Monday, June 16, 2014

Project Cleaning For Schools And Universities: Establish Time-To-Task

This article was originally published in Cleaning & Maintenance Management.

Last week, we discussed a few suggestions for project cleaning. This week, we will focus on establishing an appropriate time for each cleaning task. 

Use ISSA’s 540 Cleaning Times Book & Calculator to assess the time required for various tasks.

For example: As you prepare to strip hard floors, understand that dust mopping in classrooms is often slower than vacuuming, as the productivity of an 18-inch dust mop is less than 7,000 square feet per hour, compared to a backpack vacuum with a hard floor tool which ranges between 7,000 and 10,000 square feet per hour.

Vacuuming also removes fine, gritty soil from crevices for thorough, deep cleaning. When scrubbing floors, autoscrubbers reduce drudgery, improve results and free up human resources for other work. With a range of sizes and configurations available, there is an autoscrubber for most maintenance budgets.

This is especially meaningful when you consider that an autoscrubber consolidates a number of procedures into one — mopping, scrubbing, rinsing, squeegeeing and vacuuming — lowering costs, while providing superior cleaning and greater floor safety.

With the trend toward downsizing in large and small maintenance firms, automating floorcare is an idea whose time has come. Answering the call, manufacturers now provide autoscrubbers ranging in cleaning width from 17 inches up, with compact designs proving practical on even modest-sized floors. Hefty productivity gains allow greater floor coverage with fewer personnel and in less time compared to manual floorcare.

Floor production rates for light scrubbing with 17-inch and 20-inch scrubbers average 18,500 and 20,500 square feet per hour respectively. Actual cleaning speed will depend on usage conditions, but increases of two to 10 times over mop-and-bucket maintenance are common. There are even robotic scrubbers available for unattended floorcare, and propane-powered stripping machines for large areas needing rapid coverage.

There are also low cost dispense-and-vacuum platforms that enable dispensing floor cleaning solution, scrubbing, then vacuuming the solution off the floor and from grout lines. These enable wise use of resources on a budget.

Check back next week when we will focus on scheduling and how to work with other departments to efficiently get the job done.

Monday, June 9, 2014

Project Cleaning For Schools And Universities

This article was originally published in Cleaning & Maintenance Management.

"Well begun is half done” says the axiom, and starting projects before the need becomes critical is an important way to be sure these tasks are done while manageable.

That is why successful systems, such as team cleaning programs and the nonprofit Process Cleaning for Healthy Schools® (PC4HS) program recommend incorporating project work into weekly and monthly schedules.

For example:
  • Routine Cleaning is performed Monday through Friday and completed daily.
  • Detail Cleaning is performed in quadrants Monday through Thursday and completed weekly.
  • Project Work is performed on Fridays and completed monthly.
However, if you reserve projects for the "Big Summer Cleaning Push" — there are suggestions for making these projects easier to manage.

One thing to do is to create a task list. Otherwise, knowing what work must be done is the first step to completing it. A sample list could include:
  • Scrub, strip and refinish floors
  • Perform high dusting
  • Clean vents and grilles
  • Perform low dusting
  • Wash blinds
  • Replace lights, clean covers and lenses
  • Wash windows
  • Replace ceiling tile
  • Wash walls
  • Remove ink and other substances (e.g., chewing gum) from desks and tables
  • Clean trash receptacles
  • Clean recycle containers
  • Extract carpet
  • Clean lockers and gym mats
  • Paint walls and other areas as needed
Check back next week as we cover additional suggestions for project cleaning. 

Monday, June 2, 2014

SC1500™ REV™ Stand-On Scrubber

The SC1500™ REV™ stand-on scrubber delivers increased cleaning productivity, with up to 109 minutes of cleaning per tankful, over other stand-on scrubbers in the marketplace. With a compact, easily maneuverable design, the SC1500 allows operators to step up and start cleaning. To satisfy both daily and deep scrubbing applications, the SC1500 is available in a 20-inch REV or 20-inch disc model.

With a large 12-gallon tank capacity, low flow rate, up to 3.5-hours of battery runtime and fast operating speed, the SC1500 provides efficient cleaning performance. Requiring minimal operator training, the SC1500 features a OneTouch scrub on/off switch and intuitive dashboard controls. Additional benefits include:
  • Easy handling allows operators to simply step up, push the pedal and start cleaning
  • Uniform scrubbing with no swirl marks and floor finish removal capabilities with the SC1500 REV scrubs deeper while using far less water and chemicals
  • One pass cleaning through increased down pressure enhances cleaning productivity
  • Low noise level and silent mode enable daytime cleaning and cleaning of noise-sensitive areas
  • Sustainable cleaning is achieved with the standard, onboard EcoFlex™ System, allowing operators to effortlessly switch between chemical-free cleaning or select from weak to strong cleaning intensities
Due to its simple operation, high capacity and productive, quiet cleaning performance, the SC1500 is ideally suited for daily cleaning in hospitals and health care facilities, schools, office buildings, restaurants, shops and supermarkets.