Surface Value

Of all the educational seminars that Janitor’s World provides for its customers, every year the washroom care seminar is by far the post popular, says Dennis Bennett, president of the, Kalispell, Mont., distributor.

“It’s a very hot topic,” he says. “End users want to know which cleaning chemicals will work best on a particular surface. They want to know how to remove odor and bacteria, and they want to know how to keep everything looking new.”

Each washroom surface — chrome, ceramic tile and porcelain, to name a few — requires a different cleaning chemical for effective sanitation, as well as a different method of application. “The biggest problem for us is when customers just grab arbitrary chemicals to clean surfaces,” says Bennett. “If you mix bleach and ammonia in a toilet and you have your head down there while you’re scrubbing, you’re going to create mustard gas, and it could be lethal. As a distributor, we want to provide the safest program possible, so that customers can’t accidentally create dangerous mixtures of washroom chemicals.”

Most end users are well aware of the consequences of mixing ammonia and bleach, but they still need to keep abreast of the ingredients used in cleaning chemicals (both active and inactive). Distributors are in a great position to provide that kind of training.

“Ten years ago, I had customers mixing bleach and ammonia and it was a problem, but now the problem is that they’re mixing chemicals with ammonia and bleach-related elements,” says J.C. Nelson, Jr., executive purchaser for Ball Chemical & Equipment Supply Co. in Cleveland. “Some end users don’t [regularly] read the labels, so we train them to be very careful about the washroom chemicals they’re using.”

End users aren’t just concerned with safety. They also want their washroom chemicals to clean effectively. The following is a breakdown of some of the most prominent washroom surfaces and how to maintain them.

Ceramic Tile
“Most of our customers are schools that have cut their budgets drastically,” says Nelson. “They can’t clean every day, so they need a more acidic cleaner for the tiles.”

Although ceramic tile may look fine after it has been cleaned, there could still be bacteria festering in the grout lines between the tiles. The naked eye can’t be trusted when evaluating the success of floor sanitation, says Bennett. “If it’s ceramic tile that has grout, those floors are the most susceptible to odor problems because bacteria can get trapped down there, even though the end user can’t see it.”

There are several mildly acidic cleaning chemicals that are effective for removing bacteria. Like many distributors, Bennett also recommends enzyme-producing cleaners for bacteria removal on washroom floors. “Enzymes have a residual life. As long as there is moisture in the grout line, then the enzymes will keep working. The nice thing is that enzymes are safe on other surfaces as well.”

A powerful bleach cleaner shouldn’t be used daily on washroom floors, but it can be an excellent weapon for combating mold and mildew on a periodic basis, says A.J. Cuchia, president of Hygeia Chemical Co., a jan/san distributor in Galveston, Texas. “Chlorine bleach is the best thing I’ve found for removing mold and mildew, but it should only be used once a month or so.” In washrooms that consistently retain moisture, Cuchia says that distributors need to help their customers be vigilant in attacking bacteria and mildew.

“We have some health clubs with very high levels of moisture, and they really need some kind of a mildew static cleaner or a liquid bleach like sodium hypochlorite.”

Although bleach chemicals are effective at removing bacteria and mildew, distributors need to make sure that their customers are aware of the risks that these cleaners carry. During the summer of 2000, The Chlorine Institute (CI), Rosslyn, Va., issued a warning to professional cleaners using sodium hypochlorite (often referred to as bleach) for facility cleaning:

“The Chlorine Institute and its members are aware of several incidents which occurred during the last two years involving sodium hypochlorite solutions accidentally mixed with acids or acidic chemicals, resulting in the release of elemental chlorine gas. People have been seriously injured as a result of the chlorine released during such events.”

Cleaning washroom floors may seem to be a benign endeavor, but distributors should be proactive in warning their customers about the potential risks in mixing floor chemicals.

Chrome Fixtures
Distributors also need to be careful about recommending acidic cleaning chemicals as universal solutions for the washroom. Why? Because chrome fixtures and other metal surfaces can be damaged over time by strong acids. “I once had a customer that was using a different vendor for his washrooms,” says Cuchia. “It was a hotel, and the vendor was selling a 9 percent hydrochloric acid bowl cleaner for all their washroom surfaces. It ruined all their fixtures, and they had to replace every drain in the hotel because they had been worn down to the brass layer.” What could have been a simple change in product ended up being a very costly mistake, he adds.

For safe fixture cleaning, there are several acid alternatives that work well for daily or periodic maintenance. “There are a lot of good options for chrome fixtures,” says Cuchia. “There are foaming atomizers, everyday non-acidic cleaners, and even stainless steel polishes (although they aren’t as common for regular cleaning).”

To help end users avoid mistakes similar to those of Cuchia’s hotel customer, distributors need to visit the washroom with their customer. That way, common errors can be prevented.

For example, an end user might know that strong acids shouldn’t be used on fixtures, but in cleaning the porcelain sink, he or she might not consider the chemical’s effect on the sink drain. “An acid-based cleaner is great for getting rings out of a toilet or removing hard water stains in a sink, but it can really damage the throat of a sink,” says Bennett. “Distributors need to promote totally safe chemistry, which is why we recommend a specialized product to clean each surface.”

Urinals, Toilets and Sinks
Porcelain surfaces in the restroom are often the most prominent areas of the restroom, and, therefore, must be sanitized at the highest level, says Cuchia.

“Our first recommendation is a non-acidic cleaner for all porcelain surfaces,” he says. “That’s for daily or regular cleaning. For hard water stains, a phosphoric acid or blended acid works great to remove those marks. Phoshporic acid also works great on soap scum that can build up around a sink.”

Like ceramic tile cleaning, many distributors have found that enzymes-producing cleaners provide an effective alternative to harsh acidic cleaners when treating urinals and toilets.

Bacteria that gradually builds up around toilets and urinals can be removed easily if enzyme producers are used properly. Cuchia points out that enzyme cleaners are especially effective at gathering points, or places where the toilet or urinal meet the floor and wall.

“Enzymes are great at fighting uric stains around toilets,” says Cuchia.

Developments and advancements in washroom chemical manufacturing have allowed for modifications in cleaning with enzymes, says Bennett. “Some enzymes are now actually built into acid-based cleaning chemicals, so you get the fighting power of both,” he says. “But distributors and end users need to be careful and not forget the effects that the acids will have on other surfaces.”

Don’t Overlook
Aside from commonly cleaned washroom surfaces, such as metal fixtures, tiled floors and porcelain surfaces, there are other critical washroom surfaces that are often overlooked. Because time is a precious commodity for end users, door knobs, dispensers and washroom stall doors are not cleaned thoroughly. These are areas susceptible to cross-contamination, says Nelson.

“There are a bunch of different ways to clean a restroom, but it should be cleaned properly to reduce cross-contamination,” he says. “No washroom surfaces should really be left uncleaned.”

End users are looking for distributors who can provide adequate washroom cleaning instruction, says Cuchia. “The best way to help customers in the area of washroom cleaning is to help them find the right product for that surface.”