National Clean Your Floors Day is a Good Reminder as to Why We Invest in Commercial Floor Cleaning
For facility managers and custodial staff, the obvious value of a commercial floor cleaning investment is improving the overall appearance of the facility, protecting building occupants from slip and fall accidents and extending the longevity of the floors. However, there is much more value delivered than what meets the eye.
As we celebrate National Clean Your Floors Day on August 3rd, it’s an opportune time to remind us all of the crucial role clean floors play in enhancing indoor air quality and minimizing the transmission of potentially infectious diseases.
The Unseen Benefit of Commercial Floor Cleaning
Clean, well-maintained floors create a positive impression to building occupants and visitors; they reflect professionalism and attention to detail, which can improve your brand image. Regular cleaning and maintenance also extend the lifespan of the floors, saving money on premature replacements. When it comes to safety, the noticeable benefit is that clean floors minimize the risk of slip and fall accidents by removing hazards, debris, and contaminants, reducing the occurrence of potential liability issues.
While a floor may appear clean, more likely than not, it’s harboring potentially harmful germs and contaminants. Depending on the environment and the activities that take place in your facility, floors can accumulate various types of contaminants, including:
- Dirt and Dust: The most common contaminant that’s brought in from the outside and can settle on the floor surface.
- Allergens: Allergens such as pet dander, pollen, and mold spores can settle on floors, especially in areas with poor ventilation.
- Bacteria and Germs: Floors in high-traffic areas, public spaces, and bathrooms can harbor bacteria and germs from spills, droplets, and contact with shoes and feet.
- Food Spills: In kitchens and dining areas, food spills can leave behind residues that attract pests and bacteria.
- Chemicals: In industrial settings, floors may accumulate chemicals, solvents, and oils, which can be hazardous if not properly cleaned.
- Fungi and Mold: In damp or humid environments, such as basements or bathrooms, floors may be susceptible to mold growth.
- Outdoor Contaminants: In certain environments, floors can be exposed to outdoor contaminants like pesticides, herbicides, and pollutants.
In fact, the average floor has about 764 bacteria per square inch. So, when you pick up a computer bag from the floor or consider the foot traffic as occupants come and go, you can easily understand how floors enable the spread of harmful germs to other surfaces. With this in mind, it’s essential to regularly clean and maintain floors not only for the visual benefits but to remove unseen contaminants and promote a healthier environment.
Cleaning Floors without Spreading Germs
Regularly cleaning floors is essential, but the tools you clean them with matters just as much. Many facilities still clean floors with a single chamber bucket and cotton mops. However, these tools just appear to clean floors but don’t truly clean.
Traditional floor mopping with a single chamber bucket inherently transfers dirt from the floor into the bucket and then back to the floor again. The use of a single chamber bucket limits proper floor cleaning because the solution is contaminated with soiled rinse solution. Ironically, this means that while your task at hand is to clean the floors, you’re actually adding to the problem by spreading dirty, contaminated solution across the entire surface.
Alternatively, dual bucket floor mopping systems separate dirty solution from clean solution. Floor mopping kits such as the Unger OmniClean feature dual bucket technology to separate clean and dirty solution, ensuring the StayClean™ charge bucket always stays clean. The addition of an innovative scrub board removes debris from the mop pad and isolates it in the dirty solution bucket. A unique wringer agitates the remaining debris off the mop pad and leaves you with a clean mop.
Complementing the dual bucket floor mopping system with a microfiber mop is an effective way to clean for health and sanitation. Compared to a traditional cotton mop head, microfiber mops can reduce bacteria by 96 percent. In fact, an independent study by Sitemark concluded that the Unger OmniClean’s combination of dual bucket and microfiber technologies removed twice as many microbes from the floor compared to standard floor cleaning solutions.
Celebrate with Cleaner, Safer, Faster Floor Cleaning
Commercial floor cleaning work is important for the health and safety of building occupants. Given the critical role of clean floors in preventing the spread of potentially harmful germs, it’s important to not just clean floors regularly, but clean them with the right tools. Upgrading to the latest innovative floor cleaning solutions that help prevent germ spread and cross contamination is a smart decision.
Unger is the leader in innovative floor cleaning tools and offers the latest solutions to keep your employees and building occupants safe and healthy.
Interested in adding a professional dual bucket mop system to your floor cleaning operations? Learn more about the award-winning Unger OmniClean and how you can receive a free demo.