Preparation — To prepare for cleaning, cleaning staff should organize the cleaning cart, fill the dual-compartment bucket and organize their cleaning belt. The cleaning cart ought to consist of microfiber cloths and mops, paper products and any necessary re-fill materials, and a cart inventory should take place before entering the restroom. The front section of the dual-compartment bucket should be filled with approximately four gallons of water and eight ounces of cleaning solution, and one gallon of clean rinse water should be filled in the back section of the bucket. The cleaning belt should also be organized and a spray bottle consisting of measured water and cleaning solution attached.

Before entering the restroom, cleaning staff must place warning signs in front of the door to alert building occupants that the restroom is being cleaned. Cleaning staff should also wear goggles and gloves at all times.

Cleaning the Restroom — To begin, cleaning staff should remove any debris in and around toilets and urinals and make sure each one is in proper working order. Next, staff ought to apply bowl cleaner to the inside of each urinal and toilet following the instructed dwell times. After the bowl cleaner has been applied, cleaning staff can refill any paper and soap dispensers and empty trash receptacles.

Cleaning staff should dust stalls, partitions and other walls next from top to bottom. Floors must then be swept to remove any dirt or debris. Cleaning staff should spray and wipe down all mirrors, sinks, faucets, counters, dispensers and fixtures after floors have been swept.

To avoid having to make extra trips in and out of stalls, cleaning staff should bring all necessary tools into the stall when it is time to clean the toilets and urinals. The interior of the toilets and urinals should be cleaned using a toilet bowl brush, while the exteriors should be cleaned with a microfiber cloth.

Cleaning staff should never use a toilet bowl brush on the exterior of the bowl. Once all toilets are cleaned, personnel can finish cleaning by mopping the floor, starting at the furthest corner away from the door. Remember to dip the mop in the back section of the bucket first and wring it out completely before placing it in the section with the cleaning solution.

Cleaning staff should also use ergonomically designed products that reduce bending and stretching, and decrease the risk of chemical exposure. Such products can lead to improved employee morale, reduced employee sick time and lower worker’s compensation costs.

Inspection - Before the cleaning staff leaves the restroom, they should take an inspection mirror and go over each area that has been cleaned. The areas above, below and surrounding the cleaned surface ought to be inspected to ensure all germs have been removed. If dirt is still present, these areas should be cleaned again. Facility managers should also inspect restrooms periodically to ensure restrooms remain clean and sanitary.

This process should occur on a daily basis and scheduled between peak hours in order to keep restrooms refreshed and sanitized throughout the day. To help cleaning staff adopt the new plan, facility managers can use training videos, DVDs and wall charts with simple language and easy-to-follow instructions.

In-house demonstrations conducted by facility managers or outside distributors may also help familiarize cleaning staff with any new products or procedures.

Before staff begins to use the new cleaning system, facility managers should examine the plan and determine how to best integrate green cleaning tools and techniques into the process. Simple changes, such as making the switch to microfiber and dual-compartment buckets, can help reduce the risk of cross contamination and improve restroom sanitation, worker health and indoor air quality.

All facility managers understand the importance of removing bacteria from restroom surfaces. However, traditional cloths can spread these germs from one area to another and may also require a greater concentration of cleaning chemical. A safer way to eliminate bacteria is to use microfiber cloths that have been proven to remove bacteria by up to 97 percent.

Microfiber’s unique design and electrostatic technology allows it to reach deep into surface pores to trap more dirt and germs than conventional mops and cloths,  oftentimes without requiring large amounts of water or cleaning chemical. This helps conserve water and keep the air free from harmful toxins.

Microfiber mops can combine with dual compartment buckets to eliminate bacteria from floors and prevent cross contamination. While microfiber mops trap dirt and keep it from spreading, dual-compartment buckets keep dirty water from mixing with clean solution.

In addition to reducing cross contamination, dual-compartment buckets help conserve water, as clean solution does not need to be changed as frequently. Several types of dual-compartment buckets also feature measurement markings on the interior for dilution control and a drain spout for easy disposal of dirty water. In addition, these buckets can be constructed with a material that resists bacteria growth. These features help keep cleaning staff safe, as they reduce exposure to harsh cleaning chemicals and bacteria.

Facility managers should keep in mind that each of these tools should be colorcoded red for restroom use. Because cleaning tools may be manufactured for use in more than one area of a building, it is necessary to adopt a categorizing strategy in order to avoid cross contamination.

One method that some companies have implemented is to use color-coded tools consisting of four globally recognized colors: red, green, blue and yellow. While green tools are intended for food service areas and blue tools for offices and classrooms, red tools and yellow tools that feature a red border are to be used for cleaning restrooms.

Facility managers should stress the importance of using only red color-coded tools as part of the training process.

Keeping restrooms in a facility clean is a full time job, but it can be accomplished with ease and without straining the budget, staff or the environment. Installing a systemized cleaning plan can improve worker productivity by presenting staff with specific cleaning tools and instructions that save time and money.

The addition of green products can also help keep building occupants and the environment healthy. By implementing a systematic approach to cleaning that incorporates green cleaning techniques, facility managers can expect to see improvements in worker productivity, reductions in labor costs and cleaner, healthier restrooms. ❑