MANUAL CLEANING EQUIPMENTS

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MANUAL CLEANING EQUIPMENTS

The housekeeping staff needs to clean various guest rooms, guest bathrooms, and a number of public areas in the hotel. The staff needs to take the help of various cleaning equipment while trying to keep the hotel premises to the highest standard of appearance.

Advantages of Cleaning Equipment

The cleaning equipment is advantageous in multiple ways −

- Equally effective for general as well as tougher cleaning tasks.

- High cleaning capability.

- Reduce work fatigue and increase productivity.

- Save the time of hotel housekeeping staff.

- High maneuverability. They can reach any corner or height of the room, which is otherwise difficult to reach.

- Eco-friendly, widely available, and easy to operate.

- They give protection from injuries occurring while cleaning when they are handled by using proper instructions.

Classification of Cleaning Equipment

There are broadly categorized as follows −

A. Manual Cleaning Equipment: As the name suggests, they are used manually to keep the surfaces clean. Some commonly used manual equipment's are −

1. Brushes- These may be designed to remove dry or wet or ingrained dust and dirt from the hard or soft surfaces. Three main types of brushes are used in the cleaning surface. They are as follows:

- Hard Brush- Hard brushes have bristles that are fairly stiff and well spread out cleaning equipment. They are most suitable for the removal of heavy soil and litters from the carpets and for cleaning of rough surface.

- Soft brush- Soft brushes may have bristles that are fairly flexible and set close together. These are used for removal of loose soil and litter on hard smooth surfaces.

- Scrubbing brushes- Scrubbing brushes have short, coarse bristle designed for use on surface that have become stained and heavily ingrained with dirt. These brushes should only be used to remove stubborn heavy soiling small areas that are difficult for scrubbing machines to access. Cleaning equipment like Brushes are also classified on the basis of their functions:

a) Toilet brush - Used for cleaning of W.C.

b) Bottle brush - These are used for overflow vents in wash basin and tubs.

c) Flue Brush - These are used for cleaning chimney.

d) Feather brushes - These are used for light dusting.

Care and cleaning of brushes-

Brushes should be generally tapped on the hard surface to loosen the dirt and debris after the cleaning process. Frequent washing with water is avoidable. Brushes should be washed in warm and soapy water.

2. Brooms- Sweeping brooms consist of long bristles gathered together into handles. The bristles of the brooms are made of grass, corn or coconut fiber. Depending on the type brooms are used for removal of dirt and dust in the large areas. Brooms are classified into three main categories.

- Soft bristled brooms- These types of brooms are made of corn fiber or grass. This is used for smooth floor.

- Hard / coarse- bristled brooms- These types of brooms are used for hard surface especially outdoor rough areas.

- Wall broom- These are also called ceiling brooms. They have a soft head or long handle made up of canes. These brooms are used for removal of cob webs.

Care and cleaning of the brooms

- Brooms should be shaken free, of dust and fluff. Never store them standing on their bristle or the bristle will bend out of the shape.

- Soft brooms should not be use in wet surface.

3. Wet /damp mop- These mops are used in conjunction with buckets for the removal of dirt adhering to a surface. The mop heads can be made of cotton, sponge or any other fiber capable of absorbing moisture well. Wet mops can be classified into four types. They are as follows

- Do-all mops- These mops consists of stand of twisted cotton, fixed to a circular metal plate, which is in turn is fixed to a stock.

- Kentucky mops- These mops consists of cotton stand fixed to a length of cotton fabric, which is in turn instead into flat metal stock. They are available in weights ranging from 330 g to 670 g.

- Sponge mop- These consists of cellulose sponge fixed to a replaceable lever controlled head, hinged for wringing out and attached to long handle. Using sponge mop is one of the easiest ways to wash hard floor.

- Squeegee - A squeegee consist of long metallic handle and a wooden or rubber blade to remove excess water from the surface being cleaned. It is effective when followed by damp mop.

Care and cleanings of the mops and cleaning equipment ?

Take mops outdoors after use and shake well to remove excess moisture. Then these mops can be washed. Detachable heads are easier to clean and maintain. However drying is the most important part of this mop because if the mop has not been dried properly it will be easily affected by bacteria.

4. Dry mops-Dry mops are also called dust control mops, these cleaning equipment's are designed to remove the soil and debris from the floors walls and ceilings without raising. These mops generally consists of handle to which a metal frame is attached.

Care and cleaning of this mops-

Shake mops well after use in the outdoors. The mop heads should be easily detachable , so that it can be washed in hot water with detergent.

5. Clothes-Various types of clothes are used by the housekeeping staff as duster. For efficient and correct uses different colors of duster are used. Dusters can be divided into many types according to the uses. Those are as follows-

Mitts- They are used for dusting and buffing. Soft absorbent plain or checked cotton material or yellow flannelette of up to 15 sq. cm is ideal for dusters.

Swabs and wipes- These are all purpose clothes made of soft absorbent materials. They are used for wet cleaning and damp dusting of the entire surface above floor level. They are also use for cleaning sanitary fittings such as bath tubs and wash basins.

Floor cloth- Floor cloths are bigger, thicker, and made from coarser cotton material than all-purpose swabs.

Scrim-This is loosely woven linen materials cleaning equipment used for cleaning mirrors and windows.

Glass cloths- Glass clothes are made of linen tow yarns and do not leave behind lint. They are used for wiping mirror, and drinking glass.

Rags and polishing clothes- Rags are disposable clothes usually obtained from the swing room or brought by the sack by tailor. They are used for applying polish or strong cleaning agent and are disposed when dirty.

Chamois leather- Real chamois leather is the skin of chamois goat and antelope, but now various cheaper imitations are available. Chamois leather can be used for cleaning of windows, mirror when dry, it is used for polishing cloth for silver and other metals.

Dust sheet- Dust sheet are made of thin cotton material. The size is the single bed sheet size. Discarded bed sheet and curtains from the linen room is ideal dust sheet. They are used for covering floor furniture during spring cleaning.

Druggists ? They are made of coarse linen, fine canvas or clear plastic. They may be the size of a carpet square or runner. They are placed on the floor in the door way to prevent excessive dirt being trekked in or out during bad weather and during the redecoration process.

6. CONTAINERS- Work becomes much easier and efficient if the staff is given suitable containers to carry transport and to carry store supply and other items. The various types of containers used by the housekeeping staffs are as follows:

Buckets- These maybe made from plastic or galvanized iron. Plastic buckets are more popular now a day as they are lighter in weight easy to clean.

Basin and bowls- They are used to carry small amount of water, cleaning solution and powder for cleaning small areas.

Dust pan- These are used in conjunction with brooms or brush for gathering dust. They may be made of plastic or metal.

Sani bins- They are metal or plastic bins with lit. They are kept in the toilet for disposing of used toilet roll and sanitary towels. They should be lined with paper or plastic bag.

Dustbins −They are used to collect daily garbage produced in the hotel.

Spray bottles- They are light weight containers that delivers a fine mist of water or cleaning solution through a fine nozzle specially during the spray cleaning.

Hand caddies- Also called cleaners box. These are originally made of wood or metal. But now a day are made of plastic. They consist of a box with handle and a fitted tray. They are used by the room attendant for carrying cleaning supplies.

Chambermaid's Trolley/Housekeeping Trolley −This trolley is large enough to keep all the guest room and guest bathroom supplies in an organized manner. It makes the housekeeping staff to move it around and carry large number of items in one go while keeping and cleaning the guest rooms.

Janitor's trolley − It is a trolley that stores cleaning supplies such as detergents, spray bottles, dustbin, mop, and dusting cloths, all in a compact manner. It can be moved around easily. It fulfills the challenge of modern day housekeeping in hotels.

Mop Wringer trolley − A mop bucket cart (or mop trolley) is a wheeled bucket that allows its user to wring out a wet mop without getting the hands dirty. The mops are squeezed between two surfaces to remove dirty water from it.