While cleaning chemicals and soaps are important for maintaining a sanitary food processing area, never underestimate the value of a high-quality scrub brush and sweep broom to ensure every last bit of residue is swept and scrubbed away! To keep work areas clean and provide excellent, uncontaminated products, here’s what you should know to pick the right brushes and brooms for the job, plus our picks for the best in show!

Choosing the Right Brush for Food Processing

When choosing either a scrub brush or a broom for cleaning and sanitizing needs, the cleaning tool in question must have a hygienic design and the right bristle stiffness for the job.

1. Hygienic Design

Some materials used in manufacturing brushes and brooms may pose an issue if they are too absorbent or retain contaminants between uses. A low-quality brush that is constructed with a drilled and stapled design may have many holes and connection points where food scraps and other debris can collect, reducing the effectiveness of the brush or broom and increasing the chances of contamination during the cleaning process. Another problematic material is resin, which is not approved for food contact and can be an easy contaminant.

When purchasing any scrub brush or sweep broom, look for materials like polyester bristles and polypropylene blocks, both of which are hygienic and non-absorbent. All materials used in the construction of the cleaning tool should be FDA-compliant.

2. Bristle Stiffness

The stiffness of your brush or broom bristles matters! Some jobs, such as scrubbing around gaskets and joints of machinery, will require extra stiff bristles for getting into those tight spaces and working out the debris. Other jobs may require bristles designed to hold more water for effective wet cleaning and scrubbing. Here are the four standard bristle stiffness options and their uses:

• Soft bristles are best for dry use, sweeping up powders and small particles.
• Medium bristles offer a decent multi-purpose middle ground by effectively sweeping up fine powders and larger food debris. They are also suitable for wet or dry use.
• Stiff bristles are excellent for any debris that is stuck or difficult to scrub away and do well with larger food debris. They can be used wet or dry.
• Soft/split bristles are ideal for wet use, featuring bristles with split ends to hold more water and cleaning chemicals.

Types of Scrub Brushes and Sweep Brooms

The most important factor in narrowing down what kind of scrub brush or sweep broom your work area needs is its use. One type does not fit all when it comes to brushes and brooms! Having the right tool for the job will ensure a much more effective, efficient cleaning process.

Countertop or Bench Brushes

Countertop/bench brushes have a rectangular, narrow shape for quickly sweeping off counters and benches. They are usually best for dry sweeping and may be used with a dustpan for quickly wiping away loose particles and debris prior to scrubbing.

Vikan Total Color Bench Brushes come with either soft or medium stiffness bristles to customize for your needs. The lightweight design and ergonomic grip simplify sweeping up every tiny bit of dirt.

Hand Scrub Brushes

In the next step of a typical cleaning process, hand scrub brushes excel when used with soap and water or other cleaning agents to vigorously remove stuck-on debris and sanitize the workspace effectively.

The Sparta Iron Handle Scrub Brush is made with a foam-injected plastic block for extra strength and features an ergonomic handle for easier hold than a typical handle-free scrub brush. The polybutylene bristles are non-absorbent and long-lasting.

All-Purpose or Utility Brushes

All-purpose/utility brushes can have long or short handles for comfortable holding and offer an economical solution to a variety of cleaning needs.

If you’re looking for a one-size-fits-all brush, Sparta All-Purpose Utility Scrub Brushes come with an 8-inch ergonomic handle for easy use and a brush design with multiple trim angles for better surface contact. 

Floor Brushes

Floor brushes typically feature a long handle for scrubbing floors from a standing position, rather than getting down on your hands and knees like you would need to do with a hand scrub brush.

Designed to be effective on both textured and smooth surfaces in high-risk areas, Vikan Ultra Safe Technology (UST) Deck Scrubs have unprecedented bristle retention (reducing the risk of cross-contamination) and are designed for optimal scrubbing power! The one-piece design has no metal staples or resin, making it food-safe and less likely to carry contaminants.

Push Brooms

This large, rectangular broom is excellent for quickly sweeping a large, open space and picking up a lot of debris very quickly. Push broom handles come out from the center at an angle to support the forward-pushing motion required in operation.

Sparta Spectrum Color-Coded Omni Sweeps combine fine, medium, and heavy floor sweeps all in one package, with synthetic bristles and an angled pitch for even faster sweeping. The block is made from hygienic, non-absorbent materials that won’t soak up any liquids or chemicals.

Upright or Angled Brooms

Upright/angled brooms are more what you might picture for a standard, straight broom. Their narrower sweep-head is ideal for getting into tight spaces and around corners, allowing for more precision sweeping.

When it comes to upright brooms, our recommendation is the Vikan Split Bristle Angle Head Broom. This broom features soft/split bristles to gently sweep away powders and larger residue, and the narrow block is perfect for reaching into tight spaces!

Corn Brooms

This is the traditional broom you’d picture a witch flying around on at Halloween. Corn brooms feature very stiff bristles that make them ideal for outdoor sweeping or even kitchen floors.

For rugged indoor or outdoor cleaning, the Carlisle Synthetic Corn Broom offers all the benefits of a traditional corn broom with the added bonuses of an ergonomic, foam-gripped handle, flagged bristles for efficiently sweeping fine debris, and chemical and liquid-resistant bristles that can sustain temperatures of up to 225°F.

Bunzl Processor Division Has the Right Tools for All Your Cleaning Needs!

Cleaning and hygiene are essential to running a healthy, trustworthy food processing facility. Whether you run a mom-and-pop butcher shop or a large food processing corporation, BPD is here to help with only the best names in food-safe cleaning and hygiene! Shop our cleaning and hygiene products or contact us at 1-800-456-5624 with any questions.