Keep Restroom Cleaning Simple For Facility Employees

Distributors can help business managers create a restroom cleaning program that focuses on simplifying the process, says Waddell.

“Make it easy,” Waddell says. “It’s simplification, not over-complicating it and not making a big deal out of it. If it’s simple, quick and painless, it’ll get done.”

Waddell suggests investing in the best tools to make the cleaning job as easy and quick as possible. Some of those tools include scrub brushes for toilets, light mops and brooms, and gloves so the employees do not have to come in direct contact with dirty restroom surfaces.

“Tools (should be incorporated) to make it an easy enough job without making them get too involved,” Waddell says. This means “walking into a restroom and getting it clean without having to get down on your hands and knees and scrub the toilet.”

Using multi-purpose chemicals that can do more than one cleaning task also helps to keep cleaning simple.

“Don’t fuss around with 25 different chemicals or different processes,” Traudt says.

Facility and business managers should make it a priority to analyze the flow of traffic in their facilities. Restroom cleaning duties and the tools that are used to accomplish the task should match the flow of guests, says Abiaad.

Servicing restrooms also means restocking paper and soap dispensers. Touch-free fixtures help limit the amount of soap and towels guests can take and prevents over-usage. In addition, large dispensers that can handle heavy traffic will help reduce the need for frequent restocking.

“This will alleviate the burden of frequent refilling and the risk of having empty dispensers for the guests,” Abiaad says.

Managers can set up their employees for success by having a well-stocked maintenance closet and maid cart with the items that they have been trained on using.

Another way to make the job easier is to set up a color-coded system. This will eliminate the need to learn the names of the cleaners, on the part of  employees and supervisors, who will be able to refer to the colors of cleaners and their containers, Traudt says.

Having the correct tools and disinfectants also points back to training, since employees should be taught how to clean the restroom based on the products they are expected to use, says Traudt.

“In so many cases, all you have to do is go look in their closets and look how poorly they are set up to succeed at cleaning the bathrooms,” Traudt says.

Employees should close the restroom during the cleaning process. This consists of placing the correct “wet floor” signage to signal the restroom is closed. This gives the cleaner time and space to do the proper job.

“If you have ongoing porting, even in high-traffic areas, if you can close it off even for five minutes, they can go in and restock and disinfect touch points and really be able to get the job done,” says Traudt.