You always want your facility to look it’s best and that includes the Janitorial closet.
The benefit of starting with an organized and clean janitorial closet is that it sets your cleaning team up for success, while also showing that you are serious about sanitation and hygiene.
A dirty cleaning closet could cause visitors to doubt the cleanliness or safety of the premises. If there’s disorganization and mess it could appear as though your business is the same way. Are their protocols in place such as sign out sheets for cleaning tasks or inventory lists? Are cleaning products labelled properly? Without these things in place, it could be perceived that there aren’t proper cleaning procedures or adequate supplies to properly care for the facility.
Employees and Visitors need the assurance that hygiene and cleanliness are being prioritized throughout the facility, and that it is as important to you as it is to them.
If you think of your Janitorial closet as a representation of your business, you want everything to be orderly inside. If your company supports eco-friendly or health-conscious values, you would like these to be reflected by the products stored in your janitorial closet, should anyone happen to look inside.
However, having a clean and tidy janitorial closet is not all about impressions. These spaces can be sources of bacteria and virus transmission. Any airborne germs landing on the floor, could potentially be transferred to hands and other surfaces by shoes or any equipment on the floor.
One Study concluded that over 50% of contaminated items, in contact with the floor transferred pathogens to the hands, so keeping a clean and disinfected janitorial closet floor greatly reduces the transmission risk of germs.
In summary, it is well worth the time and energy to keep your Janitorial closet clean, due to the lasting impression on visitors, organization for the cleaning team and minimizing the risk of spreading pathogens. Shop our Janitorial Carts: Here
Here are a few basic tips for an effective spring-cleaning procedure:
Before completing any spring cleaning, it is helpful to note down the more challenging areas of the facility. Smaller problems can develop into bigger and more expensive issues if they aren’t addressed straight away, so be sure to complete a very thorough examination of all areas and bring your janitorial team along with you. It’s always a good idea to have an expert to point out potential problems you may not have noticed.
At the end of winter, there are several areas more prone to wear and tear. Colder temperatures, additional moisture, and ice melt brought in from outside can cause damage to many different surfaces and materials. The following are problem areas that you need to pay special attention to:
Flooring often takes the heaviest toll from the winter season , and it is essential to deep clean all hard floor surfaces such as hardwood, concrete, and tile at least once a year and more frequently in entryways, hallways, washrooms and other high traffic areas.
Using a professional janitorial team is usually the easiest and most effective way to complete a deep clean of your commercial property. The salt, grime, and snow tracked indoors during the winter months causes damage to surfaces and fixtures , and these professionals will assist you in identifying areas needing additional care or repair.
Cement work and wood are very susceptible to damages during the winter season, particularly around main entrances, and any other areas with heavy foot traffic. Outside of structural repairs, sweeping and spraying-down exterior footpaths, cleaning windows, and standard building maintenance can vastly improve the perception of your business from the outside. It’s also important to clean off your roof and inspect it for damage as well.
Cooling systems are usually not used during winter, meaning they are liable to build up dust and dirt, which can consequentially cause mal-odours, greater numbers of allergens, less efficiency and potentially even unit failure.
To avoid your business being impacted by A/C issues during the summer months, it’s always a good idea to test the units before you need them.
Shop cleaning supplies for your Spring Clean here
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The dirt build-up from the summer and fall seasons, can wear out the carpet as it it becomes ingrained into the fibers from heavy traffic. However, the build-up is mostly dry during this time of year, meaning it can usually be vacuumed or removed without causing too much damage.
Once this build-up of dirt and debris is mixed with moisture and ice melter, the clean-up job becomes increasingly more difficult. The main components of ice melter , sodium chloride, calcium chloride, and magnesium are primarily designed to form a liquid when mixed with ice. When this solution of ice melter and moisture builds up on the carpet however, it leaves a crusty residue that destroys the carpet fibers and in turn reduces the carpet lifespan. It also creates the perfect environment for mold, mildew and germs to be trapped, potentially impacting facility health.
Another issue is that the dirt build-up can reach up to a pound before being noticed. With a reactive cleaning approach,the carpet may not be cleaned until this dirt becomes noticeable. At this point, the damage from the build-up and moisture may have permanently destroyed the carpet fibers and reduced the lifetime of carpet.
Fortunately, there are preventative steps managers and cleaning professionals can take to prevent this from happening. The following are some necessary steps to initiate a proactive winter carpet care program:
By ensuring that you have between 5-10 feet of mat at building entries, up to 85 per cent of moisture and dirt can be trapped before it has the chance to spread throughout the building.
Working with janitorial distributors that have experience can bring about faster solutions to building needs as well as saving money.
Janitorial distributors are trained in cleaning, as that is their livelihood. Furthermore, if they are part of a distributorship network, they will have access to training programs as well as the latest skills and technologies to assist their customers in keep their buildings in excellent condition year-round.
Shop Kwikcare’s range of floor care products: Extractors, Vacuums , Floor Mats , Salt Stain Remover or arrange a site visit with one of our reps to formulate a winter carpet care program: 1-800-267-4757]]>
While an Auto Scrubber is more expensive, there is definitely a higher return on investment. Much less time is required to complete the cleaning process.
A Mop & Bucket is less expensive, however the initial savings for equipment are likely to be spent on increased labor.
Switching to an Auto Scrubber can have the following benefits:
Floor Cleaning can take up to 80% of Janitorial Staff’s time. This means it’s important to have good Equipment to make the most of this time.
Using a mop and bucket takes significantly longer than an auto floor scrubber.
Using an auto scrubber can make your team’s floor cleaning procedures more efficient and allow your team to clean your facility’s floors in less time. In fact, according to the same ISSA Study, with a 20-inch walk-behind scrubber, your team could clean up to 16,000 square feet in an hour or 9x times as much when compared to a mop and bucket.
Shorter cleaning times mean that your janitorial team will be able to move on to other tasks that require attention. An auto scrubber will allow your team to do more and create a cleaner, healthier facility for your guests.
2. Cleaner Floors
Clean floors are a priority for any facility, as they are the first thing people notice when they enter. Unclean floors can lead to a negative overall perception of your facility’s cleanliness, which can ultimately impact whether people return or not.
The mop & bucket cleaning method, although traditional isn’t likely to achieve the desired cleaning level as it is not as precise as an auto scrubber.To clean, you must dip the mop in the cleaning solution when you move from area to area. When placing a dirty mop into the cleaning solution you can deposit dirt and bacteria from your floors back into the clean water and solution.
This method will often result in spreading dirt and bacteria further across floors. It can also create an illusion of a clean floor, while germs and bacteria haven’t been removed from floors.
On the other hand, Auto scrubbers entirely avoid this and Clean, Scrub and dry your floors in one pass.
Commercial floor scrubbers contain a solution tank and a recovery tank. One for storing the diluted cleaning product and the other for the dirty water.
An Auto Scrubber has a slurry recovery system, which suctions up dirty water & germs. This water is then held in the recovery tank, which never flows back onto the floor.
These two tanks, (cleaning product & dirty water) are never mixed in with each other , unlike the mop & bucket system.
As a result, floors cleaned with an Auto Scrubber are more sanitary as well as visibly cleaner, with no dirt being redeposited on the floor at any time.
3. Greater Safety
Another factor to consider when choosing facility cleaning methods, is safety.When using the Mop and Bucket method, floors are left wet and will need additional time to dry. Wet Floors pose a risk to both staff and visitors to a building, especially when areas are opened to public before they are completely dry.
Therefore, the mop & bucket method requires more time to be set aside, as floors really must be fully dry before anyone should walk on it.
Long drying times and slip & falls risks can be avoided by using an Auto Scrubber instead.
The Auto scrubber has a recovery system containing a squeegee and vacuum that suctions up any remaining water on floors in just one pass.
4. Increased Ergonomics
The cleaning equipment used by your cleaning staff as well as how they use the equipment has an impact on the staff’s health and productivity.
The mop and bucket method requires a lot of manual labor to clean hard commercial floors. This increased manual labor leads to fatigue and overall reduced productivity.
With using mop and bucket there is also a risk of injury due to lifting mop buckets when emptying them. Floors may also have to be re-cleaned due to spills from the mop bucket.
The Strenuous labor of using a mop and bucket can be avoided with an auto scrubber, whether it be a ride on or a manual one with wheels to guide the machine.
In Summary:
Overall, you will experience greater cleanliness, safety, and productivity when using an auto scrubber instead of a mop and bucket.
While you can still clean your floors with a mop and bucket, the advantages of cleaning with an auto scrubber will increase Visitor satisfaction and create a more sanitary environment.
Kwikcare has a variety of Auto scrubbers available and will be happy to discuss any custom requests!
Checkout our current range here
]]>Whether your working with an excavator, forklift, back hoe, tri axle truck or any other equipment your projects will see better results when these tools are working and looking their best!
Regular preventative maintenance is a key part of any successful operation and inspires a safe, professional and reliable work environment. It’s proven that regularly cleaned and inspected equipment kept in good working condition greatly reduces break downs mid-job - reducing stress, lost time and profits.
But why is it particularly important to clean and degrease your heavy equipment?
Fully Cleaning Heavy Equipment is big job. Here are a few a tips that will help you:
4 Simple Steps for Ultimate Speed & Effectiveness
And there you have it! This it the quickest and easiest way to keep your equipment clean, staff happy and equipment profitable!
]]>We have provided a Checklist , which you can download for free here
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