Cleaning Smarter

There’s a difference between cleaning hard and cleaning smart: Both can be effective, but only one can give you a consistent level of clean while saving you time, money, and unnecessary stress.

As a cleaning professional, you are continually looking for ways to increase the efficiency of your department and reduce costs. With the increase in labor costs and a continued pressure to do more with less, we realize reducing cleaning costs can be a challenge. These six steps can help you build a more comprehensive cleaning program that will help you save time and money this year.

1. Clean in zones. An improperly cleaned facility can be just as dirty, if not dirtier, than a facility that is not cleaned at all. Zone cleaning programs assign specific cleaning tools to certain areas of the facility to help limit cross-contamination and promote a higher level of clean. A zone cleaning program also offers cleaning professionals an easy system that takes the guesswork out of cleaning by limiting mistakes and the need for unnecessary rework.

1. Develop a schedule for deep cleaning floors. In addition to daily floor maintenance, integrate a deep-cleaning program to regularly restore your floors to their original condition. Proper maintenance is key to extending the life of your floor. According to The Official ISSA 612 Cleaning Times and Tasks, professional deep cleans can also make day-to-day cleaning easier, resulting in time savings of up to 17 minutes per 500 square feet per week on hard surfaces alone. Regular maintenance can also help delay expensive, capital-intensive projects like replacing floors.

1. Clean the cleaning tools. Just like a facility’s floors, cleaning products should be properly maintained and cleaned to ensure they last longer and are more effective. If not cleaned properly, they do little more than push dirt around, leading to wasted time and possible cross-contamination. Dirty mop heads and wipes are also a breeding ground for germs and bacteria, so make sure your towels and mops are properly maintained and laundered to retain their effectiveness and absorption power longer.

1. Protect floors with a matting system. To help your facility save on time and money, consider implementing a matting system at all entrances and high-traffic areas to help reduce wear-and-tear and save time on cleaning. Not only does matting reduce the amount of soil tracked into your facility year-round, but it also helps prevent slip-and-fall accidents and improves indoor air quality. Launder mats on a regular basis, particularly during inclement weather or high-traffic seasons.

1. Consider using dilution control systems. Chemical dispensing systems are ideal for saving time—as much as 1.5 hours per week—due to their hassle-free design and time-saving, one-step cleaning process. This eliminates time spent searching for, shopping for, restocking, and storing bulk cleaning chemicals. It also eliminates the time spent mixing chemicals to ensure proper dilution.
2. Switch to microfiber. Microfiber cleaning tools can provide superior cleaning effectiveness and better infection control than traditional mops and towels. According to Rubbermaid Commercial Products Co., microfiber products are proven to remove 99.9 percent of microbes and 80 percent more dust and dirt than traditional mops.

When you have the right chemicals, tools, and training in place, you help deliver a consistent, cost effect level of clean. This consistency not only improves the overall cleanliness of the property, but can also be a substantial morale builder with staff.

(Courtesy of Dave Mesko, ISSA.com)

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