Friday, July 30, 2010

Dispensing Systems

I thought I would take today to discuss dispensing systems. Every major chemical manufacturer have one available, but what are the benefits and should you have one installed in your facility.

What are the benefits. Dispensing systems or portion control systems are great, they allow several benefits.
   1) Most offer some form of touch free cap system, where by an employee or contractor never has to touch raw chemical with their hands rather the cap makes contact with the mating plate and the chemical is drawn.
   2) A dispensing system allows for metered setting on your chemical which means that the right amount of chemical to water dilution is used every time. While 100% accuracy is not necessary every time when it comes to disinfectants it is crucial.
   3) You save money. For many people this is a key one. Take one product for example, Glass Cleaner. One four liter bottle of concentrated glass cleaner will make 120L of RTU glass cleaner and cost you anywhere between $60-130, but to buy that same glass cleaner in RTU spray bottles would cost you around $500.
   4) It's greener. Weather you use a green glass cleaner or not it is a greener option as you save on packaging less boxes to send a 4L jug then send 120 bottles. You save on plastic. And you save on trucking expense.

Yes all and all chemical dispensing is the best way to go. Ask your distributor how he can set you up on a system and make your facility a little bit better.

Phil-T
"Nothing is too filthy for Phil-T"

Friday, July 23, 2010

Graffiti Removal

I would like to take a few moments today and discuss how to remove graffiti or tags. The key thing to rememeber with graffiti is that there are many factors that will affect what you do. Factors such as Surface, Product used to create tag, and how long it’s been there.

Let’s start with the surface. On a smooth surface weather it is painted or not you have several options. One of those options which is becoming more popular is a graffiti wipe. The wipe contains the chemical required to break down the tag and be able to wipe it away. It is a low odor, and when using the proper PPE is one of the safest choices. The other option is to apply the graffiti remover directly to the surface using a brush or rag. Then using a scrub brush or pad agitate the affected area. Finally pressure wash or wipe away whats left.

Rough surface. The principal in removing a tag on a rough surface is much the same. First you would apply the graffiti remover with a brush. Next you would agitate the area using a scrub brush. And finally you would pressure wash the chemical and tag away.

The last thing to keep in mind is product. Never use a product designed for rough surface (typically designed for stone (i.e. Brick)) on a smooth surface painted or not, without doing a small test area. Some stronger heavy duty graffiti remover will affect either the paint on the surface or in the case of a metal surface may even discolour it.

Yes graffiti removal can be fairly simple. Apply, scrub and rinse preferably pressure wash off. Then you can have a tag free facility. And if you don’t want to do it yourself there are always plenty of professionals who would love to remove the tag for you.

Phil-T
“Nothing is too filthy for Phil-T”

Friday, July 16, 2010

Dust Mopping

I thought I'd take a few moments today and discuss the most important part on any hard floor care program - Dust Mopping. Why do I say that dust mopping is the Most Important part of hard floor care. The main reason is that before introducing moisture or buffing to a floor we want to remove any debris possible especially the small dirt particulates which can only be removed by dust mopping.

Many feel that just washing the floor and buffing is enough as water will grab the dirt, but what we may not realize is that there are times when doing this will only help grind dirt into our floor finish or tiles. If there is a step to skip at any time it would be the mopping as a floor may not need to be mopped daily but does need to be swept on a daily basis.

A few tips for dust mopping:
1) If you feel that you have to use a dust mop treatment then use it right. Vacuum the dust broom off, spray with treatment and let dry overnight.

2) Consider switch from a dust mop treatment to a neutral disinfectant. The neutral disinfectant will give antistat properties to the dust mop and keep it clean as you go.

3) Instead of using a cotton dust mop use microfiber. They are easy to rinse off at the end of the shift and dry quickly. You will get a longer life out of your broom and have better results on the floor.

4) Another tip is when doing large areas consider using a dust broom in one hand and a sweeping broom in the other to pull items out from under racking. Again this system will allow you to sweep your store or area faster and get more off the floor.

Yes when it comes to floor care never forget the most important part - Sweeping.

Phil-T
"Nothing is too filthy for Phil-T"

Friday, July 9, 2010

Washing your Car

As summer is definitely here more of us turn from using a car wash to washing our own car. So I thought I would discuss some do's and don'ts of cleaning your car.

If you're like I was perhaps you would spray down your car with water then brush it with detergent and finish with a rinse. Bad news you've been doing something wrong. When we prespray our car with water before introducing detergent we create a water barrier which will not allow the detergent to work as it's suppose to. You may say that you want to remove any heavy soil and dirt as not to scratch the paint on your car and thats why we have been taught to prespray with water. Try this for a change I believe you will get better results. Fill a pail up with water and detergent (will discuss which soon), using a soft bristle or (new to the market) microfiber brush, wash your car starting at the bottom with out prespraying with water. Soak the bottom quarter of you car and work your way up doing this all the way around your vehicle. When completed using fresh water rinse from the top down. What this does is allows the dirt from the bottom to stay at the bottom and the detergent to emulsify completely the dirt giving you a better clean. As a finishing touch you can dry with a microfiber drying towel or shammie.

How to choose the right detergent. There are many on the market and each have their own good traits. I personal have found that a good neutral floor soap works best. Neutral floor soap is designed to clean vinyl and cork based floors. It is designed to clean a polyurethane finish without dulling or harming the coating. It has also been designed to remove heavy soiling from the floor. And most importantly it is neutral. I believe it's a perfect combination. On top of that as there is currently no criteria for green car wash chemical you can use a green floor detergent and have the best of both worlds.

So as summer comes and goes let's have fun and enjoy the beautiful weather while it lasts.

Phil-T
"Nothing is too filthy for Phil-T"

Friday, July 2, 2010

Disinfection

There is some confusion in cleaning as to what the difference is between sanitizing and disinfecting. There is also confusion as to what is being accomplished in a given facility.  There are really three levels of cleaning, let's have a look.

Cleaning - This involves several aspects. Usually the primary is the removal of dirt or soil loads using a mild detergent and cloth. Cleaning may involve anything from washing floors to removing spots on walls. When cleaning you will remove unwanted bacteria but not with any consitancy. This process is usually sufficient in most areas and most facilities.

Sanitizing - Refers to the removal of 99.9% of bacteria from the surface being sanitized. Sanitizing can be performed with a chemical that has be approved as a sanitizer. To accomplish sanitizing the sanitizing should dwell or sit on the surface for 30 - 60 seconds depending on the active agent. This is the most common form of cleaning done in washrooms and kitchens by most cleaners. Sanitizing is not sufficient in critical areas, if even just one spore of bacteria is left behind within 5hrs you know have 5 million spores of bacteria. Bacteria will double every 15 minutes hence 1 will become 2 then 2 become 4 and so one.

Disinfecting - Refers to the removal of all bacteria which the disinfectant can kill. To Disinfect you should use only a DIN registered disinfectant. You also need to identify what bacteria are you trying to kill in your facility and select a disinfectant that will kill that bacteria. This information can be found on a Micro-effecacy Data Sheet. This sheet is available for all approved disinfectants and will give you dwell times and effectiveness against bacteria you are required to kill. Usual dwell time will range between 5 - 10 minutes. The surface must remain wet during this time to be effective.

What stage of cleaning do you require in your facility is the question you may need to answer. Is it cleaning, sanitizing, or disinfecting? When you have determined the level you require then train your staff in the proper procedures and should have very little problems.

Phil-T
"Nothing is too filthy for Phil-T"