ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

It is usually at the end of Interclean that we all nurse our blisters after walking miles every day, visiting multiple stands and criss-crossing exhibition halls.

But Starmix sales manager Ralph Burkart chose to begin this year's Interclean with an extra-long walk - one that spanned a 15km canal-side route between Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and the RAI.

And instead of pulling a trolley case like the rest of us, he completing the trek pushing a Starmix DuroSweep 77 Pro manual sweeper.

He set off at 4.30am. "It was beautiful," he said. "The sun was on the water and there were bikes everywhere." The streets were also pretty clean because Burkart had seen to that. "I had to stop every two kilometres to empty the machine's contents into a bin," he said.

The aim of the walk was to demonstrate how easy the machine is to use with its turbo sweeping system, beltless drive and ergonomic push-bar. "It highlighted the functionality and durability of the sweeper on all sorts of different surfaces including uneven pavements and cobbles," he said.

It turns out that Burkart has form. Last summer he and a team pushed a DuroSweep 77 Pro from the Electrostar headquarters in Ebersbach an der Fils to the company's Czech site near Pilsen, a distance of 400km. "It took 19 days and there were seven of us walking in shifts," he said.

The DuroSweep 77 Pro can be viewed on stand number 07.216 and is available in a hand-operated and a battery-powered version. It is designed for cleaning large areas and features a two-stage sweeping system incorporating a disc broom and a fine dirt sweeping roller.

So, was Burkart tired and blistered after his four-and-a half hour walk? "No - but if I were, I wouldn't tell you anyway," he said.