Teenage Faribault entrepreneur wants to make more floors shine

At his after-school job at a Faribault hardware store, 17-year-old Felix Hanke’s duties include scrubbing the floors.

But the scrubber machine he has to use at the Fleet Supply is clunky and often needs maintenance, he said.

The Faribault teen has now launched his own business selling scrubbers that he says are smaller, more affordable and easier to maintain.

“They’re way more efficient than a mop but not too big,” Hanke said.

The home-schooler contacted numerous manufacturers before finding one overseas that agreed to bring his idea to life. He helped with the design concept, but the company took over the design details and the manufacturing.

Other added features they came up with based on Hanke’s own floor-cleaning experience include magnets that make it easier to remove or clean the scrubbing disk pads.

Hanke’s version also features a removable wastewater tank, allowing for the dirty water to be easily poured into a sink. Most scrubbers, according to Hanke, have a gravity hose that requires the water be poured into a floor drain or into a bucket to then be taken to a sink.

At a $900 list price (although they’re currently on an introductory sale price of a little over $700), Hanke realizes he’s entering a limited market. But he said larger scrubbers tend to run upwards of $3,000.

In addition to small businesses looking for a more affordable option, he said he hopes his machine might appeal to well-to-do residents wanting to keep their garage or home workshop floors sparkling. It might also appeal to the cleaners of larger businesses or institutions looking for an easier way to clean floors in small spaces and under obstacles such as chairs or desks, he said.

The young birdwatcher is calling his machine the Nighthawk Scrubber in homage to one of his favorite birds and to the fact that floor cleaning is done at night at most businesses.

Nighthawk Scrubbers are now available for purchase online. Go to www.nighthawkscrubbers.com and find a link to Hanke’s first “certified online dealer.” He built the website himself, but he’s too young to legally sell his product online. So he recruited a young adult friend to be his dealer.

Hanke will ship or personally deliver orders within a week or two, he said. He also is looking for more online dealers and for area retailers willing to sell them at their stores.

After he completes his high school education next year, Hanke plans to go on to a two-year college to earn an electrician certification.

That’s if Nighthawk Scrubbers does not take off before then.

When he’s not studying, working at Fleet Supply or working to market his Nighthawk Scrubbers, the young entrepreneur often can be found taking one apart to understand how each component functions and looking for ways he might be able to improve his product.