A very common concern for urban cleaning service managers when testing a brush manufactured by an unknown company, using alternative materials, or when buying a new street sweeper is knowing the lifespan of the street sweeper brushes.
Customers frequently ask us the same question: “How long do urban cleaning brushes last?” And the answer is ambiguous: “It depends.”
As we mentioned, the lifespan of the street cleaning brushes depends on many factors: the sweeper machine, the driver, the type of debris to be swept from the streets, the street being cleaned, and even the climatic conditions.
A brush with exactly the same amount of sweeping material and thus the same quality, manufactured with the same settings of the same insertion machine, will have different lifespans depending on the different working conditions.
It depends on the sweeper machine and the driver, as a side brush should only lightly touch the pavement with the tips of the bristles. If it works with more pressure that causes the bristle to be pressed harder against the ground, due to poor adjustment, operator oversight, or a malfunction of the brush height positioning system, it will have a much shorter lifespan compared to one that operates under good conditions and where the working height is adjusted as it wears.
It depends on the material being swept, as some debris is more abrasive than others. Sweeping sand blown from the beach or dust from public works is not the same as sweeping paper waste or cigarette butts accumulated at bus stops or in front of bars. The more abrasive the material being swept, the shorter the lifespan of the brushes.
It depends on the street being cleaned, as the brush is in contact with it while sweeping, and the more aggressive the pavement, the shorter the brushes will last. Sweeping concrete is different from sweeping asphalt, sidewalks, or marble tiles.
It depends on the climatic conditions, as in a humid climate with a wet ground, the friction of the brush while sweeping is less, thus increasing its lifespan. On the contrary, a drier ground increases friction due to lack of lubrication and involves sweeping more abrasive material because there is more dust in the air.
It depends on the material of the side brush, as a mixed plastic and steel brush does not last as long as one that is only made of metal rod or only plastic. Generally, the higher the steel density, the longer the lifespan under the same working conditions.
Similarly, silent brushes have longer lifespans than previous ones, although with less cleaning capacity.
It also depends on the amount of filament and the dimensions of the brushes. The more filament a brush has, in addition to improving its effectiveness, the longer it will last but it will be penalized by a higher cost.
It also depends on the size of the disc and the geometry of the brush. The larger the sweeping diameter, whether due to the filament exit angle or the disc diameter, the more or less smooth the impact against the curb will be and it will affect the lifespan of urban brushes as larger ones will have slightly longer lives.
It also depends on where the brushes are mounted on the sweeper machine, as brushes mounted on the side that rubs against the curb will have a much shorter lifespan compared to the same brushes on the open side of the street. Generally, it tends to be about 50% shorter lifespan on the curbside, which leads some users to only change one of the brushes and rotate the used one from one side to the other.
In conclusion, we summarize that the same side brush, with exactly the same amount and quality of sweeping material, will have different lifespans when mounted on the same sweeper machine depending on different scenarios and working conditions.
