Saw a study a while back claiming that the typical American family could discard 85% of the cleaning chemicals in their utility room by simply using microfiber cleaning cloths.
I find a similar situation in commercial cleaning. Microfiber scrubs better than a cotton rag or a sponge, and absorbs better; you don’t need as much, or as strong, a chemical to loosen dirt, or to hold it in solution. Our rough rule of thumb, in comparing cotton cloths to microfiber, or cotton string mops to microfiber mops, is that we can “dumb down” the chemical by a step using microfiber. That is, we use a neutral cleaner rather than an alkaline, or water rather than a neutral cleaner. Further, on floors, we can use much less solution (which is weaker to begin with).
So: less chemical, milder chemical, less water. Better for the health of my crew, my client, and the larger environment. Cheaper as well. Not much to not like.
Often times, many of my current client base will ask me if “Green” cleaning will continue to be the preeminent issues in the industry, or if there will be a new “Hot Button” in the industry?
My typical answer is as follows:
Without question, green will continue to be a major force in the professional cleaning industry. However, the entire industry has been taking steps to become more environmentally responsible and sustainable for a number of years now. Possibly “green” should no longer be viewed as a “buzzword,” but a mainstay instead.
What we do see emerging as key concerns for our end customers are a much greater emphasis on cleaning for health and what we call hygienic cleaning, as well as finding ways to enhance worker productivity. It is because of recent world events that these issues have resurfaced.
Taking steps to prevent H1N1 is on everyone’s mind, including schools, which is one of our largest market segments. School districts have become very concerned about having their facilities cleaned as hygienically as possible and they want this accomplished without turning to powerful chemicals that might have a negative impact on the environment.
Additionally, many school districts have reduced their budgets for cleaning and, in some cases, this means reducing their cleaning staff. This means the only way these customers can meet their cleaning needs, maintain their schools in a clean, healthy, hygienic manner, and improve worker productivity is to:
• Replace manual cleaning systems (mops, buckets, sprayers, cleaning rags) with faster and more thorough mechanized cleaning systems, and
• Transfer to multipurpose machines that can help cleaning professionals be more efficient, productive and service more areas of a building, without the need for expensive, single-purposed equipment.
I toured a large school the other day in order to prepare a proposal for services. During the walk through, I mentioned the advantages of a “green” cleaning program, but the prospect replied that his current service had already converted to “green” cleaning.
During the walk through, I got a look in the current janitor’s closet. In the closet were three Green Seal approved cleaning chemicals, but also a string mop, feather duster, dust mop (filthy, as usual), scouring powder, no microfiber of any kind, and an upright, unfiltered, dumpable cloth-bag vacuum. To add insult, there were non-recycled paper towels, as well. As you could expect, that revelation turned into an explanation to the prospect that any green program that I’ve ever seen involves a bit more than substituting some chemicals. After discussing our program with him, there was a bit of a knowledge gap regarding the “green” practices.
