A reader writes: “I clean a kennel that has a VCT and cement floor that is easy to hose off. The customer requires me to clean the floors with a special product that does not clean very well. It also damages the wax job, which he then wants me to redo at my expense. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Upon review of the chemical the customer is requiring you to use, it is a disinfectant and he may be correct in requiring you to use it since it is designed to protect the animals who may lick their paws or in some other way ingest it into their system. Upon close reading of the product label and the MSD (Material Safety Data) information, we learn that it is NOT a cleaner and actually breaks down in a soil load that you described.

It is common practice to clean the surface (in this case the floor) with a detergent (neutral or perhaps a mild degreaser) first, then rinse the floor, then apply the disinfectant that he is requiring you to use. Of course, this will increase your labor considerably so you may check with your vendor for a product that cleans and disinfects in one step. You will need to sell this idea to the customer who may not understand that simply using the product he is providing is not best practices and can actually damage the floor finish as well as create other problems.

My suggestion is you consider using a product that has an active enzyme (to consume feces and urine) that also has a cleaning agent that dissolves soils. If I were cleaning the facility I would experiment with the best processes since it will require floor sweeping and possibly hosing first to remove the larger soils.

Your comments and questions are important. I hope to hear from you soon. Until then, keep it clean...

Mickey Crowe has been involved in the industry for over 35 years. He is a trainer, speaker and consultant. You can reach Mickey at 678-314-2171 or CTCG50@comcast.net


posted on 7/14/2016