Green Cleaning Alternatives costs while achieving maximum results. Standard definitions consist of three sep-arate and distinct levels: Cleaning, sani-tizing and disinfecting — each serving a particular purpose and requiring different procedures. Cleaning is a process in which floors are scrubbed with water and detergent to eliminate visible dirt, debris and other soils Sanitizing requires the addition of a chemical capable of reducing 99.9 percent of bacteria to a level consid-ered safe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — generally effective within 30 seconds or more Disinfecting eliminates up to 99.9999 percent of pathogens and disease-causing microorganisms within 10 minutes. Understanding and distinguishing between the separate cleaning levels is crucial when applying them to industry standards in varying cleaning applications. This indicates the type of cleaner used, the amount of scrubbing required and techniques with which these methods are applied. ing method that leaves floors polished without requiring intense daily scrubbing. The less rigid sanitary standards of these facilities provide greater flexibility in clean-ing options. To provide that sophisticated, customer-appreciated look, cleaning for appearance offers a versatile, green cleaning technique for office managers and retail owners. Cleaning for appearance involves inter-spersing water-only and detergent cleaning procedures, depending on the application at hand. For example, a facility might require a deeper scrubbing weekly or monthly instead of daily; therefore, by intermixing deeper detergent cleans with water-only cleansing, the solution breaks the surface tension cre-ated by water, allowing it to penetrate cracks and pores where dirt can settle. Alternatively, the water-only cleaning method effectively cleans visible grime — giving floors an overall polished look, while washing away any residual detergent and preventing unwanted buildup. Combining these two methods helps facility owners reduce overall maintenance expenses and eliminate use of harmful chemicals, leading to environmental sus-tainability. When routinely performing water-only cleaning, it is important that owners are aware of the water quality and floor type in the building. Certain floor materials such as rubber can be damaged by repetitive water-only cleaning, making the floor coloring dull; mineral-laden water can lead to deposit buildup on the floors, deterring appearance rather than improving it. be cleaned with water only or light deter-gent. If the proper solution is not used, these cleaning applications can lead to excess usage and dumping of large quantities of expensive sanitizers. Advancements in green cleaning solu-tions have produced machines that enable options to dispense less detergent or employ varying flow rates to effectively match detergent requirements to soil level. Further, machine advancements also feature equipment with “bursts” of scrub-bing power to attack tough soils, eliminat-ing multiple scrubs and dumping product solution, while maintaining sustainability by limiting high-pressure scrubbing. Utilizing machines with multiple cleaning capabilities can eliminate the need for extra equipment and significantly reduce labor. This results in overall cost reduction — not only in equipment purchases, but also in labor expenses and chemical costs. Additionally, with the ability to man-date water and chemical usage based on cleaning needs, owners can increase facil-ity sustainability and lessen environmental impact. Offices And Retail Establishments Business owners and retail managers understand the importance consumers place in appearances. Clients and customers respond positively to glossy, shiny floors, but the heavy influx of patrons coming and going throughout the day restricts opportunities to clean floors and maintain the shine. In addition to achieving a polished look, facility owners also want to limit chemical use to preserve the air quality inside the buildings, as continued exposure to poor air quality can aggravate existing, or lead to, respiratory conditions and even cause physical symptoms such as skin rashes and eye irritation. However, relying on water-only cleaning solutions will not provide a consistently effective cleaning solution, as water’s sur-face tension prevents it from thoroughly cleaning textured floors — merely sitting on top of dirt rather than dissolving it. Office managers and retail owners are challenged with finding an effective clean-Health Care And Food Processing Facilities Industries such as health care and food processing are held to the highest cleaning standards as a result of the valid concerns regarding the spread of disease and poten-tial contamination risks. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) mandates that high-risk areas — areas most vulnerable to pathogens — such as patient rooms, rest-rooms and all areas where food preparation or packaging is completed require deep scrubbing with harsh disinfectants to elimi-nate disease-causing microorganisms. However, not all sections of a hospital or processing plant are high risk; areas such as hospital gift shops, private offices, break rooms or entryways do not require repeated scrubbing using disinfectants. Generally, these low-risk areas can be cleaned using light detergent or water-only cleaning methods. Cleaning applications that require mul-tiple cleaning processes and chemical potencies can quickly become time-con-Educational Facilities Cleaning educational facilities presents unique challenges due to regular debris buildup in hallways and heavy soil accu-mulation in entryways, which can cause significant safety concerns. Furthermore, educational facilities are tasked with the challenge of accommodat-ing multiple cleaning jobs in a single build-ing, which can result in extensive labor and maintenance costs. For example, high-traffic areas require labor-intensive double or even triple scrubs, while moderately soiled areas can 26 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • June 2011
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