been a long time between cleans or has never been cleaned, cleaning time may be longer than if you have been doing so regularly (weekly/monthly).

When using a high-quality escalator and travellator machine, such as the ones we have available to hire you would first pour in detergent, being careful to follow usage instructions very carefully. Close the cover of the fresh water reservoir and simply drive the machine in front of the travellator/ escalator platform.

Then, place the machine on the platform in such a way that the front wheels do not touch the first step of the moving travellator/ escalator. Once you have pressed the pedal for lowering the brush head, the lock lever will arrest in its position and the machine will position itself centrally in the grooves of the steps. You can then set the machine to the cleaning function you desire.

To move the machine to the side, then simply lift the brush pedal, move it to the side and repeat the process of lowering the brush head and setting the function – it really is as simple as that!

You can take a look at our escalator and travellator cleaners for hire nationwide here.