“Your information on Risk Management is a totally new way of thinking for me. Everything comes back to health.” Cindee – Boone, N.C.
“I wanted to develop personally during this class. Now I know how to also help my staff develop professionally as well.” John- Kennesaw, GA.
Whether you are new to the industry or a veteran, this ISSA/CMI Masters certification class is guaranteed to give you up to date techniques and technology that you can use within your business.
Be ready to change your mindset!
Have you found yourself in charge of a department you know nothing about?
Just moved into a position where the staff knows more than you?
Are you now inspecting work and have no idea as to the “how’s” and “why’s”?
Microfiber is available in several different forms. The most common forms are the “Terry Style” and the “Suede Style.” The terry style is best suited for all general cleaning purposes, both domestic and industrial.
Suede works best in any “polishing” application, such as eye glasses, sun-glasses (except transitional A/R), all optics and lenses, CD’s, computer screens, TV screens, jewelry, coins, leather, and even as a replacement for a chamois to dry off your car.
Both of these styles can be used wet or dry, without soap or chemicals (chemicals CAN be used with microfiber, but usually they are not needed!)
Unlike ordinary cleaning towels that only move or push the dirt and dust from one point to another, microfiber actually “scrapes” the dirt or stain from the surface, and then stores the dirt particles in the towel, until it is washed.
Most of the time, it is best to use the suede towel dry, however, it will never harm the towel if you want to wet it. With both of these towel styles, when using wet, it is very important to always wring the towel as dry as possible. If a microfiber towel is dripping water, it is too wet and will leave streaks on the surface you are cleaning.
Many contractors are leaving money on the floor and don’t know it.
What are we talking about?
It’s the floors which no one is talking about because the floor polishing contractors who own $50,000 rigs aren’t able to do them. They are too small, but just RIGHT if you know what to look for —$$$.
Most cleaning contractors own the right equipment, but don’t have the knowledge about what to look for.
As professionals in the cleaning industry, we use water in many cleaning processes and many individuals may not realize that there are ways we can alter water to clean better.
Surfactant
pH
Oxidization
Pressure
Surfactant
The concept of “Making Water Wetter” has been an age-old idea. While not trying to be too complicated, water has a property called “Surface Tension”. Surface tension may slow down the cleaning process because the water does not wet the surface, but remains on the surface. This is why water will bead up on a smooth surface. Surfactants reduce the water tension.
Surfactants are generally soaps. Surfactants perform other important functions in cleaning, such as loosening, emulsifying (dispersing in water) and holding soil in suspension until it can be rinsed away.
pH
The power of Hydrogen (pH) refers the level of acidity or alkalinity of a solution. pH uses a scale of 0 to 14 to measure the pH. Water is ‘neutral’ at a 7 ph on the scale. Below 7, the solution is more of an acid. Above 7, the solution is considered an alkaline.
Strong acids and alkaline are more likely to emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are yet another concern for those in the cleaning services. Cleaning experts have long argued, that prolonged exposure to VOCs is a known health hazard.
pH will always be a factor in cleaning, and like many things in life, the most concerning are the extremes that may be adopted in the cleaning program. All product labels have the pH levels identified as part of the safe handling of cleaning products.
OXIDIZATION
Oxidizing Reduction Potential (ORP) refers to the Oxidation Potential in which water may be altered, or improved for cleaning and sanitizing purposes.
ORP refers to the power of a liquid to oxide (destroy) potential contamination. As you can see in the chart, ORP is currently an important measurement for numerous water applications.
Oxygen can turn iron to rust, turn copper green, or cause wood to age. This happens every day in nature, but begs the question, “What happens if we can flood the target area with billions of oxygen atoms?” Oxidizers are powerful sanitizers because they quickly attach to the outer membrane of bacteria and virus, causing the protective skin to fall apart.
Pressure
This is yet another way to make water, work better. When applied in a pressurized stream, water can strip and remove many surface contaminants. Using engineered water in a pressurized stream, such as in no touch cleaning systems, carpet extraction units and many more, the water and oxygen together are an unbeatable duo.
Everyone should know a great deal about water temperature, cleaning products, and water pressure. What we may not know much about is the application of engineered water to the cleaning and sanitizing process.
Continue on to Part Three – On-Site Generation of Engineered Water
The restroom cleaning area of the Academy is finished. It has been a long process, but it has come out well. Next week, the ISSA Master Certification class will be the first to be able to utilize this new addition. We will be teaching ‘Best Practice’ methods for not only hand work, but touch free cleaning as well.
Did you know that in the last quarter of 2016, there were new laws passed regarding Baby Changing Stations, or BCS? We will be teaching the new methods for processing these stations as well.
Be sure to check our upcoming classes, as a new class is forming for
Water is unquestionably the “Universal Solvent” and as such, every Technician should appreciate that water is essential to any cleaning process where a liquid is involved. This understanding allows the cleaning team to solve cleaning problems in the most effective, and most environmentally-safe, manner.
Engineered Water (EW) – “Water engineered to meet the performance requirements of professional cleaning, sanitizing and/or disinfecting, with long-term value and green factors as the key uptake and ethical drivers, and On Site Generation (OSG) as a common denominator,” as defined by the Engineered Water Consortium.
Water
Water, what is it? Why isn’t water on the periodic table of elements? The periodic table only includes individual chemical elements. Water is not found on the periodic table because it does not consist of a single element.
Water is a molecule of bonded hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The smallest particle of water is a water molecule, which is made of two atoms of hydrogen bonded to one atom of oxygen. Its formula is H2O and it can be broken down into its components, so it is not an element. Water is made of 3 atoms. Two are hydrogen, and one is oxygen.
Complicated? Not really, as changes to water can improve its cleaning power and ability. Water is the foundation of cleaning in nearly every cleaning product.
This subject is complicated and thus is why it is important that you understand the complexities of the base liquid product you are using in your liquid cleaning programs.
Learn more on this subject in Part 2 – The Power of Water
Here’s a quick story about a cleaning professional. Before going in to work, she wakes up when the fitness tracker on her wrist pulses, telling her the ideal point in her sleep cycle to start the day. On the way to work, her car, using satellite technology, tells her to avoid the accident that’s currently slowing down the interstate on her normal route. Once at work, she again uses the fitness tracker to monitor her steps as she tries to achieve her daily goal. Perhaps she sends that information, via the Internet, to her health insurer, which reduces her premium because she’s staying active. On her break, she uses an app on her phone to access a camera in her house so that she can check on her dog. And, finally, after the day is over, she settles onto her couch to stream Netflix through her smart TV.
By now, the point is probably clear: More and more parts of our daily lives involve the Internet, which allows us to aggregate data on how we live our lives. The connectivity of objects to the Internet — known as the Internet of Things, or IoT — is so widespread in the consumer market that at least one janitor in every workforce is probably wearing a fitness tracker right now.
For the first time, however, the Internet of Things has arrived in a floor machine, soap dispenser or autoscrubber near you. The Internet of Things has officially reached the cleaning industry.
Manufacturers across the industry have found ways to connect their products to the Internet, allowing for the collection of data on many major tasks performed by custodians. Those manufacturers have also created cloud-based software platforms through which facility cleaning managers can analyze that data.
The goal is twofold: to improve efficiencies by streamlining cleaning processes and to improve the business model for facility cleaning managers. Already, IoT allows these managers to monitor the total run time of a machine during a defined time period, see whether the machine has left a pre-defined geographic location, view the fill levels of individual restroom dispensers, and measure hand hygiene compliance for an area of a facility or even a specific room.
To be sure, there is a learning curve with IoT technology in the cleaning industry, and manufacturers are handling that issue in different ways. Return on investment, sure to be of major concern to end users, is also a subject for debate. But manufacturers all seem to agree that the time to start collecting data is now, because data is most useful when there is more of it.
“The [professional cleaner] that doesn’t embrace the trend in the macro environment that we’re seeing here is going to be left behind — at some point soon,” says Tom Boscher, general manager of Intellibot Robotics and global vice president of marketing and technology for Sealed Air Diversey Care, based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
There is a new dawn upon us! The newest innovation in the cleaning industry, The Kaivac Battery Powered AutoVac, is here! This new machine will revolutionize the way you view efficiency, as this new product is considered to rival auto scrubbers in speed and effectiveness. Unlike auto scrubbers, which use multiple steps to properly clean the floor the new AutoVac can do it all in one easy pass, including going up stairs. Its very simple design doesn’t require special technicians to maintain. It can even be transported in a small car, unlike any autoscrubber, which requires at least a truck and a forklift.
This AutoVac can do all of the following and more, unlike an auto scrubber that can only clean a floor:
Strip and finish floors
Pick up salt
Clean restrooms
Remove dirt
Extract grease
This machine is very easy to use and simple to master. Requiring only a few minutes to explain the procedure, unlike auto scrubbers which require costly onsite training to just get the basics. The initial cost is much lower for this Autovac and has a much shorter downtime than any auto scrubber, because all the parts are extremely durable and can be shipped by UPS/Fed Ex overnight when needed.
The KaiVac AutoVac is truly an ineradicable tool and can do so much more than other machines of its type.
"The most valuable resource an operation has is an engaged employee, let that be YOU!"
water is a water molecule, which is made of two atoms of hydrogen bonded to one atom of oxygen. Its formula is H2O and it can be broken down into its components, so it is not an element. Water is made of 3 atoms. Two are hydrogen, and one is oxygen.
following and more, unlike an auto scrubber that can only clean a floor: