a machine for cleaning, sanding, and polishing parquet, painted, linoleum, plasticized polyvinyl chloride resin, and tile floors. Floor polishers may be manual, mechanical, or electric.

Mechanical floor polishers have one to four brushes, which are stationary or are rotated by friction against the surface being polished. They are moved by hand, using a hinged bar-shaped handle. Electric floor polishers consist of a high-speed (15,000 rpm) AC commutator motor built into a metal housing and also of a cover, brush holders, a handle attached to the housing, and a set of brushes and disks. The brushes are rotated by a friction, belt, or gear drive; the speed of rotation is 600–900 rpm. The brushes are made from artificial and natural bristle or dry grass; the disks are made of felt, wool, and other materials. Floor polishers weigh 4–11 kg; they can do 80–120 sq m per hr, and their power consumption is 180–450 watts.

Some floor polishers are equipped with a device for cleaning up the dust that forms when floors are cleaned and polished, as well as with “floating” brushes or a tank and attachments for washing floors and shampooing carpets (with a device to prevent liquid from splashing). They are also manufactured with special attachments for sanding and polishing furniture and automobile bodies and in combination with vacuum cleaners.

B. N. KOSHAROVSKII