Avoid These 4 Common Restroom Cleaning Mistakes

According to a recent survey, restrooms are still the hardest facility area to clean and maintain correctly. Of course, restroom cleaning standards have always been high, particularly in facilities where cleaning for our health is a prerequisite, but brushing up on a few rules can still make a difference. That’s why we are going to discuss some common restroom cleaning mistakes to avoid. Hopefully, this short guide will help you keep your facility clean and safe at all times.

Restroom Cleanliness Trends and Expectations are Changing

Recently, there have been several surveys and investigations conducted about perceptions on restroom cleanliness. Their findings suggest that cleaning trends this year will be oriented toward satisfying public expectations on restroom cleaning standards in the wake of Covid. And, it seems likely that these changing attitudes to restroom cleanliness standards aren’t going away anytime soon.

For instance, a survey conducted by United Minds in 2021 found that 73% of subjects considered poorly cleaned public restrooms unsafe. And, as many as 80% of people surveyed from a pool of 1,012 participants expect cleaning standards for public restrooms to be better than before Covid.

So what does this mean for facility managers and cleaning companies? It means they need to rise to this new challenge. How? By ensuring all facility restrooms reflect these high standards and expectations. Luckily, we are here to share common mistakes and cleaning strategies that can help make this new challenge easier.

Frequent, Thorough Restroom Cleaning Has to Become the Norm

As previously mentioned, Covid has brought to light the importance of restroom maintenance and disinfection. That means regular pre-Covid cleaning practices are not good enough anymore. Specifically, here are four common restroom cleaning mistakes that you should watch out for.

Mistake #1: Disinfecting Without Cleaning

One important benefit brought about by Covid hygienic regulations is the easy access to quality disinfectants in public spaces. People who visit public facilities now have access to more alcohol-based disinfectants. This is great news since it minimizes the spread of pathogens via touch. But, ensuring continued hygienic safety requires more than this.

In other words, it’s not enough to simply disinfect restrooms. The first, essential step is to clean your facility thoroughly before you treat it with a disinfectant. Why? Because doing so will prepare surfaces to allow the disinfectant to work by entirely removing dirt. It’s impossible to disinfect grimy surfaces correctly, so make sure they get cleaned beforehand. When cleaning is paired with a strong disinfectant, you can feel confident that the restrooms will be safe to use.

As a side note, remember that restrooms are not the only areas in your facility that should be cleaned before being disinfected. There are other areas – or activities, such as commercial relocations – that need appropriate cleaning on a regular basis too. In order to have your corporate relocation handled in line with the highest hygienic standards, be sure to contact a trustworthy moving service that can take care of the move and give you peace of mind.

Mistake #2: Not Keeping Track of Cleaning Time

Before Covid, cleaning crews generally favored efficiency over cleanliness. Understandably, hygienic standards would often suffer as a result because cleaners wanted to spend as little time as possible cleaning.
But, with changing circumstances, tracking cleaning time is now more important than before. So, when applying cleaning products and disinfectants, keep in mind that they must be left on for a certain amount of time to ensure they’re being used correctly.

For example, if the prescribed “dwell-time” on the cleaning label is 5 minutes, then treat the surfaces for no less than this. Spray surfaces down and wait for the necessary amount of time before proceeding to wipe them with a clean cloth or mop.

Also, make sure that cleaning supplies get washed before they’re used to clean the rest of the facility. Or, even better, consider using different cloths for different facility areas. This is because bathroom germs can be transferred to cleaning supplies and then to other areas of your facility, which is a big no-no.

Mistake #3: Failing to Practice “Cleaning Aerobics”

This term was coined to describe a cleaning strategy used to ensure soiled areas get properly covered with disinfectant solution. Because you guessed it: Another common restroom cleaning mistake is to use too little cleaner spray on surfaces.

Since no area should be left uncleaned, doing some “cleaning aerobics” is necessary. To do this, bend down and take a look at the light reflected on the surfaces that have been sprayed. This will help you determine what spots, if any, were missed. This technique helps pinpoint any areas that need extra attention, like corners.

Mistake #4: Cleaning in No Particular Order

Tracking contact time and using cleaning aerobics won’t make much of a difference if you don’t clean in a logical order.

To clean a bathroom well, the dirtiest areas should be tackled first and cleaned thoroughly, like toilets and doorknobs. Once these areas are clean, though, it’s also important to tackle other areas to ensure the entire bathroom is clean. Objects like mirrors, light switches, and windows also need to get cleaned, even if they don’t look particularly dirty.

In conclusion

We hope this article has helped raise awareness about the importance of proper commercial cleaning practices. Acting on this information is an essential way to prevent the spread of germs. If you’d rather not take care of this yourself, though, consider outsourcing. System4 offers professional facility management services that provide great facility cleaning in line with the highest hygienic standards. Contact us to outsource your commercial cleaning.