Reasons for Organizing and Cleaning Your Home

Organizing and cleaning are two of the most important aspects of ensuring your home remains clean at all times. Therefore, it can be helpful to know some of the main reasons cleaning and organizing can make your life easier.

1. Always have a clean home: One of the main reasons for organizing and cleaning your home is that you can always come home to a clean place without having to worry about cleaning it yourself.
2. Makes your life less stressful: Organizing and cleaning your home makes your life much less stressful because you do not have to spend hours every week deep cleaning your home.
3. Home is aesthetically pleasing: A clean and organized home is aesthetically pleasing and is the perfect way to ensure your home always looks its best.
4. Prevents you from having to deep clean your home regularly: If you clean and organize your home regularly, it is likely you can avoid deep cleaning it every week, as keeping your home clean is easier than cleaning it when it is dirty.
5. Prevents pest infestations: Organizing and cleaning not only means you can enjoy the comfort of a clean home, but a clean home also helps you prevent pest infestations, as pests are less likely to invade a clean house.
6. Can preserve your home’s materials: In some cases, organizing and cleaning can help preserve your home’s materials. For example, cleaning your carpets regularly can preserve them and keep them looking and smelling fresh.
7. Safer for children: A clean and organized home is safer if you have children, as there are fewer harmful substances in your home.
8. Your things are easier to find: When you clean and organize your home regularly, your things are much easier to find, as having a designated place for all your things makes them easier to locate when you need them.
9. Promotes good health and hygiene: An organized and clean home promotes good health and hygiene for both you and your family and ensures your living space is safe and non-hazardous.
10. Can eliminate dust and other harmful substances in a dirty home: Organizing and cleaning your home can help to eliminate dust and other harmful substances present in a dirty home, making your home a much better environment for you and your family.

Organizing and cleaning your home not only ensures it looks its best at all times, but also makes it an enjoyable place for you and your family. For more reasons why organizing and cleaning your home can benefit you, it is a good idea to consult with a professional house cleaning company.

Pressure Washers - Cleaning Machines

Pressure washers are a vital tool in the industrial environment ensuring that cleaning is carried out to the standards and regulations required. The pressure washer has been around for many years and has developed into a wide range of types. The basic principle is the same in that water is fed into a machine and is the pumped out via a lance, exiting through an adjustable nozzle. The spray can be altered by adjusting the nozzle to suit the cleaning job in hand, the narrower the water jet the stronger the cleaning force, but less area is covered.

Selecting a Pressure Washer

Selecting the correctly sized machine from the huge range of pressure washers available can be daunting. The selection criteria are based on the type of job the appliance is required for. An example would be oil or greasy deposits which are adherent may require a high pressure to remove them, however a large hard surface area requires a lower pressure but a higher water volume. Consideration should always be given to the duty that the machine will be required to give to make sure you select the correct machine.

Types of Pressure Washers

The sophistication of pressure washers has developed over the years and there is a lot of choice. Hot water washers as well as cold are now available which are more effective if degreasing or disinfecting are required. The other advantage is that because hot water cleans better than cold, lower pressures can be used. Pressure washers can be portable or static and there are advantages to both:

• Portable Pressure Washers have an advantage as they can be moved where the cleaning is required. If the washer powered by electricity the portability is obviously restricted by the length of the power cord. Some pressure washers are available with their own power source, such as a diesel engine and can be moved around the site or off site for remote cleaning.
• Static Pressure Washers are a static wash system for premises where there is a regular requirement for hot water pressure cleaning. This would useful say in a transport company where a static jet wash facility could be used by a variety of operators at different times or in a small food processing plant where a cabinet mounted pressure washer would enable efficient cleaning. This type of stand alone hot pressure washer can be attached to a ring main system for one or two operators to access at various points to clean around the premises.

For information about pressure washers and how they can help you keep your business spotless, contact Astol Cleantech (P) Limited for the best advice and prices available.

Bottom - Line Burnisher Benefits

Burnishers can enhance a facility’s image with clean and shiny floors. Remarkably, experience indicates that distributors don’t aggressively market burnishers, or other high-end cleaning equipment for that matter.

These days, anything a distributor can do to lower costs - especially labor costs - is of interest to customers. In tight times, distributors can make their mark by informing end users of the increased productivity burnishers offer.

Though burnishers offer some unique benefits, they also create some challenges. The majority of these problems can be resolved with good training and a quality preventive maintenance program. Obviously, there are safety precautions that operators must follow when using any piece of powered equipment.

High shine floor finish: Since burnishers operate at high speeds, the interaction between the burnishing pad and the floor finish creates a high shine, often called the wet look.

Burnishers cover large areas in minimal time: Supermarkets are a good example of how burnishers cover large areas in minimal time. Often, one can visit a supermarket late at night and see dull floors, and only a few hours later, in the morning, the floors are clean and shining.

Saving labor dollars: Since burnishers decrease the amount of time needed to polish floors, there is a significant savings of labor dollars.

Image of the overall facility: When floors are clean with a high shine, the overall facility looks clean. Light also reflects better off a highly polished floor.

Safe floors: Clean and well-maintained floors are safe floors. A good floor cleaning and burnishing program provides a clean, slip-resistant surface for customers to walk on.

Compatibility with floor finishes: There are innumerable floor finishes manufactured today for use with high-speed burnishers. Indeed, many floor finishes are specifically designed to provide a high gloss level that is enhanced by high-speed equipment.

Ergonomics: When operated properly, a burnisher can alleviate some of the stress an operator experiences with slower-speed equipment.

Competitiveness: To stay competitive, end users are looking for every opportunity to produce quality floor finishes at the least possible cost. Burnishers are a great tool to use in controlling operating costs.

Power choices and sizes: Burnishers can be electric, battery-operated or propane-operated. In addition, machines have a variety of burnishing paths, suitable for small to very large areas.

Selecting the right Floor Scrubber

Cleaning floors in theindustrial or commercial environment has to be done regularly because of both hygiene and safety. We have many things to thank gravity for, but as far as any floor is concerned it makes every unwanted speck of dirt or spillage locates itself on top of it. Fortunately cleaning the floor is not as onerous as it used to be thanks to the wide range of industrial cleaning machines now available which saves time and effort (imagine cleaning a floor with a mop and bucket!) One of the most useful machines is the floor scrubber which not only cleans the floor but dries it as well.

How it works

The floor scrubber imitates the action of manual scrubbing by using mechanically driven brushes or pads which rotate to agitate a detergent solution into the floor. The resultant dirty residue is then collected by a system of squeegees at the back of the machine and vacuumed up into a storage tank in the machine for later disposal. This process not only cleans the floor but leaves it dry enough to be used normally after cleaning. Floor scrubbers come in a wide variety of sizes and configurations, from a small push along machine for small areas to a powered ride-on version for cleaning large areas, and there is quite a range of different floor scrubbers in between!

Some things to consider before choosing a floor scrubber to buy or hire

•  What types of surfaces will it be required to clean? Concrete, tiled surfaces, wood or even carpet will need machines with the right attachments.
•  Is the noise level of the machine important? If the cleaning is to be done in working hours or in a public area, the noise level will be a significant factor.
• How tough is the machine? A floor scrubber used in a commercial or industrial environment will typically take a few knocks. Can it stand up to it?
•  Is the machine well designed for operator use? A poorly designed machine can make using it unnecessarily difficult and can lead to operator fatigue which is not only bad for the operator but also interferes with the effective cleaning.
•  Are the controls straightforward to use? Using a floor scrubber should be able to be done by anyone with the minimum of training
• Can spares be readily supplied? All machines with moving parts will need maintenance at some time and things like brushes and pads wear out and need replacing. Check to make sure there won’t be a problem in the future.
• How manoeuvrable is the machine? You want the scrubber to clean all the floor area and that may include some more out of the way areas with limited access, make sure the machine will do what you want it to.

These are some of the criteria to consider before buying or hiring a floor scrubber. 

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Buying guide for floor cleaning equipment

Some things to consider before buying or hiring floor cleaning equipment:

•  Think about what types of surface (or surfaces) are to be cleaned. If there are different surfaces will a single machine be able to cope?
•  The physical size of the cleaning area determines the size of machine needed. The cleaning width of the floor sweeper or scrubber dyer will give an indication of how much cleaning can be done, and most machines give a floor area performance indication in their technical details to show the area that can be cleaned in an hour.
• The power source is important – mains, rechargeable battery or engine powered. The type of motive power is determined mainly by the physical area being cleaned, for a smaller area a mains powered machine is probably adequate, but the complication of a trailing lead becomes more significant, and potentially hazardous, in larger areas where battery power would be better.
• The type of dirt or debris being removed should also be considered. Light dust or deposits will require a machine of different duty than oily or hard to remove dirt.
• An industrial floor cleaning machine is often used in an environment where it can be subject to knocks and bangs so robustness is important to ensure good service and machine longevity.

There is much to think about before buying floor cleaning equipment and before buying it might be an idea to hire a similar machine to make sure it is the right type for you purposes. Because of the complexity and variety of these machines it is advisable and obvious really, to get advice from a reliable source in order to make an informed decision, as it is a significant financial commitment.

Facts of Single Disc Scrubber Machines

Single disc scrubbers are the most versatile, multipurpose and general machines for maintenance and cleaning of all types of floors and carpets. As the name implies, it uses a single rotating disc which works on the floor to clean it. Different pads, rotation speed and motor power can provide the solution for any floor cleaning application: floor cleaning, scrubbing, polishing, marble/granite restoration, crystallization, buffing, spray buffing, scarifying, scouring, sanding, stripping, carpet shampooing, wooden floor sanding etc.

Theoretically, a single disc floor machine is a low speed machine with a horizontally rotating head attached to a large, round scrubbing pad or floor scrubbing brush which spins in a circle in one direction. The spinning of the pad or brush is powered by a small motor, ideally mounted directly over the centre of the machine head to distribute equal pressure on all sides of the brush or pad for proper scrubbing. Most scrubbers come equipped with solution tanks that can squirt floor cleaning solution directly into the scrubbing pad and onto the floor. Scrubbers are made to spin at a variety of speeds. The speed at which the pad or brush rotates directly affects the kind of floor cleaning job to be done.

Single disc scrubbers operate in a side to side or “swing” motion and are designed to handle scrubbing jobs, when the floor has in-ground dirt. Depending upon the accessory chosen, these machines can be used to remove old polishes from worn out floors or grind floors to bring a mirror shine finish on the same floors. Single speed scrubbers usually rotate at output speeds from about 150 to 175 revolutions per minute (RPM). Dual speed scrubbers will go from about 150-350 RPM. With new forms of engineering technologies coming in, many manufacturers have started producing variable or multiple speed floor scrubbers in which the brush/ pad speed can be regulated to suit the floor/ carpet maintenance operation being performed.

Single Disc Scrubbers

Criteria for Selection

The selection of a floor cleaning machine firstly depends upon many factors such as the cleaning operation that needs to be performed, dirt or stain prevalent on the floor, the area to be cleaned, the layout of the area, manoeuvrability of the machine to perform cleaning operations and presence of human traffic during cleaning hours. Usually, where no other machine can be suggested, a single disc scrubber can be the most general purpose machine to be used for any floor cleaning operation. The mechanical action of the floor cleaning process takes into account factors such as motor power, brush speed, brush orientation, weight on the brush and brush aggressiveness. Single disc scrubbers can be evaluated based on the following factors:

• Motor Power: This defines the strength of the motor to rotate the brush. As the situation becomes more difficult for the brush to rotate, higher should be the power of the motor. For example, for someone doing marble crystallization or dry buffing or carpet shampooing, the friction caused between the floors and pads is higher than the routine floor cleaning operation thereby obstructing the pad to move smoothly. In such circumstances, the motors with higher power will facilitate the pad or brush to rotate despite the resistance provided by the floors. Also, if the operation hours are longer, higher motor power will be more helpful.
• Brush/ Pad Speed: Every floor or carpet maintenance operation can be optimized with the ideal brush speed of the machine. For those who need to perform multiple operations, there are options of using single speed, 2-speed, 4-speed and variable speed machines.
• Drive: Usually, the motors rotate at a speed of 1440 RPM, but the brush or pad cannot be allowed to rotate at such high speeds for operator safety. Between the motor and the brush, there is always a speed or motion transmission system, which is usually a gear drive or a belt drive. The more the speed reduction ration, higher is the power transmitted to the machine from the motor. Machines with belt drives are the easiest to design, comparatively cheaper, noiseless and easy to replace. However, since they are not able to produce lower speeds and transmit more power to the brush, they are more suited for easier applications like floor cleaning. For other operations such as carpet shampooing, crystallization, scarifying, marble restoration etc, gear driven machines are most suitable. With gear drives, the speed reduction ratio is higher; therefore the force transmitted to the machine from the motor through the gear drive is higher. Gear drives can also be of different types and planetary gear drives are known to transmit maximum power to the machine.
• Brush size: If the area to be cleaned is too large, a smaller brush will take too long for cleaning and will render the cleaning job highly inefficient and time consuming. It will be a waste of the labour and money. Therefore, selecting the machine with the right brush size is most important. Most machines are available in 12”, 15” 17” and 20”. It is suggested that machine should be chosen of such a size which would support floor pads which are of fixed sizes as well.
• Weight and stability: Although single discs require operator skills to balance rather than lift it, weight still plays a crucial role for the machines. Brush pressure is important as the right kind of pressure applied on the brush or pad can optimize the cleaning result. Machine weights should be kept as low as possible without compensating the application. Higher weights can cause operator fatigue when working for longer hours. For carpet shampooing for example, higher weights are not advisable as the extra weights may not let the pile of carpets stand up. But when grinding needs to be performed on the floors, with higher weight, the grinding results will be faster, better and more uniform. If the motor is mounted on the centre of the base of the machine right above the centre of the brush, then the pressure distributed on the base will be equal on all sides. This will help in uniform cleaning, polishing and grinding results and better stability of the machine thereby causing lesser fatigue to the operator.
• Vibration: At higher weights or higher speeds also, the machine should be stable and should not cause vibrations. The machine operator could benefit from a lower level of vibrations – enabling the machine to be used for longer periods with minimum operator fatigue.
• Noise: Many single disc cleaners also enable the cleaning process to blend more into everyday working practices by offering a far lower noise option than many other types of floor cleaning machines. This ensures that floor cleaning tasks are able to be undertaken during working hours with minimal disruption to the surrounding workforce and therefore reducing the cost of the machine operators’ overtime or out of hours allowance.
• Accessories available for use with the machine: The machine should be compatible with all types of accessories so that it can be used for various applications. Except for the pads, most brushes for the machines are to be supplied by the manufacturer of the machine itself. Therefore, it should be checked first as to what are the accessories that will be provided with the machine and optionally.
• Availability of spares and services from the supplier: Spares and services should be readily available, as longer down times for the machines means loss of revenues to the service providers. Doing a background check for availability and cost of spares will always be helpful in the smooth operations of the machines in years to come.
• Reputation of the manufacturer: Every manufacturer in the market has certain products which are their core strengths and some products that are only to complement their product portfolio to make it an all round package. But if they are not known to supply some machines with the same quality they are usually associated with, their single disc scrubbers can be avoided.

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The Importance of a Clean Workplace

Keeping a clean workplace is important for many different reasons. Not only will there be hygiene considerations to take into account, but also aesthetic ones and both staff and visitors are going to feel far more comfortable and think far more positively about your company if you ensure that you keep your offices as clean as possible.

Those who don’t employ the skills of office cleaners in London will almost certainly have a workplace that is far less healthy than it should be. An unclean and untidy workplace is a health and safety risk in itself and not only might dirt, bacteria and dust serve to make people ill or exacerbate allergies, leading to reduced efficiency or time off, but a cluttered, untidy and messy work space can also lead to trips, slips and other accidents.

Whether you use a company just to help you have a thorough spring clean once a year or to ensure your workplace is as clean as possible week in and week out, it is important to never underestimate the importance of the right level of cleaning.