|
|
Online Article 52
| |
July 02, 2005
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
|
|
|
Microbes and Odor
The Contest is Over...
|
I thought I would mention that first because I'm still getting emails from people trying to guess what the winning
number was. For those of you who didn't read my previous article -- last time I gave people a chance to win a copy of Robert Kravitz' book: The Janitorial Contractors Bible by choosing a number between 000 and 999.
The winner is: Jose Ramos, owner of Ramos Cleaning Maintenance and Service in Sommerville MA.
Jose didn't guess the exact number but he was the closest. The actual value was 698, Jose guessed 693. I contacted Jose
and invited him to comment on the book he won or his business or anything else he wanted to talk about but I never heard back from him. I guess Jose is too busy making his business a success to reply, or maybe he's just the strong silent type. In either case; Congratulations Jose, I hope you, your family, and your business are all doing great!
I was surprised to see how many people guessed the winning number would be 1. To tell you the truth it never even occured to me to chose 1 as the answer. Another surprisingly popular value was 777. I think the reason that 777 got so many guesses was that you use the the first finger (the pointing finger) on your right hand to type a 7 three times in a row so it's probabably the easiest three digit number to type in.
|
Simple Ways to Eliminate Odor
You can't see microbes, you smell them, or the odor they create when they digest organic particles. So one of the key jobs we have in the cleaning service is to make sure that we not only remove the current population of germs but their food
supply and moisture. If we do that then more serious efforts such as disinfecting (removing 99% of all germs) or taking classes in odor control by the people at the IICRC -- the Institute of
Inspection
Cleaning and
Restoration
Certification aren't necessary. I have talked about disinfecting techniques and the IICRC in recent issues
so I'm not going to go over them again here. These things can be very useful either as specialized cleaning skills or sideline services such as cleaning up after flood damage but in most cases they aren't needed. As long as their homes or businesses don't smell funny germs won't come up as an issue with our customers.
The key to odor control in most cases either in commercial or residential work is, along with good quality cleaning work in general, is to attack the problem at the main source of odor.
Surprisingly, sinks rather than toilets are generally the most germ and odor-ridden area in both houses and commercial properties was well. When I say sinks, I'm talking about kitchen sinks or sinks in food prepartion areas in businesses.
The germs and therefore odor in sinks are concentrated mainly on the bottom of the sink and around the drain. The germs that you would expect to find on a toilet rim, such as fecal coliform, are rarely found there (under the rim is a different story). But in the kitchen, they were everywhere. The seemingly smooth surface of a sink is a vast landscape of canyons and mountains by a microbe's perspective. To properly clean a sink you need not only to reduce the current population of microbes but to remove their food supply to discourage them from coming back.
Ordinary scrubbing with an ordinary cleaning product will dissolve food particles and remove clinging microbes. You can use a new or sterilized sponge to do this. Make sure you scrub both the sides and especially the bottom of the sink.
You can sterilize your sponge in the dishwasher or by soaking it for five minutes in a solution of 3/4 cup bleach in 1 gallon water. Follow up with a sanitizing rinse with a similar solution of diluted household bleach, which will destroy even the most tenacious microbes. You can use the gallon of water with bleech you used to sterilize your
sponges with to do this. Let the solution stay wet in your sink for five minutes. For stains, porcelain and stainless steel sinks can tolerate light abrasive cleaners such as liquid cleansers or baking soda.
You can make sterilizing your kitchen cleaning sponges into part of your set-up work. In other words, before you start cleaning you can bring an empty bucket into the kitchen or office food prep area -- usually a breakroom, fill the bucket with 1 gallon of water, 3/4 of a cup of bleach and drop in your sponges.
Disinfecting the quick way
For a quick cleanup, spray the entire sink with a common disinfectant cleanser, wipe it dry with a paper towel, and throw the paper towel away.
You can even rinse the sink with plain water and dry with paper towels, again discarding the paper towels. This
will get most of the bacteria and their food supply and all of the moisture. Bacteria can only survive a few hours on a dry surface.
Removing Stains
This technique is simple and it works well and it is safe but it does take time so do it first, before you start the rest of your cleaning work. Using very hot water won't hurt and may help speed the process up.
To remove stains from a porcelain sink, fill it with warm water up to the level of the upper most stain and add a few tablespoons of chlorine bleach. Let the solution stand for an hour and rinse. If the stain persists, line the sink with paper towels, saturate them with chlorine bleach and let soak for a half-hour. Wear gloves and make sure that the area is well-ventilated when using this technique.
Caution: Don't use abrasives on cultured marble, fiberglass, or plastic, which will scratch the sink and cause it to become porous and prone to stains and germ growth. Always read product labels for proper use and safety precautions.
Cleaning Acrylic Bathtubs
I was asked a question about this recently by a reader and by the time I got done answering his remarks I had
produced a pretty good chunk of information. So for any of you who need to clean acrylic or fiberglass bathtubs
here's the question and my response.
i am seeking advice on how to properly clean bathtubs that are badly damaged. i've tried all sorts of cleaning compounds and nothing seems to work for these bathtubs. i am referring to bathtubs that have lost their acrylic shine and/or have developed permanent stains.
Hi Michael,
If the bathtubs you are cleaning are as you say badly damaged there is a limit to how clean you can make them without doing repair work. So you may need to decide if you want to offer to repair the problem -- for a fee of course -- refer the owners to others in your area who do this kind of repair work or just accept the fact that there is only so much you do with damaged surfaces.
First: Don't clean your bath with Scrubbing Bubbles, Goof Off Paint Remover or any type of thinners or acetones. Use of these chemicals will destroy the acrylic and void the warranty.
Second: Look for any manufacturers information you can find. They often have great advice on cleaning and repair products. If you know the name of the manufacturer you can often find a website.
Third: Scratches and dulling can be removed with a liquid polisher such as Gel-Gloss or metal polish. Gel-Gloss is
a commonly used product and you should be able to find it locally but if you want to buy some online or just
learn more about it you can look here: Gel-Gloss
Fourth: Deep scratches or burns can be removed by use of very fine sandpaper (1500 grit) and then finishing with a liquid polish. 1500 grit sandpaper is available at most automotive paint stores.
When sanding use a small amount of water to avoid scratching the surface.
If your tub is lightly scratched, you can easily buff it out with polishing compound like buffing out hair scratches on your new car. If the scratch is deep, you can sand it down using fine 1500 grit sand paper in a circular motion covering a wider area than the scratch. Always wet the sandpaper with water. Repeat until the scratch is eliminated. Finally, polish the area with polishing compound to bring back its original shine. Use a soft cloth and a small amount of polish to buff the surface. Repeat as needed.
Try general cleaning and using Gel-Gloss or similar products before you even think about doing any repair work. And if you are not 100% sure you can do the repair job, then don't. And if you do, make sure you get paid extra for it.
I couldn't find any videos or training material on the topic but you might try your local home repair stores, especially the big chains they might have just the information you are looking for. Or, if the houses you clean are in the same general area, check out nearby hardware stores. They will often have kits for doing repair work on the types of bathtubs you are dealing with.
Hope this helps sorry I don't know of any courses or training DVDs on the subject. |
~~~~~
|
| to return to my Free Info page.
|
|
I add at least one new online
article every week, so please - |
| Bookmark My Site!
|
|
|
