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add a cleaning chemical at a certain strength, we apply mechanical force to scrub, scrape or polish and all this takes a certain amount of time. Any of the elements can be increased (for example we can scrub harder or we can add stronger chemical) and this will have a corresponding and proportional impact of reducing one or more of the other elements.


“If we are serious about moving


towards a more environmentally responsible approach to cleaning, we


cannot continue to use harsh,


so how can we offset the increase? The only way to reduce the overall cost of cleaning is to reduce the most expensive component – labour.


Now before you all conjure up the image of the grim reaper, scythe poised to decapitate cleaners, we are not talking about cuts, sackings or terminations here. Rather we are discussing re-deployment, faster cleaning times, more tasks accomplished in a shorter time all leading to higher profits and secure employment.


Perhaps we would all agree that if we could modify a traditional cleaning routine in order to reduce the time taken to accomplish the task, then the reduced labour costs would have a major impact on budget reduction. In short, since labour costs are the highest proportion of the cleaning budget, then reducing this overhead will save us the most money for a given task.


CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING: In any cleaning task there are four elements that make up the total. We have a given temperature, we


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caustic and toxic chemicals.”


A basic example is a greasy pan. Cleaned in cold water with a drop of liquid soap the cleaning process will take a certain amount of time. Now do the same thing in hot water with the same drop of liquid soap and the time taken will be reduced proportional to the temperature increase.


NOW CONSIDER


THE FOLLOWING: Many of the new innovative cleaning chemicals are manufactured in a completely different way to traditional chemicals. In the case of colloidal cleaning solutions, a range of ingredients are ‘forced’ together using a high energy blending process. The resulting solution contains micelles which provide a mechanical cleaning action by impacting and loosening the surrounding dirt and soils in addition to the chemical action from the environmentally responsible liquid. Typically colloidal cleaning solutions do not contain harsh, toxic or caustic ingredients and are readily


SUSTAINABLE CLEANING


biodegradable. However, as we can see from the diagram, colloidal cleaning solutions reduce the amount of mechanical action required if we assume that the temperature is constant. There is no significant time saving so the result for the buyer is an increased cost of cleaning solution, which ticks all the environmentally responsible requirements, but ultimately leads to an increased cleaning budget. For many companies this is a non-starter and so the uptake of these cleaning solutions is slow.


What if we modify the amount of soiling that adheres to the surface?


In order to speed up the cleaning process, we have already identified that we can increase temperature, use a stronger chemical solution, or employ more cleaners. All this adds expense to the process, so a different approach is required. If we assume again that temperature remains constant, then in order to reduce the time required for a specific task, we could modify the surface we are cleaning to resist soiling build up (i.e. repel soil, dirt and oils). If less soiling were to occur, then we would need to use less mechanical force and/or lower strength chemicals to achieve the task, and the whole cleaning process would take less time.


If we are serious about moving towards a more environmentally responsible approach to cleaning, we cannot continue to use harsh, caustic and toxic chemicals. It is true that in the past these types of chemicals were the only way to achieve the cleaning result desired. Today, technology has moved on to provide cutting edge, non-toxic and highly effective cleaning solutions and surface treatments that do the job in less time, protect the health of workers and do it all in an environmentally responsible manner.


So perhaps after reading the above you might consider a change for the better for your organisation? It is possible to become environmentally responsible, protect the health of your cleaners, save money and even keep the most hardened of environmentalists happy!


www.hydrosolutions.com Tomorrow’s Cleaning March 2016 | 37


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