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If you run or manage a business, you already know that cleaning your bathrooms on a regular basis is a fact of life. The quality of your bathrooms speak of you and your values. Run-down partitions can negatively affect employee morale and make your customers think twice about returning to your business.
But not all business owners know how to clean their bathrooms properly. This guide explains how you can clean your bathroom to not only maintain a sanitary environment but also to repair and restore stalls that are showing their age.
If you've recently ordered bathroom partitions from us, you'll want to make the most of your new purchase and keep them looking excellent for years to come. Your clean bathroom also sends a message to your customers. They might not consciously think about the look and feel of your partitions, but it’s one of the factors that encourages return again in the future. A little planning and effort go a long way to make your bathroom clean and vibrant so that you send the right message in every detail of your business.
It's easy to think that cleaning a bathroom and disinfecting are the same thing, but they are not. Understanding the difference is important when you want to provide your team and customers with healthy bathroom stalls. Cleaning refers to the removal of dirt, grime and clutter from your bathroom.
During the cleaning phase, you pick up trash from the ground and wipe everything off. Cleaning makes your bathroom visibly clean but does not complete the whole picture. Even when your bathroom looks clean and free of clutter, it could still contain harmful pathogens that spread diseases. You must do both when you want to protect yourself and everyone else from this threat, and you will be glad you did.
Disinfecting is the process of removing or killing most of the pathogens in your bathroom stalls. The odds of having harmful bacteria or viruses go up when you have more people using your bathrooms, but the risk is always there and can’t be ignored.
Use approved disinfectant products to kill bacteria on your toilets, toilet seats and floors. Wear rubber shoes and eye protection when using chemicals and avoid using bleach directly on stainless steel. While it might sound like a good idea, bleaching stainless steel will actually discolor the metal.
If you run a high traffic building, you might need to clean and disinfect your bathroom as often as every 30 to 60 minutes. But most facilities would be best served with a daily scheduled cleaning, plus a quick hourly inspection with attention as needed.
If anything catches your eye when you look over the bathroom, address it as soon as possible.
Having clean bathroom stalls means you must have enough supplies on hand to do the job right. The number of supplies you want in your storage room depends on the size of your bathroom, the number of stalls you have and how many people use your bathroom each day. Make sure you have these basic supplies on hand:
You also need a mop and mop bucket to clean and sanitize your floors. Buy the supplies you need in bulk to save money, and keep them in a locked storage closet until you are ready to use them. Buy more than you need if you are not sure how much you should buy. Keep track of how fast you use your cleaning supplies to discover how often you need to restock.
Stainless steel bathroom stalls are one of the most common types, and they are easy to clean when you follow the right steps.
Wash off light dirt and debris with soap and water before moving to the other steps in the cleaning process, then use a soft towel or cloth to dry the stall after you finish cleaning it. You can then use a mild detergent to clean stains and other hard-to-remove spots on your stall walls and doors.
Always wash stainless steel stalls with water to remove all chemicals and cleaning supplies when you finish. Depending on the type of cleaning you would like to do, you need separate chemicals for the job. For example, you use acetone or kerosene for tough stains that don’t want to come off your stalls, but you can’t risk mixing them with other cleaning supplies. Rinsing your stalls off after each cleaning session keeps you safe and your stalls vibrant and fresh.
For high traffic buildings, high-density polyethylene is a popular and apt choice. These stalls can collect scratches and graffiti over time, and you might be worried that you won't find a good way to remove them. You can handle both of these problems without stress when you know what to do.
For light scratches, you can often cover them up with baking soda or toothpaste, but deep scratches require a more in-depth touch. Begin by cleaning the scratched surface with water and a few drops of soap. After you dry the cleaned surface, buff it with baking soda or toothpaste before getting your sandpaper ready.
Place the sandpaper in a dish of water for about five minutes or until water saturates the sandpaper. Next, gently wipe the scratched area with the sandpaper with circular motions until you get the desired result. Polish the sanded area when you finish to bring your stalls back to their original condition.
One of the benefits of HDPE plastic is that its through-coloring makes scratches and graffiti less visible. But if a bathroom vandal is determined to make their mark, they can still carve into it with something sharp. If sanding doesn't cut it, there is a trick that can smooth out even severe scratches like these.
All you need is a heat gun (or blowdryer if you don't have one around) and a spoon. Soften the plastic by applying heat. Then start smoothing down the rough edges of the scratch to even out the plastic. With a little patience practically no evidence will remain of scratches and your partitions will once again be family friendly!
1. Before you polish your powder-coated metal, clean it to remove dirt that could impact your results. Add 1 cup of cleaning detergent to a bucket of water and clean the area you are going to polish with a rag or sponge.
2. Use a polishing agent powder-coated metals, and you will restore the shine sooner than you once thought possible.
3. Give the polishing compound time to dry before you wipe it away and admire your work. When you are happy with the outcome, apply a coat of automobile wax to your powder-coated metal with a clean cloth.
4. Just like your car, take a dry part of your waxing cloth and buff until you can no longer see the wax residue and it starts to shine. This leaves behind a nice protective layer that protects the partition's coating, improves its appearance makes it easier to clean next time.
You can use baking soda and a soft rag to remove discoloration and rust and restore the look of your stalls. When you are ready to proceed, apply baking soda to the impacted areas of your stalls.
You then use a wet cloth to wipe away the baking soda and reveal the restored metal underneath. Then dry before spraying olive oil on it. Olive oil removes streaks and offers a protective layer against further discoloration. You might discover that the removal process only fixes part of the discolored metal, so repeat the process as many times as you need to reach the desired outcome.
If cleaning doesn't help the discoloration, you may need to retouch the partition with paint.
Handle rust as soon as you spot it because it can weaken your stalls and eventually cause irreversible damage. You should take special care to keep an eye on the shoes at the bottom of pilasters where moisture can collect unnoticed. Fortunately, light rust can be removed relatively easily. Here are two ways:
1. Put baking soda over the rust stains, and scrub it with an old toothbrush to remove the rust and to make your stalls look better than ever. If you have stainless steel stalls, scrub toward the grain to avoid damage.
2. Make Borax into a paste by adding lemon juice. Let the paste sit and do its work for 20-40 minutes and then wipe away. Repeat as needed.
3. Don't have cleaning products around? All you need is a vending machine. Pick up a Coca-cola and apply some of it to the rusted portion of the partition with a towel or napkin. Let it sit for up to an hour before cleaning it off. As you wait for it to eat away the rust, enjoy the rest of your soda.
The approach you use depends on the type of stalls you have and how dirty they are. While you can deep clean every few weeks or months, you must clean and disinfect your stalls each day for the best results.
Keeping viruses and bacteria under control is your No. 1 priority because you don't want people getting sick. Take care of stains and scratches once you make sure your stalls are free of pathogens, and you should also handle rust as soon as you see it because it will cause additional damage over time. Create a regular cleaning routine to keep your bathroom in top shape for years to come.
June 3, 2020
Wayne Foreman