The Clean Sweep | October 2026

Newsletter

October is one of those months that reminds me why I love Missouri. The air changes, the leaves turn, and the kids are deep enough into the school year that the fall routine finally feels settled. It’s also the time of year when outdoor spaces start losing the battle with nature—leaves, seed pods, and debris collecting on every walkway, loading dock, and parking lots. For facilities managers, October means outdoor cleaning moves to the top of the list.

Helping Customers Manage Seasonal Debris

Fall debris is relentless. Leaves pile up overnight, break down into a slippery mat when wet, and get tracked inside before crews can get ahead of them. Seed pods, twigs, and windblown grit add to the mix on outdoor surfaces that weren’t much of a problem during the drier summer months.

The facilities that manage this season well are the ones with the right outdoor tools. A push broom sized for the surface, with the right bristle material for the debris type, makes a significant difference in how long it takes a crew to clear a walkway, dock, or parking structure. The wrong broom—one that’s too fine for wet leaves or too stiff for smooth concrete—creates more passes, more time, and more frustration.

This month, we’re taking a look at our push broom lineup. 

Product Highlight: Push Brooms

We offer seven push broom styles covering a full range of indoor and outdoor applications. For fall outdoor use, a few stand out:

• Palmyra Garage Push Broom: Palmyra fiber is the classic choice for rough outdoor surfaces. Stiff, durable bristles handle wet leaves, loose gravel, and coarse debris on concrete and asphalt without wearing down quickly. Built for the kind of surfaces that would destroy a fine-bristle broom in a season.
• Tampico Push Broom: Tampico fiber handles medium to fine sweeping applications and is less aggressive on smoother surfaces—a good option for sealed concrete, covered walkways, and areas where customers want outdoor performance without roughing up the surface.
• Duro/Strand Push Broom: A blended fill that splits the difference between stiff and fine and versatile enough to handle both wet and dry sweeping. Practical for customers who need one broom to do more than one job.
• Combo/Strand Push Broom: Another blended option for mixed-use environments, with a combination fill designed to handle varied debris types across different surfaces in a single pass.

For customers who need a softer option on smooth outdoor surfaces—covered entries, polished concrete, or areas near interior floors—the Deluxe Grey Soft Tip and Orange Styrene Soft Tip push brooms offer finer bristles that sweep cleanly without scratching.

Built on Nearly a Century of Knowing the Work

A company doesn’t survive nearly 100 years by guessing at what its customers need. Every product in the Zephyr lineup exists because someone in this industry needed it to work in a real facility and under real conditions.

That accumulated knowledge is what my family has built and passed down through four generations. It shows up in the fill materials chosen for specific surfaces, in the construction details that extend tool life, and in the product categories added over the decades as the facilities industry evolved. We were a broom company in 1927, and today, we’re a full-line cleaning products manufacturer.

As we head toward the company’s 100th year, we’re proud of what that history represents, and we’re grateful for the distributors who have been part of building it. Be on the lookout for more on our centennial as 2027 approaches.

Questions? We’re Here.

If you have questions about any of our products or need help placing an order, call us at (800) 821-7197 or email info@zephyrmfg.com. We’ll make sure you get exactly what you need.

Our team is committed to serving you.