Cleaning

Winter Strikes Back - Tips for Cleaning Staff

A lot of the country is going to get a heap of bad winter weather. Here's what you can do to help.

Salute to the Winter Warriors!

We may be facing a historic winter storm, with damaging ice and snow expected for a large portion of the United States. From Friday to Monday, locations from Texas to the Northeast could experience a foot or more. First things first: stay safe! Cleaning staff are so important to the safety of facilities and the people who work, live, and play in them. Be sure to take care of yourself. Here are a few tips to make dealing with the wintery aftermath and mess a little easier to deal with. You'll learn how to:

Use Mats to Reduce Ice Melt Residue on Floors
The Process to Clean Ice Melt from Floors
How to Clean Rust from Metal Affected by Ice Melt

_{Art by Jon Wesley Huff}

Mats Matter!

Winter snow equals feet tracking in the usual dirt and debris along with a lot of residue from various ice-melting compounds like salt. Of course, while it becomes very obvious during these months thanks to that white residue, the truth is that most of the dirt and other contaminants in your building get tracked in from foot traffic.

Mats Reduce Cleaning Product Usage

One of the goals of green cleaning is to reduce the usage of cleaning and disinfection products in a facility. It might seem strange for a company that makes cleaning and disinfection products to recommend you use less cleaning product, but it really is part of the point of green cleaning. Of course, we want you to use environmentally preferred cleaning products when you can. For instance, our Green Certified Neutral Floor Cleaner is fantastic at cleaning up ice melt residue. But, it's even better to lessen the mess in the first place. That's where entryway mats are so critical.

Mat Size, Placement, and Upkeep

Entryway mats are recommended to be at least six feet long, but a length of ten to twenty feet is ideal.
Mats should be changed out frequently and cleaned.
Increase the frequency of cleaning mats during bad weather conditions or an increase in foot traffic for your facility.
Reducing the spread of dirt and bacteria tracked in via mats allows your cleaning staff to put more time into other tasks.
Be sure to clean under your mats frequently to reduce moisture build-up.

Cleaning Up Ice Melt

No matter what steps you take, cleaning the floors regularly will be necessary. Cleaning 2-3 times a day may be needed so that the ice melt residue doesn't sit on the floor's surface for too long and cause damage. Unfortunately, ice melt residue is known to be difficult to clean up.

The Best Option For Ice Melt Residue

We have some fantastic Multi-Purpose cleaners that can cut right through that ice melt. Including H2Orange2, with it's sanitizing properties, and Green Certified options such as our Multi-Purpose Cleaner, H2O2 Lavender Multi-Purpose Cleaner, and H2Orange2 Classic. However, for this job, we recommend our Green Certified Neutral Floor Cleaner. It’s been proven to cut through ice melt with ease and replaces your neutralizer and detergent with one product. It can also be a more cost affordable solution depending on your main cleaning product.

Cleaning Up Ice Melt Residue From Floors

Here’s our recommended cleaning procedure using our product to clean up ice melt from floors.

Equipment Needed: Pump-Up Sprayer and Mop OR Autoscrubber

Process:

Assess the soil load/residue on the surface.
Fill Pump Up Sprayer with Heavy Duty cleaning solution.
Pre-Spray area with Heavy Duty cleaning solution. Be sure to saturate the surface thoroughly. Keeping the surface wet is key to residue removal. Let the product sit for 2-3 minutes.
Use a mop buck or autoscrubber with clean water to remove the excess liquid. Change your water frequently to make sure you’re not putting salt residue back on the floor.

Not Just For Floors!

Speaking of ice melt and salt, while it's great for breaking up ice in the winter, it can do more than just leave residue on your floors. It can also cause rust! We have one real-world example we love highlighting.

"Shock"ing Results

Salt and water mixed do not rust metal. What it does is speeds up the rusting process.

Saltwater is an electrolyte. Electrolytes allow the metal to lose electrons more quickly, speeding up the rusting process. The good news is, this rust is likely just on the surface and can be removed. Above is a photo that was taken by one of our reps out in the field after they tried our product Mineral Shock on the bed of a salt truck in Michigan.

Mineral Shock is a powerful mineral deposit remover that doesn’t use harsh acids. Instead, it’s got reduced toxicity, acid-replacement technology that makes it powerful without harsh fumes.

To use Mineral Shock on your salt truck bed:

Spray RTU-strength Mineral Shock on the truck bed.
Let sit 2-3 minutes (longer for heavy build up).
Agitate using Nylon Deck Brush and/or non-abrasive pad.
Rinse with clean water.

That's it! If you have rust on other areas, Mineral Shock is just as effective. Just be sure to follow the same process, but always be sure to rinse and wipe. We hope this helps you in your efforts to clean and reduce surface damage in your facilities.

And to everyone who braves the winter snows to keep buildings open, running, and clean, we thank you!