PRODUCT FOCUS: CLEANING AND HYGIENE
MICROFIBRE MARVEL
James Taylor, Marketing Director EIEMA (Specialities) at Berry, explores how technology is enabling
manufacturers of floor cleaning materials to produce cost-ef fective mops that are ef ficient and safe.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) estimates that slips and trips are the most common cause of major injuries at work. The knock-on effect of this is a cost to UK industry of more than £500m a year in legal actions, not to mention the human suffering caused.
The cleaning process itself can be a common cause of slip and trip accidents, both to cleaning staff and other building users, with damp, slippery floors and trailing wires from cleaning machinery presenting significant hazards.
As most accidents happen on floors that are either dirty or wet, precautions such as putting out cones and restricting access must be taken, alongside ensuring cleaning is carried out at the right time and in the right manner, using appropriate products and equipment.
While it is vital to swiftly mop up spills of substances such as water and oil, for instance, if too much cleaning fluid or the wrong type of detergent is used, smooth floors will quickly become slippery.
Traditional string mops can use a large amount of water during the cleaning process, meaning floors can take up to 10 minutes to dry fully. The result is sometimes inconsistent, with more water and cleaning fluid being used at the beginning of the clean than towards the end.
Saturated mops can become very heavy to use, putting staff at risk of back injuries, while laundering also takes up valuable time and resources without a guarantee of hygiene standards – tests have revealed that 93% of mops used to clean hospital rooms still contained dangerous levels of bacteria even after washing.
The introduction of microfibre products has changed the way that we clean, both on and above the floor. High- quality cloths such as the Microfibre Light from Chicopee (a brand of Berry) are made from 100% splittable microfibre. The tiny fibres of the Microfibre Light are
40
around 80% finer than standard fibre, ensuring a market- leading bacteria removal performance.
The cloth removes 99.99% of microbes, picking up and trapping them within its fibres. This in turn eradicates the danger of germs being spread onto the next surface to be cleaned. This method of ‘mechanical cleaning’ does not require chemicals to remove dirt and bacteria as they remain within the cloth until it is rinsed or discarded. The cloth is soft to the touch and kind to hands, having been classified as low irritation potential.
The launch of the Chicopee Microfibre Floor Mop range has introduced the same technology into floor care. The disposable mops are attached quickly and easily to the mopping tool, which is both light yet durable, with an extension handle and angled base to make it easy to use even when cleaning hard to reach areas.
Detergent is dispensed only when needed; the user pulls a trigger on the tool and liquid is released from the built-in reservoir – a process which drastically reduces the amount of fluid used in the cleaning process. The less liquid used, the smaller the chance that someone will slip and be injured. After use, the mops are simply discarded, removing both the requirement for laundry and the danger of contaminating the next area to be cleaned.
Microfibre products are now more effective than ever before, enabling staff to remove dirt and bacteria quickly and easily while offering the added bonus of reducing chemical and water usage.
Disposable cloths and wipes are discarded after use rather than requiring time-consuming and expensive, which makes them a cost-effective alternative to traditional cleaning materials.
www.chicopee.com/eu
www.tomorrowshs.com
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