Horsehair is the head to run when the floor itself is the asset. Gymnasium hardwood, sanctuary and stage floors, museum and showroom flooring, and hotel lobbies with polished stone all share the same problem: they need daily dust pickup and they cannot tolerate a stiff bristle dragged across the finish. Natural horsehair bristle is soft enough to sweep fine dust and hair off those surfaces without leaving a witness mark, and at 18 inches wide it moves across a gym floor or a lobby in far fewer passes than a standard vacuum head.
Built for
- Gymnasium and sport hardwood, stage and sanctuary floors, showroom and museum flooring
- Polished stone, terrazzo and marble in hotel and corporate lobbies
- High-gloss VCT and sealed wood maintained between burnishing cycles
- Crews running Sandia Raven backpacks on a Sidewinder wand who need the softest available face
How the Sidewinder design works
A Sidewinder head mounts on a flexible neck and swings through a full circle, so the face of the tool stays flat on the floor no matter what angle the wand is held at. Instead of pushing a vacuum head forward and back, the operator sweeps it side to side the way you would run a dust mop, standing upright rather than bent over the wand. Crews that vacuum long corridors and open floor for hours at a time generally report that the sweeping motion is easier on the lower back than push-pull vacuuming and covers a run of floor in fewer passes.
Horsehair sits at the opposite end of the Sidewinder range from nylon. Nylon is chosen to agitate grit out of grout and texture; horsehair is chosen because it will not mark a finish. If your floors are a mix, most crews carry both heads and swap depending on the area rather than compromising with one.
Natural bristle also carries a static advantage on fine dust. Gym floors and stages generate a lot of fine particulate, and a soft natural bristle tends to gather it toward the suction opening rather than scattering it ahead of the tool.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Sandia Products
- Part number: 10-0185-H
- Tool width: 18 inches
- Cleaning surface: Horse hair brush
- Attaches to: Sandia Sidewinder wands (1-1/2 inch)
- Cleaning motion: side-to-side sweeping
- Machine family: Sandia Raven backpack and shoulder vacuums
Fitment
This head is part of Sandia's Sidewinder accessory group and attaches to Sandia Sidewinder wands, including the 59-inch one-piece and two-piece wands. It is an accessory head, not a complete wand assembly, so you will need a Sidewinder wand on the machine to use it. If you are not sure which wand is on your backpack, call us with the machine model and we will check it against Sandia's parts list.
Frequently asked questions
Is horsehair safe on a gym floor finish?
Horsehair is the softest bristle Sandia offers on the Sidewinder heads and is the type generally specified for finished wood, including sport floors. Keep the bristles clean, as grit caught in any brush is what marks a floor.
Horsehair or felt for polished floors?
Both are gentle. Horsehair bristle reaches into a slightly textured surface and handles fine dust well; felt gives a smooth continuous wipe on very flat surfaces. Many crews choose horsehair for wood and stone, felt for VCT and vinyl.
Will it work on carpet?
No. This is a hard-floor head. Sandia makes a separate Sidewinder carpet tool for carpeted areas.
Does the brush strip replace separately?
Sandia does list replacement brushes for several of its floor tools. Contact us with your part number and we will confirm what is currently available for this head before you order.
Discount Cleaning Products is an authorized Sandia dealer. We stock the full Sandia Raven backpack and Sidewinder accessory line, so replacement heads, wands and brushes come from the same catalog as the machine they attach to. Our US-based staff works with commercial cleaning contractors and in-house facility crews every day and can confirm fitment against your machine and wand before you order.
