If you are in the cleaning profession, you know that restroom cleaning is one of the most important areas that we are charged with maintaining. Because of the dynamic nature of these facilities, there are always challenges. The fact that everyone in a building, at some point, will require the use of a restroom, keeping them clean is of the utmost importance. The reason that so many struggle with restroom cleaning is because there is rarely a plan in place to maintain over all cleanliness. Building Your Restroom Cleaning Plan

Okay. Okay. I get it. Hand dryers all but eliminate the need for paper towels. They save money. (maybe) And they never run out. By using them, there is always a way for people to dry their hands. I really do understand why they are so attractive for facilities. But, when I walk into a restroom and see hand dryers, (especially if hand dryers are the only option) I almost instantly form a negative opinion of the cleanliness and of the business overall. Why do I feel this way? Well there are a number of reasons, but the main reason is because they are inefficient for the user. [click to continue…]

It was late on a Friday and my boss at the time came to me with a request to burnish a hallway over the weekend. Not just any hallway, but the hallway in the executive office area. “Ok” I thought, I can do this.”

At the time, it was early in my cleaning career and I had been part of the janitorial crew for several months. While I had seen the normal floor crew high speed burnishing several times, I had never done it myself. They made it look easy enough. I had also recently learned to run the low speed floor machine, and was fairly comfortable with that skill. So, running the high speed burnisher shouldn’t be a big deal right? I couldn’t have been more wrong. When High Speed Burnishing Goes Wrong

When it come to janitorial supplies, no area gets more attention than cleaning chemicals. There seems to be a chemical for everything. Windows, tile, grout, brass, stainless steel. The list goes on an on. But these precious liquids can also be one of the biggest hazards in the janitorial supply closet. This is why it is important to take some time when evaluating your needs. Janitorial supplies make up a pretty significant portion of any facilities budget but are nowhere near the cost of the labor to use them. Typically about 10% of a total cleaning budget will be janitorial supplies and cleaning chemicals make up about 30% of that. This means that the more efficient your staff can be while using cleaning chemicals, they can cover more area. Time spent streamlining and limiting the number of cleaning chemicals they have at their disposal is time well spent.  What is a ‘Go To’ Cleaning Chemical?

A while back I wrote a post about how many coats of floor finish you should use to protect vct floors. In this post, I used images taken with a microscope at 400x magnification. With these pictures, it was easy to see how thin layers of floor finish first filled in the pores and then created a protective layer on top of the tile. As stated in the original article, I used a 20% solids floor finish for this demonstration. But not everyone uses a 20% solids floor finish. In fact, finishes with 25% solids have really started to take hold in the market and thus made me want to redo the experiment. [click to continue…]

I have seen a lot of crazy things in my cleaning career, but this one is new to me. I have never been a fan of the robot vacuum. First of all, they are really more gimmicks than anything else. But the fact that they just meander around, with no consistency just drives me nuts. Obviously they are strictly for residential use only. [click to continue…]

Everyone loves new, especially when it comes to cleaning restrooms. When floors and fixtures are new, except for some construction clean up, they are, well, clean. But as we know, it doesn’t take long before they are put to use and it’s all downhill from there right? It does not have to be. The fact is though, new is the exception to the standard. While we would all love to replace restroom floors and fixtures at the first sign of stubborn stains and odors, the goal is to keep them looking new for as long as possible. I have heard it for years, “New is easier to keep clean.” My theory is “Clean is easier to keep clean.” As I have talked about a lot in the past, the key to restroom cleaning, especially cleaning older restrooms, is maintenance. Taking the time to do daily cleaning properly will lead to consistently clean facilities. Cleaning Older Restrooms

Has ProTeam Finally Cut The Cord?

As I have talked at length about in the past, I am a big fan of backpack vacuums. Their versatility and ease of use make them one of the best innovations in the cleaning industry in recent history. That being said, as a whole, the industry (and I) have been patiently, yet eagerly waiting for an effective battery backpack vacuum to reach the market.

Just think of the possibilities that removing the cord from a backpack vacuum would offer! Dust mopping would practically become a thing of the past. Dusting even the most difficult to reach areas becomes a breeze. And most importantly, the productivity, comfort and safety of the cleaning staff would be greatly increased. Yes, an effective battery backpack vacuum would change the world of cleaning. Well the GoFree Pro battery backpack vacuum from ProTeam just may be the innovation we all have been waiting for. Battery Backpack Vacuum