If building service contractors or cleaning departments are struggling with employees who can’t remember proper mop cleanup, it may be smarter to switch products than keep investing in training.

String mop heads that are frequently being disposed because of poor maintenance adds up over time and hurts the bottom line. Switching to a disposable mop head can save money in the long run.

Disposable microfiber is a new product on the market and can be used to lay floor finish. According to a manufacturer, disposable microfiber, which costs $1.25, is a better investment than a cotton mop head at $7. So a BSC or facility manager can buy five disposable microfiber mop heads for the cost of one cotton mop head. And since it’s likely that the janitor isn’t going to be cleaning the mop head properly, both products would be thrown out after use.

Besides cost savings, there can be advantages to using microfiber to lay floor finish.

“Most of the finishes that we use today as opposed to when I started thirty years ago are intended to be layed down thin — the motto is ‘thin to win,’” says Joe Choplin, the director of operations support for City Wide Franchise in Lenexa, Kansas. “You can lay down finish with a flat microfiber mop much thinner than a traditional rayon or cotton mop.”

Moreover, he continued, the advantages of using disposable microfiber are that you’ll save money on floor finish.  

“If you use a traditional mop head, the first gallon of floor finish actually gets soaked into the fibers of the mop head; it doesn’t hold that much floor finish,” says Choplin. “Maybe if you really get it saturated, you may have a pint of floor finish as compared to a gallon.”

Hilary Daninhirsch is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh.


posted on 9/30/2016