James Nokes Editor

Come visit us at build-a-business.com (we're always adding new content) Email address: jfntci@aol.com The Cleaning Institute 955 Karol Way, #3 San Leandro, CA 94577

 What are Enzmes? And Why Should you Care? 

The theme of all my articles on cleaning can be summed up in the phrase, work smarter not harder. With that in mind I want to write about biological cleaning products, why and how they work, and where and how they can best be used.

I'm not going to go into great detail on the subject but people in the cleaning field do need to know the basics about enzymes and microbe cleaning products. Due to environmental concerns and the fact that they work very well in certain circumstances, biological cleaning products are not only here to stay they will become even more important -- maybe even legally mandated in certain circumstances in the future.

Enzymes are proteins that exists in all living organisms such as plants, animals and bacteria. Their purpose is simply to digest waste. This process occurs constantly in our environment and is what keeps plant and animal waste the world over from simply over running us. They can also be manufactured and used for cleaning products.

Enzymes are organic catalysts, meaning they are involved in breaking down other materials but they are not used up in the process. They are non-toxic, non-flammable, and non-pathogenic (meaning they won't make you sick) This is why they qualify as green cleaning products.

There are a huge number of enzymes in the natural world each with different characteristics and limitations. For example an enzyme that will break down proteins will not react with fats and oils. Therefore any effective enzyme cleaning system must contain different types of enzymes to assure that the dirt and odor you are trying remove is completely eliminated (reduced to carbon dioxide and water).

 The Various Classes of Enzymes & Cleaning Bacteria 

There are four types of enzymes.

• Protease     These break down proteins     
• Lipase     These break down fats and greases
• Cellulase   These break down cellulose such as wood & paper
• Amylase    These break down carbohydrates and starches

And there are two basic types of enzyme based cleaning products available.

The other product group contains only the enzymes themselves. They are somewhat more expensive to manufacture but they work best in health care, restroom, and food handling areas where the introduction of any kind of bacteria may cause problems.

 Strengths and Weaknesses of Biological Cleaners 

Enzymes are not only green cleaning products they actually work better than germicidal cleaners alone because they digest the host material (dirt -- more on that below) that the germs and odor causing bacteria live on and reproduce in. Germicides kill germs and odor causing bacteria but because they don't eliminate the organic material, new bacteria will begin to reproduce at the same spot soon after the germicidal product has been applied.

Although enzymes are very effective in cleaning and eliminating odors they don't necessarily perform well in a cleaning situation where heavy dirt, lime, or calcium build up is present. In other words, sometimes you will need to clean up most of the dirt using more conventional cleaning products first before applying biological cleaners.

This may seem pointless, why use biological cleaning products when regular chemical cleaners work at cleaning things up? Well, because clean is a relative term. Chemicals plus water plus mechanical agitation supplied by cleaning machines or good old elbow grease plus more water to wash away the residue from the cleaning product and the dissolved dirt usually doesn't equal a completely clean surface. It just eliminates the visible gunk.

What's left provides both a home and a food supply for germs and bacteria that continue to live on the surface. These bacteria may produce odors, or they might even cause disease, but even if they don't their continued existence means that the surface will need to be cleaned that much sooner. So eliminating 'invisible dirt' really does make sense.

 So What Exactly is Dirt? 

The stuff we call dirt is composed of layers of films made up of grease, oils, fats, bacteria, germs, dust mites, and non-organic materials. These films bond to each other and to the surface they are on with amino and fatty acids.Most cleaners emulsify some of these films but don't necessarily remove all the organic layers. This is why germs and odor causing bacteria can be so hard to get rid of. From their perspective, pretty much the whole world is covered with food. Add a little moisture to this, and as far as they're concerned, the place is one big germ buffet!

The microbes and enzymes we use in biological cleaning products serve as a tiny labor force that continues to consume organic contaminants, such as grease molecules, as long as conditions are favorable (basically until the food is all gone), providing an environmentally safe, deep cleaning effect that ordinary chemical cleaning products can't match.

 Where do They Work Best? 

Concrete and driveways

Specialized biotech cleaners can remove motor oil, grease, and heavy grime from concrete walkways, garage floors, and driveways. These products are environmentally friendly and safer to use than standard chemical cleaners designed for this application — usually strong acids or stong alkalis.

Floors

Many chemical products clean floor surfaces, but they fail to provide the residual cleaning effects of microbe cleaners. Microorganisms or enzymes digest spills, grease, and other organic materials that accumulate over time, leaving floors deep cleaned and odor free.

Restrooms

The new, specialized biological cleaners work great on urine. They destroy odor causing bacteria by starving them to death, numerically overpowering them and destroying (converting to carbon dioxide and water) their food source (urine). They do their job without using harsh cleaning chemicals or adding perfumes to mask the underlying stench.

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