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ARE YOU CONCENTRATING?


Following his examination of ‘Green Cleaning’, TC Columnist Max Adam, Sales & Marketing Director at RP Adam, turns his attentions to cleaning chemicals and dosing equipment – an area of particular interest to the Scottish chemical manufacturers – as he makes the case for concentrated chemicals.


Most reputable chemical manufacturers today are designing cleaning products which are becoming increasingly highly concentrated and are required to be diluted via controlled dispensing systems. In this way packaging and transport impacts are minimised. If they are not doing so already buyers should want MORE in the bottle, not less.


The paradox for the user is that these products in concentrate form will potentially be more user and environmentally hazardous, but due to the use of controlled dosing systems, the diluted products in use will have very low environmental and safety impacts and will limit waste considerably – this is the trade-off from a safety, environmental and sustainability perspective.


Cleaning requirements vary and chemical products supplied should always be fit for purpose for their intended distribution and use. But buyers must understand the difference between daily cleaning products and true cleaning


26 | Tomorrow’s Cleaning March 2016


concentrates. Just because a chemical is dosed through a dispensing system, does not mean the product has been designed as a true concentrate, and if it has not been designed as such, in many cases it will not provide the full benefits available i.e. to provide end user customers with the lowest in use cost and (lest we forget) to also provide the best effectiveness of the cleaning and disinfection solution. Simply put there is no point having one without the other.


This is important, because the perceived benefits sold to the customer at pitch stage may in reality prove to be a bit of a false dawn as more chemical is consumed than they had realised or the performance falls short of expectation. Promises made by the manufacturer, have to be delivered, surely? This is where buyers need to be aware of the ‘Spreadsheet of False Promises’ trap where far too many times, decisions are made on choosing chemical suppliers and their products based on spurious information


provided on dilution rates and the extent to which chemical concentrates can be diluted with water.


For example, if a supplier provides an eye watering dilution rate to make the cost in–use spreadsheet look too good to say no to, it must be verified. The old adage says ‘if it looks to be too good to be true, it usually is’. So take the supplier at their word, and independently oversee the dilution rates in a trial. It won’t take a month, a week or even a day to find out if they are telling the truth – one bottle or bucket of cleaning solution will determine if the product does what it says on the tin.


Once the chemical concentrate issue has been clarified and promised dilution rates verified, the manufacturer and the customer then need to assess which type of dispensing system is best suited to their requirements. It is of paramount importance that a ‘one-size-fits- all’ approach is avoided, especially in multi-site chain accounts, where sites/groups of sites may


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