Any ideas how to quickly sweep badminton mats clean of leftover feather bits?

Discussion in 'General Forum' started by visor, Nov 5, 2013.

  1. visor

    visor Regular Member

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2009
    Messages:
    16,400
    Likes Received:
    2,001
    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    Trying to help out one of the local baddy facilities here where I am in Vancouver, BC.

    Was just chatting with the owner about the place and he mentioned that it's a major task to sweep the mat courts clean once a week of the feather bits leftover from shuttles. So I thought hey, why don't I pose this problem on the forum and see if together we can come up with a quick and easy solution.

    Thinking about it a bit, I figured that sweeping is easier than vacuuming, since there's no hose to worry about. So let's say we sweep the bits off the mat to the edges where there's carpet, later to be vacuumed along with the carpet areas.

    So the question then, is there a type of push broom or sweeper that is:
    1. wide enough for fast cleaning (ie. 3-4 ft wide)
    2. yet gentle enough that it can easily glide over the mat without sticking to or damaging the surface, and
    3. effective at trapping the feather bits as the broom is pushed continously to the mat edge.

    Any ideas?

    How do they do it at international tournaments?
     
  2. craigandy

    craigandy Regular Member

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2011
    Messages:
    2,363
    Likes Received:
    19
    Location:
    UK
    We use these at our local facility's, they are 2meters wide 6'6" at full stretch and the feathers get caught in the v so no need to dump the feathers, you can sweep the whole hall in one go and by the end you pull the thing back and you have a small pile of feathers you can dustpan and brush up.
    gm_v_sweeper.jpg

    Takes under 1minute per court at a slow pace. I didn't know what they were called so I googled V sweeper:D turns out that's their name.
     
  3. craigandy

    craigandy Regular Member

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2011
    Messages:
    2,363
    Likes Received:
    19
    Location:
    UK
    :eek: how many courts are there? even with a small brush this must be the lazyiest man alive.:D
     
  4. visor

    visor Regular Member

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2009
    Messages:
    16,400
    Likes Received:
    2,001
    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    Tks craigandy... but there are 18 courts! :) And they're mats too, so not sure if the V sweeper will glide over the surface smoothly without catching onto the mats.
     
  5. craigandy

    craigandy Regular Member

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2011
    Messages:
    2,363
    Likes Received:
    19
    Location:
    UK
    We use it on rubber flooring it glides like an eagle:D . the picture shows the man standing stupidly upright, the metal bits are on hinges to allow you to turn and but more importantly you can lower down a lot allowing you to glide away(i.e not have the handles so upright).

    alternatives
    there are regular brushes that are 3+foot wide
    We also have a sit on vacuum/sweeper if he wants to shell out the cash.
    There are thing you can drag around like a horse ploughing a field, but easier to see what your doing with above.
     
  6. emidyl

    emidyl Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2013
    Messages:
    64
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    GTA
    wow 18 courts is alot. if getting stuck is an issue not sure if anyone recalls but they have these roller sweeps that they use at restaurants to just basically go over any debris and it gets caught up in the roller and pan inside. Pretty old school but they were effective at doing their jobs. Not super wide but cheap and can be done anytime. Once full you just open and empty the small tray inside.
     
  7. visor

    visor Regular Member

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2009
    Messages:
    16,400
    Likes Received:
    2,001
    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    Good ideas! Tks. :)

    The big V sweeper for overall cleaning, and the small roller sweeper for spot cleaning.
     
  8. bad-vancouver

    bad-vancouver Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2011
    Messages:
    265
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Vancouver, British Columbia
    imagesCAP8OEB5.jpg

    The answer is large dust mops. They glide and pivot nicely. Floors really need to be swept at least once a day though. Its the stuff you can't see that really needs to be swept up to keep players safe, namely dust and small rocks. Takes 20 minutes to sweep 12 courts.
     

Share This Page