The Best Practices for Maintaining Escalators

Escalator cleaning and maintenance should not be taken for granted. Instead, these should be done regularly or as prescribed. Given that escalators are used continuously to carry heavy loads for hours, they should be routinely checked to ensure that they are working well.

Although most of those engaged in escalator cleaning and maintenance know exactly how these procedures should be done, a few still don’t. So, if you are currently in this type of job, you need to know some of the escalator cleaning best practices well. Here are some tips you can consider when maintaining or cleaning escalators.

Tips to Maintaining Escalators

Know how escalators work

As you are working with escalators, one of the first things that you should learn well is how they work. However, this doesn’t mean that you need to master all their technical aspects. Knowing how to turn them on or off is already a big step as it will allow you to do any of these when needed.

It is also helpful to read and understand the manufacturer’s list of dos and don’ts when using or cleaning escalators. Understanding the existing dos and don’ts will help you avoid doing the things that will affect the escalator’s optimum performance.

Finally, having sufficient knowledge on how escalators work helps make troubleshooting more convenient to accomplish.

Create a standard maintenance schedule

An escalator has hundreds of moving parts. Due to this, the machine is prone to wear and tear and could break down anytime. That’s why doing regular maintenance is strongly advised. A standard maintenance schedule must be strictly followed to obtain the best results.

You should also consider checking the manufacturer’s manual first before you proceed with creating the schedule. Typically, the manual provides the manufacturer’s instructions on when and how escalators should be cleaned and maintained.

Observe strict safety measures during maintenance

Personal safety should be ensured during escalator cleaning and maintenance. You should create a list of safety measures that must be followed to ensure the workers’ safety when cleaning or doing maintenance tasks. Use the manufacturer's manual as a reference to make sure that your list includes all the needed safety measures. You can also do some research to make the list more comprehensive.

Create an SOP for escalator cleaning

Escalator cleaning should be accomplished as prescribed. Given this, a standard operating procedure list that outlines all the cleaning steps will be helpful. The list should enumerate the cleaning materials and tools needed for the job. Also, make sure to include all that’s necessary to avoid delays and subpar results.

Aside from that, a checklist of the standard cleaning procedures that must be conducted is also essential. This will help in checking if all the required processes are accomplished. Using the list will also encourage you to perform any procedure that you failed to do, resulting in a better output.

Hire expert services

Escalators should be cleaned and maintained correctly. Failure to do so could cause the machines to malfunction or bog down. Considering this, hiring the service of experts to handle the maintenance proves to be the best option.

Although this means incurring additional expenses, hiring them is worth every penny. This is because the experts have extensive know-how in escalator maintenance. They are trained to do this the right way. Thus, you are assured of obtaining the best outcome.

Common Escalator Cleaning Methods

Although there are many ways of cleaning an escalator, the most popular ones are the following:

Machine cleaning method

The machine cleaning method is regarded as the best cleaning option. It can be used to clean the escalator faster at a lower cost. Technically, the method involves cleaning the escalator using the dry cleaning and wet cleaning machines. Without the need to dismantle the escalator’s parts, this can be conveniently completed.

Steps dismantling and cleaning method

This method involves dismantling the escalator’s steps and having these washed in another place. After washing, the steps will be assembled again. The process consumes more time and costs more. However, this provides an excellent outcome because all the stains and deep-seated dirt are removed.

Cleaning with EscaTEQ

EscaTEQ is your specialist in escalator cleaning tools. We make cleaning escalators easy.

EscaTEQ can help you keep your escalators clean and safe with our full range of escalator cleaning solutions. Our Riser-TEQ and Tread-TEQ systems clean the steps and escalator flooring, while our Rail-TEQ products enable easy, safe and quick cleaning of escalator or travellator handrails. Clean-TEQ is a cleaning solution that's formulated to be safe for use on all escalator and travellator brands, models and finishes.

For more details about our products, please feel free to contact us at (03) 9460 5655.