ENGINEERING TO ACHIEVE A CLEAN HOTEL / FACILITY DOING IT USING ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFE CLEANSERS - Free Sample to Hotels Just Ask!

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(Free-Press-Release.com) November 15, 2009 -- ENGINEERING TO A CLEAN HOTEL/ FACILITY

ENGINEER: a person skilled in any branch of engineering; to plan construct or manage; to carry thru skillfully - So reads the definition of an engineer.

When thinking of the daunting task of keeping a fast moving, busy hotel clean will take all the skill an engineer can muster up. This in addition to all the other parts and mechanics and facets of engineering, this too is important. Why? Your guests help pay your salary!

The executive housekeeper is the one directing the daily efforts on room cleaning so why should the engineer become involved in cleaning & care issues? Again back to the definition of a true engineer- to plan or manage & to carry thru skillfully! Consider some areas where you may be of assistance to the hard working executive housekeeper.

MANAGING SPECIAL CLEANING PROJECTS

Start with trying to solve or “manage” what the guests will see, smell, & feel in the guest rooms. Many of yours guests have nice homes & may be meticulous housekeepers themselves. You can’t please everybody everyday but lets consider one area of “special cleaning” that may help.

GUEST ROOM BATHROOM FLOOR CLEANING: This would mean paying attention not only to how clean the floor and grout is but also managing on how the floor feels as well!! A clean looking floor that feels tacky or sticky or has a film certainly is not perceived as being clean by the guest. Remember that the guest will likely be bare footed on this floor at some time during their stay. So a combination goal of 1) looking clean & 2) feeling clean is what you will try to help manage & carry thru skillfully.

FLOOR GROUT CLEANING: This is the most difficult aspect of cleaning tile or stone floors. The staff may be well meaning in their efforts and still not get the desired results. Why is floor grout so hard to keep clean? There are several reasons a few of which are:
1) the use of a cleanser that can’t float the contamination to the surface out of the more porous areas of the floor which the grout is the most porous.

2) using a cleanser that contains detergents that will tend to re-settle into the lower grout joints and take that emulsified dirt/oils with it. Rinsing may not help since the potassium & sodium salts may have reacted with the minerals in the water (especially if your water is hard) to create a soap film on the floor.
3) the past use of sealers/impregnators meant to protect the grout may now be the enemy. Any unbound silicone from these types of impregnators will find something to bind with and often it is dirt and oils & hopefully not mildew.
4) the past use of acidic or really high pH cleansers to clean the grout in the past. This will tend to make the grouting more porous (especially acidic ones) and fragile. More porous the grout the quicker it will re-soil.

5) the past use of cleanser that leave residues such as a citrus type cleanser. Any residues left behind will be a dirt magnet.

MANAGING TO FIND THE RIGHT CLEANSERS: IT WILL PAY (StoneClean Concentrates fit the bill)

As in the field of mechanical & electrical & HVAC engineering quality matters. If the part is not right for the application or the quality is not there when a problem arises will it matter if you saved money on the generic part? I don’t think so! Apply the same standard with the cleansers you allow into your hotel- all are NOT created equal! A few standards to go by will help.

1) The one time & or periodic deep cleaner must be free from high levels of potassium & sodium salts and the DAILY cleanser must be SALT – FREE to avoid the build up of soap scum.
2) They must be exceptional in not only FLOATING the contamination up but also in TRANSFERRING it to the mop or rag! This will help keep the grout joints clean on a daily basis.
3) Must be pH safe. Acidic ones don’t clean they bleach & etch. High ones are often high in salts.
4) Must be safe for the carpet and user. No chlorides or other environmentally unsound chemistry.
5) Must be citrus free to avoid the leaving of unwanted residues that may give the floor a sticky or tacky feel (no d-limonene)
StoneClean Concentrates me

Remember that some of these more caustic or “environmentally safe citrus” ones may work fine initially but it is the day in day out results your are looking for to accomplish in your engineering plans! Your goal is for the floors to not only look clean but to feel clean!! Also to stay that way and NOT just only when you can get around to a “deep cleaning “ schedule – which can be hard to fit into a busy hotel schedule!

Other factors to consider is how effective the cleanser is at low concentrations. One that can be diluted 1 or 2 ounces per gallon and still clean well means the higher cost of this specialty cleanser will be worth the added expense much like the higher cost of the proper mechanical or electrical part!

Now your housekeeping department is ready and able to tackle the task of cleaning both tile and polished marble floors & the GROUT!

TROUBLESHOOTING: AN ENGINEERING CHALLENGE

Sometimes the best efforts to deep clean still can leave the floor grout coloration inconsistent. WHY? Though dirt is now NOT the problem the problem may be other factors beyond the control of the housekeeping efforts. Clean but still inconsistent why?
1) the past use of sealers that have trapped the dirt into the sealer and some sealers are very difficult to completely remove!
2) The past use of a dye or colorant used to “re-color” has now either been cleaned off inconsistently or has penetrated so far so as to get total removal.
3) Replacement of crack tiles and when re-grouting the tile installer re-grouted to match the dirty grout surrounding the repair (this is a common problem in tile repairs- re-grouting to match the dirty grout and not the clean original color)

4) At the time of the install and grouting- humidity and improper clean-up methods can affect the color consistency.
5) Improper adding of liquid polymers can affect color as well

CARRY THRU SKILLFULLY- HOW TO FIX THE PROBLEM

How will you successfully change the color of the grout or make it consistent? A few don’t will help when thinking of choosing a grout colorant system. It will be best to find one that not only colors but also “seals” at the same time. Also one that penetrates into the cement based grout and not just sit on top like a paint. Some do work fine for a time but since this is a labor intensive project of painting into grout joints you will want to make your time doing this last the longest possible!

Choosing the right product will go along way in housekeeping’s efforts to maintain a clean consistent grout appearance. The sealer/dye should be exceptional in coloring and protection from staining. It should: 1) penetrate the lime based grout & not just sit on top 2) the color should be consistent thru the sealer and be available in any color 3) it should form a lasting seal that will not be cleaned out or fade out- should be resistant to chemical attack and be extremely water resistant (lower grout joints is where water gathers) 4) will make cleaning easier in the future (in fact if your cleaning efforts got good results right from the start with no need of coloring it would be well worth the time & effort to apply the clear form of this type of sealer) 5) should be safe to work with – water based with no odors for work in tight spaces such as a bathroom

Taking the time to do proper preparation is also key to any specialized applications. The same will be true of this endeavor.

The problem: like caustic floor grout cleaners can make the grouting more porous the same may be true of past mildew treatments for floors! Remember that acids don’t clean they bleach/ etch. Also the fact that chlorine bleach products will vaporize quickly as chlorine GAS means that there is no surface stability, which translates into possible quick re-growth and the cycle repeats itself! Aggressive cleaning can only mean more episodes of aggressive cleaning. The grouting becomes more porous which means more pore spaces for spores to take hold!


Please go to my web site below and click on Marble Shine Service and order some product today to help you manage a better clean tomorrow! Order some qt. samples of StoneClean
Concentrates today!!

More information can be found online at http://www.wellnesswaterandsalt.com

Executive Housekeeper     floor     hotel engineer