From The Editor's Desk - All Comments

re: Is The Recession To Blame For Low-ball Bids?

acleaning — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:34:25 GMT

The recession is only partly to blame, unfortunately the problem started a long time ago with illegal immigration from both eastern Europe and Mexico/south/central America. No one got in trouble, none of our organizations did anything meaningful about it, and the government turned a blind eye forever. To right the ship, every honest company has to be a whistle blower, every company from the same region should contact each other and band together to root out the poor and illegal companies. Some of these companies are now quite large, doing over 10-20 million dollars a year in business. If a company comes in more than 20% below a reasonable quote, check out the workers as they get dropped off, see how many show up, see if they speak english, drive a car, etc. Then call the appropriate govt. agency for help. If enough companies perceive the problem and get pulled into the legal ramifications, things will change.

re: Is The Recession To Blame For Low-ball Bids?

Lopie — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:31:55 GMT

i am working in one paper converting factory in China. Most of our sanitary paper is exported to US market and the main user is BSCs.

It is comment to meet the situation mentioned in post. There always someone quoted a much lower than yours, no matter how low we quoted.

Frankly, the cost of paper converting is clearer than other business. The general cost of pulp, paper can be easily found from internet. And the approximate cost of converting also can be calculated. So it is really funny to find the quotation even lower than the raw material cost.

From my experience, the most important point is to keep the supply chain resonable, stable and reliable. It is hard to image one offer 1 USD today and 2 after several weeks and the receiving goods is good enough to make your mood "bungee jumping".

re: Is The Recession To Blame For Low-ball Bids?

fredmay — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:01:46 GMT

I've had the opportunity to work in several different business sectors during my work life. Wood product manufacturing, music store retailing, retail gift wares, retail jewelry to name some. I've been in the janitorial industry now for 13 years and find it to be one of the most unethical and cut-throat. There is a high percentage of illegal workers and most end-users could care less. As your comments state, they are only interested in the final price. We recently lost a large building where a new franchise in town cut our existing contract price by 40%. We are due to check back as you also suggest. It will be interesting to hear their comment about the new service.

Also...there seems to be a trend for new medical facilities and surgi centers to outsource their janitorial services, since the in-house option costs them more. Most medical facilities in our area are cleaned by companies that hire illegals and do not offer any health care benefits. I find it interesting that the folks who clean these procedure and exam rooms each night, so patients have a safe place to be seen by a doctor, have no health care benefits of their own. The medical profession is also interested in the lowest bid possible regardless of these facts.

re: Effects Of Improved IAQ

Mike Gunderson — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:20:15 GMT

Thanks Dan for sharing this information. I have long been looking for supportive information to build a greater case for using a floor finish that not only has no VOCs, but also does not require buffing, burnishing and stripping that can either create fine dust or introduce high-odor, volatile chemicals.

An additional argument for colleges, universities and schools is that not only are the students affected, but the teachers and custodial/maintenance employees are as well. While students may not typically be present when floor maintenance activities are taking places, the workers performing those tasks are definitely affected and the lingering affects remain once the students are in the buildings.

Ultra durable urethane is an excellent floor finish to help eliminate some of these indoor environment issues. Our specific formula is free of VOCs and is much easier to apply than previous products on the market.

People have unfortunately developed a bad taste for urethane finish over the past ten years. Those who were quick to try products that may not have been fully ready for the market and failed, were also quick to give up and discredit the product. Many of our customers who persevered through the initial learning curve of the old formulas are greatly reaping the benefits now. Those who have been exposed to our latest formula have expressed even greater benefits of less cost and much shorter learning curve.

One hospital in Missouri that I work with has put 25 burnishing machines to rest. They used to have one or two machines per floor replaced every three to five years, but they now only need a few machines for the entire hospital since they still maintain their corridors with conventional finish, but in the patient rooms and closed off areas they have enjoyed almost two years of virtually no maintenance and a more consistent appearance throughout that time.

They reduced their total downtime of each patient room from 24-plus hours annually to less than 14 hours every two years. A 40 percent reduction in the first year, and a 70 percent reduction over two years. And the majority of that downtime is now only once instead of multiple times per year, so they no longer need to clear out rooms and move furniture several times. Their total labor hours went from 16 per year, per room down to about 4 or less.

While they have many floors that will last well beyond two years, they are nearing the end of the typical lifcycle in several areas, and they are preparing for recoating the floors. Because they do not have to strip floors, their labor efficiency will increase greatly and they will not be introducing any high-odor chemicals. A simple wet screening with water and some neutral cleaner is all that is necessary. No more hazardous materials being dumped down the drain and much less water waste.

All in all, its a definite win-win situation to use urethane finish where it makes the most sense. Not all floors will make sense, but where it does, it will make up for the cost of maintaining the other floors and areas of the facility.

re: Restroom Service Opportunities

vacman — Thu, 28 May 2009 08:36:18 GMT

sound advice Dan. We have all seen the washroom where the standards of hygiene and cleaning are so appalling that you just have to turn round and leave.

At www.vacman.co.uk/washroom_hygiene.html we motivate our staff by entering them in a national cleaning competitiion run by http://www.loos.co.uk. Over the years Vacman cleaners have won more than 150 national awards for cleaning and hygiene and the competition has helped to raise the standards of cleaning in many of Scotlands public washrooms including Inverness, the captial of the highlands.

re: Operation Clean Sweep

Lisa Ridgely — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:57:03 GMT

I was grateful for the chance to participate in such a unique volunteer day that really highlighted how important cleaning is to a facility. It was also great to meet others in the industry from my area that I otherwise would not have worked with. I'd highly recommend it!

re: Swine Flu Preparedness

Mike Gunderson — Fri, 01 May 2009 06:09:34 GMT

I completely agree that this is another excellent opportunity to educate people and introduce something different.

For example, has anyone ever though about the effects of buffing and burnishing floors on indoor air quality and human health?

Buffing and burnishing creates dust. That dust contains particles of contaminants that were on the floors. When a person sneezes or coughs, where do some of the germs end up? On the floor. Sorry for being gross, but when blood, urine or *** gets on the floor in facilities like hospitals, daycare centers, pet clinics or nursing homes, does every bit of it always get completely cleaned from the floor? Probably not. Most people certainly would never eat something that fell on the floor in one of these facilities, even if the floor was just mopped. Have you seen what that mop water typically looks like anyway?

So, when the maintenance crew comes in at night and buffs those floors, what happens? Those contaminants get kicked up into the air to either be breathed by people or deposited on other touch-point surfaces such as desks, counters, tables, door handles and hand rails.

With ultra durable urethane finish, buffing/burnishing is eliminated. Cleaning with microfiber technology is extremely easy, so you can greatly reduce the risk of cross contamination in a facility.

Like they used to say to Mikey in the Life cereal commercials:

Try it! You'll Like it!

re: Office IAQ

NickWiebe — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:41:57 GMT

It sounds like your wife is suffering from poor indoor air quality (IAQ) problems. This is no minor issue; in fact, the American Lung Association says that U.S. adults miss approximately 14.5 million workdays a year due to respiratory problems triggered by poor IAQ.

Without both regular vacuuming and carpet cleaning, the carpets in your wife’s office will soon become soiled again, causing indoor air quality to suffer, and your wife (and, in all likelihood, her co-workers) will get sick again.

It might be a good idea for your wife to go back to her office armed with information about the importance of proper carpet care and cleaning. Carpets should be vacuumed several times per week with a high-filtration vacuum cleaner. These areas should also be extracted using a low-moisture, hot-water extractor,. With proper vacuuming and high performance matting systems in most cases twoplace, carpets may need to be extracted only once or more timestwice per year.

Why low-moisture? Extraction is the best way to remove deeply embedded soils, and low-moisture machines perform this task using less than a gallon of water per minute. These machines also have improved vacuums for greater moisture recovery. The result is that carpets dry faster and mold, mildew, fungi, bacteria, and other contaminants are less likely to develop.

Using a hot-water extractor is also preferable. This is because carpet cleaning techs now prespray carpets before cleaning, instead of mixing the water and chemical in the machine’s tank. Prespraying is encouraged because it typically means less chemical is used, reducing costs and cleaning’s impact on the environment. Heat provides the extra power necessary to ensure that the chemicals thoroughly clean the carpets; studies have proven that heat improves the effectiveness of cleaning chemicals.

I think your wife, or anyone in a similar situation, can do a lot of good by speaking up about the importance of proper cleaning, vacuuming, and carpet care. Everyone benefits from a healthy work environment.

Nick Wiebe is the marketing manager for U.S. Products (www.usproducts.com) and HydraMaster (www.hydramaster.com).

re: Recommendations Not The Same As Requirements

MikeSawchuk — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:57:12 GMT

It really does not surprise me that in the legislation's “green fine print” there is no mention of vacuums, carpet extractors, auto scrubbers or other equipment and the roles they play in Green cleaning and reducing cleaning's impact on the environment. For the most part, the general public, many end customers, and in this case, legislators believe that Green cleaning just involves chemicals and some paper products.

As we in the industry now realize, Green cleaning is a total package program. Using the right products, with the right custodial hardware, tools & equipment, with the proper procedures and frequencies in an integrated program. Using certified Green cleaning chemicals in a facility along with a vacuum cleaner that spouts all kinds of dust and impurities is almost like walking in two directions at the same time.

To rectify this requires education, and this is something that can best be accomplished by jansan distributors. It is my experience, working with distributors all over North America, that end users depend on their distributor to guide them through the Green maze. They help educate them that Green is not piecemeal, but a total package. Everything must be Green or contribute to reducing cleaning's impact on the health of users and occupants of the facility and the environment.

At one time when end users selected new cleaning equipment, their main concerns were, (1) does it perform? and (2) what does it cost? Now they have a much bigger question to ask: will this equipment help make my facility healthy and protect the environment? Distributors are the ones who can best answer this question.

Mike Sawchuk

Vice President and General Manager, Enviro-Solutions

http://www.enviro-solution.com

re: Cleaning Green

rrush — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:09:54 GMT

I work for a manufacturer of green cleaning products and these products work better than the toxic chemicals I used before. Quality need not be sacrificed!

www.ecogeek.com (use discount code "15%OFF")

re: Is MRSA On Your Sports Team?

RobertKravitz — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:00:44 GMT

There is potential for MRSA to be just about anywhere in a locker room—around trash cans and on floors, tiles, grout, and benches. And despite the use of stronger and stronger disinfectants and cleaners, which can harm user health and the environment, cases of MRSA continue to be reported each year.

Although proper and frequent hand washing is critical, and not sharing towels or other personal items will help, I believe the professional cleaning industry will prove to be most effective in curbing this problem if proper cleaning systems and procedures are implemented.

One way to do this is to rethink how the facility is being cleaned. So many locations—especially schools where the MRSA problem can be most prominent and, when it occurs, most tragic because it often affects young people—use conventional mops, buckets, and cleaning cloths to clean floors, counters, and fixtures.

Increasing amounts of evidence by such reputable organization such as the Cleaning Industry Research Group (CIRI) and independent scientists indicate that these conventional cleaning tools and systems can often spread as many contaminants as they pick up. Essentially, as the cleaning tool becomes soiled, it becomes the conduit, spreading germs and contaminants to other surfaces. Some experts even say a clean, brand-new string mop is soiled the instant it touches a floor.

This does not happen with what ISSA refers to as spray-and-vac or no-touch cleaning systems. If the cleaning professional uses these systems properly and allows the disinfectants to dwell a few minutes on the surface before blasting the area clean in the rinsing cycle, I believe the result will be cleaner, healthier, and more hygienic facilities, and our industry will be able to nip the MRSA problem in the bud.

re: Cleaning Green

ccreister — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:48:28 GMT

I have a company that sells only green products if anyone would like to be a member please let me know.

re: BSCAI and ISSA Join Together

Ken Galo — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:40:25 GMT

I feel a little sorry for the ISSA, I really like Anthony Trombetta. Oh well maybe it will work out for the best for all.

re: Is MRSA On Your Sports Team?

Cleanologist — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 05:19:14 GMT

Medical Professionals, have miss used antibiotics that has helped cause this MSRA problem..... but so has the cleaning professionals that have used disinfectants as a cure all on a daily, weekly and years of thinking we were really killing germs. We helped build this resistant. If we had cut out the food (Dirty Clean Water ) and moisture of all kinds. MSRA may not have been this big of a problem today.... As leaders we need to re-think what the word cleaning means...George, Registered Cleanologists

re: Is MRSA On Your Sports Team?

Joseph K. Schulman — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:39:34 GMT

An excellent method for assuring the maximum effectiveness of most any disinfection protocol in a school sports environment or elsewhere is to supplement the chemical cleaning process with the application of germicidal UV. Any microorganisms that survived or were missed by the normal cleaning proceedures will be destroyed by the UV light provided direct contact with the light is made. This is very easy to do and extremely fast and cost effective. It is also the most environmentally friendly or "green" method of disinfection that exists, period. There are both hand held portable germicidal UV lamps available as well as devices that will treat entire rooms in just a few minutes. I am always happy to share my expertise so I invite members to contact me or to visit my web site(s) and read my blog and company information to learn more.