When it comes to washroom odor control, the sweet smell of success means no smell at all — or at least a fresh, natural smell. That’s the opinion of 30-year industry veteran Ken Harris, owner of Value Distributors, Lenexa, Kan., and other experienced jan/san salespeople throughout the United States.

If you walk into a men’s or women’s restroom and encounter a distinct perfume-like smell, that could be an indication of an odor problem that someone is trying to mask, they say. Conversely, a restroom free of odors probably means that a preventive maintenance system is taking care of any potential odor problems.

Experts, such as Harris, agree that odor control is best accomplished by adopting a comprehensive, system-based approach. Products used to control odors in washrooms, such as enzyme cleaners, acid toilet bowl cleaners, disinfectant cleaners, drain openers and cleaners, mild bowl and porcelain cleaners, and air fresheners must all work together to produce an odor-free restroom experience. A systematic approach ensures that the job will be done correctly.

A Proper Education
According to Dave Sepich of Springtime Janitorial Supply, Carlsbad, N.M., the system his company has developed over the years includes choosing the right chemicals to do the job and giving those materials time to work. “To do that,” he says, “we recommend that end users follow a step-by-step process that utilizes the right products in the right order. It not only produces the right result, but accomplishes it in the quickest amount of time.”

Sepich says the initial step in his recommended system approach is training. “We focus on regularly educating people to properly use a system. If the cleaning staff understands the system, and it is monitored, then there shouldn’t be any odor problems,” he explains

“We’ve even developed a laminated job card for our customers to help keep their employees on task,” he adds.

Springtime’s system emphasizes safety as well as training. Salespeople recommend the use of eye protection and gloves and the placement of signs to alert people to potential hazards.

“Once safety is addressed, our system includes applying hydrochloric acid bowl cleaner, probably the harshest product in the process,” he explains. “That’s where eye protection and gloves are necessary, because splashback is a common injury of custodians, particularly if they try to pour that cleaner into the toilet bowl. They should apply the bowl cleaner on a swab and apply it to the surfaces. That prevents splashback and helps spread the cleaner evenly on the inside of the toilets and the urinals. The material shouldn’t be used on metals, however.”

Since the chemicals need time to dissolve any minerals and urine salts, Sepich suggests waiting to flush while moving on to apply a disinfectant cleaner to the exteriors of the fixtures and the areas around and between the urinals.

“Disinfectant usually takes about 10 minutes to achieve a 100-percent kill. The most common problem in restroom maintenance in fighting odors is to use the spray and immediately wipe the disinfectant, which needs the dwell time to kill the germs and bacteria. Before you get to the wiping stage, spray other areas that people touch. Then, fill soap and paper towel dispensers, clean the sinks with a phosphoric acid bowl cleaner, and then clean the mirrors. Wipe everything down and then flush. Remember, it’s key to make sure your disinfectant has had time to work. Finally, sweep the floor and mop it with the disinfectant.”

Bob Godecker, jan/san buyer for Baumann Paper and Janitorial Supply, Lexington, Ky., explains that his company’s suggested odor-control program revolves around four key products. “We recommend a good disinfectant for fixtures, basins and tile cabinets, plus a good enzyme/disinfectant combination. We advise people to disinfect their restroom floors and go back with the enzyme cleaner, especially around the urinals, to get rid of the bacteria that have penetrated the floor. We also suggest using a good toilet bowl cleaner,” he explains. “The fourth product to use in a systematic approach is a metered aerosol dispenser on the wall. Instead of leaving a can of air freshener on the basin, you might as well put something on the wall that will put out a fragrance periodically,” he says.

“If you feel you need to use another disinfectant on sinks, you can go with a general-purpose or foamy aerosol, or a ready-to-use disinfectant/cleaner for sinks, soap fixtures and tile cabinets,” suggests Godecker.

Help Them To Understand
Harris believes that ongoing training is key to a successful odor-control system.

“Hands-on or ‘show-and-tell’ training is important, especially if you discuss the benefits of a systematic approach. That [type of approach] will be effective,” he says.

“There’s no substitute for ongoing training,” says Bill Cohen, vice president of operations for Watch-Gard Systems, Pittsburgh. “One of the inherent problems in this industry is turnover of maintenance personnel. To get our message across, we have specialists that go out to our customers to do that training. We try to train at least every other month.”

Godecker’s company educates customers via instructional videotapes from the various product manufacturers and generic tapes produced by the International Sanitary Supply Association. “It’s very important to get the end user to sit down and watch the tapes and then walk them through the steps to reinforce what they’ve learned from the tapes.”

In Toronto, Global Sanitation relies on manufacturer information and industry education programs to help educate themselves and their customers, according to company manager Vito Fiore. “We use our sales reps to inform the customer about the newer products, techniques and trends. We also use and promote our website as an educational resource for our customers,” he says.

David Champagne, Beacon Distributors, Lincoln, R.I., explains that his company’s sales reps meet with customers in order to help educate them. “We won’t sell initially,” he says. “First we try to learn if there’s an odor problem and determine what’s causing that problem. We talk to them about a cleaning system that includes automatic cleaning for toilets and urinals. We determine that they are using appropriate products, such as disinfectants and cleaners. We confirm that they are treating floor drains properly because many times drains cause odor problems. We make sure they’re using the right type and size of trash receptacles and emptying them regularly.

“It’s an educational process involving product selection from cleaners through odor control from the floor all the way up to the ceiling.”

Documenting that the odor-control plan is being carried out can also help end users achieve the best results. Global Sanitation’s Fiore says the company’s preventive maintenance program for odor control includes a regular schedule for cleaning restrooms with disinfectants complemented by the use of enzyme and bacterial cleaners, as well as some type of metered air freshener.

“Lately, we’ve found that people are becoming more aware of the importance of preventive maintenance. Part of our system approach involves cleaning drains with an enzyme cleaner,” he says.

“Our customers are getting away from using perfumes and are concentrating more on cleaning. Perfumes just mask problem odors and don’t allow you to pinpoint exactly where the problem originates.”

Cohen is also a believer in the system approach for restroom odor control. “We try to use as many malodor counteractants in restrooms as we can. We have a natural enzyme drain program that we find very helpful in any type of drain situation,” he says. Neglected floor drains can be a big source of foul odors, he adds.

“On top of that we use pleasantly scented cleaners and germicides. But we stay away from chlorine and don’t use a lot of bleach. Chlorine is not the safest product to use.”

A Breath of Fresh Air
Cohen says the key in any commercial restroom is an air-freshening program. “We prefer one that uses an interval spray method rather than a wick or a gel dispenser. We prefer a battery-powered unit that will dispense a blast of scented spray product at intermittent, pre-set intervals. In our experience, that works the best — even though it’s a little more expensive. Also, you’ve got to have an adequate number of dispensers to cover the square footage of a restroom.”

According to Cohen, the most frequent mistake end users make when trying to get rid of malodors is using the wrong product in an application. A close second is the fact they don’t spend the time necessary to do the job properly.

Champagne agrees with Cohen’s assessment. “Nobody likes to clean toilets and urinals. They think they can do an adequate job by quickly passing a swab around the outside of a commode and flushing a chemical.”

Fiore, on the other hand, believes the most common mistake is attempting to mask a bad odor, as opposed to pinpointing the source and eliminating the problem.

The source of the odor is what must be identified, says Godecker. “They rely on metered air fresheners, thinking that the fresheners will get rid of the odor. That’s just not so.”

He also cautions end users about overusing bleach. “Using it indiscriminately is a pretty common mistake,” he says. “Bleach as a disinfectant doesn’t do nearly as well as other disinfectants developed to control bacteria. Furthermore, you can’t use bleach on everything. You’re pretty limited with it.”

As Champagne says, cleaning toilets — and the rest of the washroom for that matter — isn’t exactly glamorous, but its great importance can’t be ignored. It requires a good deal of knowledge, skill and hard work. The right products, combined with a thoughtful, workable system and good end-user education can be an effective defense against foul washroom odors.

Jordan Fox is a Milwaukee-based freelance writer.




POSTED ON: 3/1/2005