Restroom Cleaning Machines Can Improve Level Of Cleanliness

Part two of this three-part article focuses on cleaning restroom floors with a restroom machine.

Under the Restroom Service section of “Cleaning Times & Tasks” (on page 29, for those following along), Walker analyzes the time needed for a complete restroom clean.

For a nine-fixture restroom, to empty the trash, clean and disinfect fixtures, wipe mirrors, replace supplies, and wet mop the floor, a worker needs 27 minutes. To do those tasks — plus sweep —  and clean the floor with an “automated touchless cleaning machine system,” a worker needs just 20.88 minutes, almost seven fewer minutes.

For perhaps the most simplified delineation of cleaning times, Walker suggests referencing the book’s Team Cleaning section (specifically page 55). Although a BSC may not be using a team-cleaning approach, the times are still applicable.

A worker cleaning by hand needs two minutes per fixture in a restroom to flush and disinfect toilets and urinals; stock dispensers; empty trash; dust; sweep; disinfect sinks, mirrors, brightwork, partitions and door handles; remove hard water deposits from fixtures; and clean and disinfect floors. A worker using a spray-and-vac restroom cleaning machine needs just one minute per fixture in a restroom.

A one-minute difference may not sound like much, but that’s just for one fixture. Add up all of the fixtures in all of the restrooms in a building, and a BSC could save significantly on labor by using a restroom machine.

There are, however, ample reasons to favor the restroom machine aside from speed.

Sure, says Walker, a large mop and double-sided bucket might be able to get the job done, but it’s important to remember that someone will have to wield that extra-large mop and fill that double-sided bucket.

“Water is heavy,” he says. “From a human output sense, it might be faster to dump a whole bunch of water in a 1,000-square-foot area and then pick it up quickly with a 32-ounce mop, but it might not be the most ergonomic.”

Additionally, since a restroom machine physically removes the water from the floor, slips and falls are more easily avoided, says Walker.

The level of cleanliness is also an consideration when comparing the use of a restroom cleaning machine to wet mopping, says Joseph Garcia, client service manager for GMI Integrated Facility Solutions in San Diego.

GMI cleans all of the athletic facilities for the University of California, Los Angeles, and the company relies heavily on restroom machines. For cost-saving purposes, GMI doesn’t clean every restroom with a machine, but it does machine-clean all student-athlete restrooms and locker rooms for one simple reason: health. UCLA’s student-athletes, like most, frequently walk around the restrooms barefoot, and they generally spend more time in a restroom or locker room than the average building occupant, says Garcia.

“The most important part of the machine is the removal part,” he says. “The final step is all the removal of the germicidal detergents, the water. Once you remove all that from the restroom, you’ve pretty much removed all the fomites and pathogenic organisms from the restroom and the shower itself.”

Walker adds that when workers use a mop and bucket to clean a restroom floor, they don’t always change the solution as often as recommended, leading to a lesser clean.