How Often Should You Replace Your Floor Scrubber Brushes or Pads?

Brushes and pads are like tires—they wear out. But how often should you actually replace them? The answer depends on usage, floor type, and your specific machine model.

Here’s a general breakdown based on normal usage:

Disk pads: Replace every 3 - 15 hours of use. (Depending on color).

Typical Floor Pad Lifespan

• Standard Red/White Buffing Pads:

🔥 8–15 hours before they’re glazed over and no longer effective.

• Black Stripping Pads:

🔥 5–10 hours (they chew themselves up fast).

• More aggressive or specialty pads (like Melamine):

🔥 3-5 hours (they often lose effectiveness after 1 to 2 uses).

Factors that kill pads quicker:

Dirty floors (grit acts like sandpaper).
High down-pressure settings.
Using the wrong pad for the floor type.
Operator abuse.

Scrub brushes: Replace every 30 – 75 hours of use. (Depending on the material).

Floor Scrubber Brush Lifespan

Nylon Brushes
Good general-purpose option. Durable but soft enough for polished or sealed concrete.

👉 Estimated lifespan: 50–75 hours

Longer-lasting than polypropylene
Holds up well with proper rinsing and storage
Gets slick when worn (bristles bend and polish instead of scrub)

Polypropylene (Poly) Brushes
Cheaper than nylon, decent on light to medium soil. More brittle.

👉 Estimated lifespan: 30–50 hours

More prone to splitting or deforming under heat/chemicals
Best for occasional use or lighter applications

Grit-Impregnated Brushes (e.g., Nylo-Grit, Tynex)
Used for aggressive scrubbing or rough concrete.

👉 Estimated lifespan: 30–60 hours

Wears faster on smoother floors (and can damage polished surfaces)
Great on dirty warehouse floors, machine shops, garages.

Natural Fiber Brushes (Tampico, Union Mix, Bassine, etc.)
Rarely used in industrial scrubbers anymore, but still found in niche cases.

👉 Estimated lifespan: 15–30 hours

Not designed for longevity
Break down fast with water, chemical, or constant use
Mostly for delicate surfaces or buffing—not daily concrete cleaning

Cylindrical brushes: Can typically last 75 - 125 hours, but swap sooner if bristles are visibly worn or frayed.

Using worn-out brushes or pads reduces your machine’s cleaning efficiency, wastes water and detergent, and can even damage your floors. It’s not just a maintenance issue—it’s a cost issue.

Need help figuring out which replacement part fits your machine?

👉 Visit our Parts Page to browse OEM parts for Factory Cat, Tomcat, Kodiak, Tennant, Timberline, and more.