No-Touch Cleaning Keeps Schools Spotless

PHOTO COURTESY OF KAIVAC

Contributed by Kaivac, Inc.

The Cedar Rapids Community School District has the second largest enrollment in Iowa. Currently, the district serves more than 16,000 students in 21 elementary schools, six middle schools and four high schools. It also has alternative schools to educate children with special needs or abilities.

There are many things all of these schools share in common, one of which is how they are cleaned. The district has been using Kaivac No-Touch Cleaning systems for more than five years. The reason for this is that by using Kaivac equipment, school custodians can "minimize restroom cleaning to a single machine without using numerous disinfectants and tools to do it," according to the district.

Kaivac is the developer of No-Touch Cleaning, introducing the machines more than 20 years ago. Using the machine, fresh cleaning solution is applied to all surfaces to be cleaned. This can include floors, counters, restroom fixtures, walls, tile-and-grout, doors and more. The same areas are then power-rinsed with fresh water.

This provides the agitation to loosen soils. Both the soils and moisture are then vacuumed up using the machine's built-in wet vacuum system. In most cases, restrooms can be open for use minutes after cleaning.

"Cleaning restrooms with Kaivac equipment allows us to clean deep into corners where dirt and germs can accumulate," says a district representative. "The machines are used to clean both the inside and outside of toilets, urinals, and sinks without the custodian needing to have contact with those surfaces."

Historically, these surfaces had to be cleaned by touching soiled fixtures; bending to clean hard-to-reach areas of the fixture; and even requiring the cleaning worker to get down on their hands and knees. These undignified cleaning procedures were eliminated with No-Touch Cleaning systems.

The district also uses the Kaivac systems to clean floors.

"Mops tend to help kill germs and bacteria, they don't remove them from surfaces," says the district representative. "Kaivac does."

The district believes the Kaivac cleaning systems are a "big step," as they call it, in bringing green cleaning practices into their school.

"Many disinfectants and restroom cleaners emit harmful fumes into the air… and can be harmful to those using the restrooms," says the district representative. "Kaivac eliminates [this] concern. [After a disinfectant] has been applied to these surfaces, the disinfectant pools on the floor and is vacuumed up."

And one last thing: The district has found that the Kaivac systems are fast. They help clean restrooms in almost half the time, giving custodians more time to complete other projects, which helps to keep the schools spotless.