Vacuum Extension Wand And Other Tools

An extension wand extends the reach of crevice and dusting tools to clean areas such as ceilings and high corners.

“High points are everyone’s pain point,” says Tracey Caville, general manager of Swish Maintenance Ltd., Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. “So finding tools to clean those high points is one of the biggest challenges in our industry.”

A lot of end users prefer extendable wands to the two- or three-piece wands typically used for high dusting, says Ryan Schultz, strategic account manager for C&C Janitorial Supplies, Newington, Connecticut.

“They don’t have to fit separate pieces together or worry about someone taking the wand apart and losing a piece,” he says.

In facilities with a lot of exposed, overhead piping, an extension wand with a pipe-cleaning brush can speed the dust removal process and increase efficiency.

“When people use feather dusters for high dusting, the dust falls on top of them or onto the floor, so they have to clean the mess up multiple times — or the dusting just never gets done,” says Allen. “So the extension wand with the dust brush or pipe cleaner replaces high-end dusting. It makes it easier to go above overhead piping and suck the dust off.”

In addition to decreasing labor, the extension wand reduces the risk of injuries: Instead of climbing a ladder to do high dusting, janitors can reach the same area with the aid of an extension wand while their feet remain firmly on the ground.

There’s A Tool For That

Although the aforementioned tools can tackle most cleaning tasks, manufacturers also offer attachments that are tailored to very specific needs and are usually sold separately.
 
For example, Allen is seeing more interest in a paddle tool used to vacuum areas that contain wires or cords.

“It’s a flat tool that resembles a beaver tail, and it’s all plastic,” he says. “There are no bristle brushes, and it has scallops for airflow, which allows people to vacuum in places such as cubicles, where there are a lot of wires under the desk and brushes would get in the way.”

Caville is seeing more demand for a canister vacuum attachment used on deep-pile carpets and specialty matting.

“In the winter months, we get a lot of rock salt and ice melt, and it gets embedded deep into the fibers, so you need a more aggressive beater bar,” she says. “This attachment has dual, rotating brushes that get deeper into the carpet than your typical carpet tool.”
Caville has a customer that uses the tool for specialty matting on trains.

With such a wide range of tools at their disposal, end users have no excuse to skip cleaning in hard-to-reach or difficult places.

“Vacuuming and dusting are long-lost arts that need to be brought back,” says Payne. “They will forever be the first steps in good, quality cleaning.”

Kassandra Kania is a freelancer based in Charlotte, North Carolina. She is a frequent contributor to Sanitary Maintenance.