Equipment and systems
Forklift wheel cleaning system
Every forklift that comes in from a yard or a loading bay carries whatever was on the ground outside into the building on its tyres. A wheel cleaning system is a passive barrier laid into the floor at that transition, which takes dirt, grit and moisture off the wheels as the vehicle drives over it, without stopping the vehicle and without anyone having to do anything.
Mechanical wheel cleaning at critical entry points
These systems work as a barrier between the dirty and the clean side of a site. Multi-directional brush strips scrape the tyres as vehicles pass at their normal operating speed, so the protection is continuous and does not depend on anyone remembering to do it, on a power supply or on a break in the workflow.
That makes them a fit for food plants working to BRC or HACCP requirements, for pharmaceutical sites with a cleanroom approach zone, and for high traffic warehouses where the cost of dirt is measured in cleaning hours and floor wear rather than in hygiene alone.
How a wheel cleaning system works
Modular panels sit flush with the existing floor at the entry point. Each panel holds angled, tension sprung bristles that scrape debris from the tyres as a vehicle rolls across, and the bristles flex under the load and spring back afterwards, which is what keeps the cleaning effective over a long service life. What comes off the wheels falls into a collection tray under the grid.
Systems come in a dry and a wet variant. The dry version captures loose dirt, dust and debris mechanically and needs nothing but the tray emptying. The wet version adds a disinfectant bath beneath the brushes, so that wheels are cleaned and disinfected in the same pass, and the solution is drained and refilled on a rhythm that follows the traffic.
Neither version needs an electrical supply, which matters at loading bay doors where power is rarely where you want it, and neither asks the driver to stop, reverse or change the approach.
Why facility managers install one
The argument differs by site, but it usually comes down to three things a wheel cleaning system changes at the door rather than after the fact.
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Less dirt to clean up
Dirt that never gets past the door does not have to be scrubbed off later, which shows up as fewer machine passes, less wear on the floor finish and longer intervals between deep cleans. How much it saves depends on the traffic, the yard surface and the weather the site works in.
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Documented control at the transition
BRC Global Standard v9 and IFS Food both expect hygiene controls where traffic crosses between zones. A permanent installation at that point is something an auditor can see and a procedure can refer to, rather than a manual routine that depends on the shift.
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Fewer routes for contamination
Wheels are one of the ways contamination travels between a yard and a production area, and wet, dirty tyre tracks are also one of the ways a floor becomes slippery. Taking both off at the entrance addresses the cause instead of the symptom.
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Maintenance that stays simple
On a dry system the collection trays are emptied and the panels hosed down. On a wet one the solution is drained and refilled as well. Both are a routine task for one person, and individual panels lift out for cleaning or replacement without touching the rest of the field.
The engineering behind brush based cleaning
The principle is simple and the execution is not: bristles are set at opposing angles so that a rolling tyre is worked from several directions at once, which dislodges particles that a single plane brush leaves in the tread.
The material is chosen to balance stiffness, so that the bristle scrapes rather than bends away, against flex memory, so that it returns to its original angle after each compression instead of laying flat. That combination is what keeps performance consistent across a long life rather than for a first season.
No electrical input is involved at any point. The cleaning force is the weight of the vehicle pressing the bristles against the tyre as it turns, which is also why the running cost is limited to the maintenance routine and why the system works where there is no power at the door.
Where it earns its place
Any operation that moves goods between an outdoor and an indoor zone carries contamination across that line. Three cases make the argument on their own.
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Food and beverage production
Raw material intake, finished goods dispatch and movement between processing zones each create a route for contamination, which is why the wet variant is the usual specification on sites working under HACCP, BRC or IFS.
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Pharmaceutical manufacturing
EU GMP Annex 1 asks for a formal contamination control strategy, and wheels carrying particles into a cleanroom approach area work against it. An adhesive mat is too short to be an answer, because the wheel has to turn several times over the cleaning surface for the tread to be worked properly.
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High volume logistics
A distribution centre running around the clock cannot stop forklifts for a manual wheel wash, and the vehicles cross between the bay and the racked area many times a shift. A passive system cleans on every pass without slowing anything down.
Tested, and by whom
The dry system was measured by the Fraunhofer IPA Institute, which found 80 to 90 percent of contamination removed under normal traffic conditions. The wet system was tested by the University of Bonn together with the IBELIN laboratory, over a two metre cleaning field fed with disinfectant at 2 percent, and the results were a 99 percent reduction of E. coli, 95 percent of Enterococcus faecium and 90 percent of Aspergillus niger spores.
Those are the numbers Rejuva will quote, with the institute and the conditions attached, because a removal rate belongs to a tested system and not to a brochure. What a given entrance achieves depends on the traffic, the contamination it carries and how the field is sized, and that is what the site survey establishes.
The brush material complies with FDA requirements for indirect food contact, which is what makes the system suitable inside a food production zone, and the panels carry anti-slip and flame resistance certification for wet industrial environments.
DIN EN ISO 13287, DIN 51130 and DIN 51131 for slip resistance, DIN EN 13501-1 for reaction to fire.
Installing it in a working building
The standard installation sets modular panels into a recessed frame so that the finished surface is continuous with the floor and there is nothing to trip over. That involves cutting or forming a shallow recess at the entry point, and most sites schedule it outside operating hours, although the modular construction allows the field to be laid in stages where the door cannot be closed at all.
Where the building is leased, or the installation is meant to move with the operation, surface mounted frames sit on top of the existing floor with ramped edges instead. They clean in the same way, and the point to check before choosing them is the clearance under the door and where the water goes.
- How long the work takes depends on the substrate and on how many entrances are treated, which the survey establishes rather than a catalogue.
Choosing between the dry and the wet system
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The dry system
For logistics, general warehousing and manufacturing, where the problem is visible dirt, dust and debris rather than microbiological load. It cleans mechanically, consumes nothing, and the maintenance is emptying the trays.
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The wet system
For food production, pharmaceutical manufacturing and anywhere bacterial control is part of what the site is audited on. The disinfectant acts on the tyre as it passes, and the additional maintenance is the solution change.
Sizing follows from the same choice. The wheel has to turn several times across the brush surface for the tread to be cleaned properly, so the length of the field is set by the wheel diameter and the traffic, not by the width of the door.
Frequently asked questions
Does the system slow down forklift operations?
No. Vehicles cross at their normal operating speed and the cleaning happens as the wheels turn over the bristles, so there is nothing for the driver to do differently: no stopping, no reversing and no change of approach.
What if we lease our building and cannot modify the floor?
Surface mounted frames sit on top of the existing floor with ramped edges, need no excavation and can be lifted and taken with you if the operation moves. They clean in the same way as a recessed field.
How long do the bristles last before they need replacing?
Long enough that replacement is a planned job rather than an incident, and the wear is gradual, so cleaning becomes visibly less effective before anything fails. Individual panels are replaced on their own without lifting the rest of the field. What a specific site should expect depends on its traffic, which is part of what the survey looks at.
Can it be installed outdoors or in a cold store?
Yes, in covered loading bays, at external doors and in temperature controlled areas, provided the version is specified for the conditions and the drainage is designed with the installation rather than after it. Tell us where it is going and we will confirm the specification for that position.
Do we need special tyres or any modification to the trucks?
None. The system works with pneumatic, solid rubber, polyurethane and cushion tyres, and with pallet trucks, counterbalance forklifts, reach trucks and powered pallet jacks alike. The panels take loads of up to 40 tonnes, which covers every forklift and reach truck and most of what arrives on a yard, so what needs checking is the weight of the heaviest vehicle that will cross rather than what it runs on.
How does this compare with sticky mats or washing the wheels by hand?
A disposable mat is too short for the wheel to turn across it more than once, so the tread is never really worked, and it is a consumable that has to be bought and thrown away. Washing by hand takes people off other work, interrupts the flow and depends on who is on shift. A brush field cleans every vehicle that crosses it, in the same way, all day.
What maintenance does it actually need?
On a dry system, emptying the debris trays and hosing the panels down. On a wet system, draining and refilling the disinfectant solution as well. It is a routine task for one person and needs no special tools.
Will it satisfy our BRC or HACCP audit?
It gives you an engineered, permanent control at the point where traffic crosses between zones, which is what BRC Global Standard v9 and HACCP prerequisite programmes expect to see there, and it can be written into the cleaning procedure and evidenced. The auditor judges the system as installed and operated, which is why the sizing and the maintenance rhythm matter as much as the equipment.
Related services
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