Public restrooms are normally seen as not the cleanest place to use the bathroom. This is because so many different people go in and out of these restrooms throughout the day. Because there’s such high traffic in public restrooms, it’s important to take the time to ensure you clean them with great care and detail.
When public bathrooms are cleaned properly on a regular basis, they no longer need to be seen as an unsanitary places to be. Before stepping foot into your commercial restroom for cleaning purposes, it’s ideal to know how to correctly and safely clean it. Not only do you want the bathroom to be safe and clean, but you want to keep yourself safe and clean as well.
The following guide will help you do just that. Continue reading below to find out more and start the safe cleaning process today!
Keep All Your Supplies Together
Before getting started, it’s a good idea to gather all of your cleaning supplies and keep them together. You can fill a cart or a caddy with all your cleaning essentials in it. Think of important cleaning products you’ll use and sanitizers/disinfectants.
Then, add all of your restock items such as toilet paper, soap, trash bags, and more. You should keep a large box of refillable items on your cart so you always have enough with you. Don’t forget your broom, mop, and duster as well.
When you keep all of your supplies items together it makes it easier for you when it comes time to clean the restrooms. You can quickly grab your cart, knowing everything you need is on it, and go.
Protect Yourself From Germs
Once you grab your cart, be sure to start by protecting yourself. Protect yourself from germs by wearing gloves. You should also wear goggles and a mask when using spray chemicals. When spraying walls or high surfaces, the chemicals can sometimes splash back or get carried by air and land on your eyes or near your mouth and nose.
Gloves, masks, and goggles worn together will help keep you safe throughout the entire cleaning process. Once done cleaning, you can always remove your gloves and wash your hands with soap and warm water as well if needed.
Clean in an Organized Manner
Now that you’re ready to begin cleaning, you want to make sure you clean in an organized manner. always have a cleaning strategy before starting the process. If you go in there blindly, it can take you much longer to clean and you could risk cross-contamination.
When cleaning, it’s important to clean from top to bottom and from the back of the restroom working your way to the exit. If you clean a sink and then clean the glass or wall above it, then germs or dust from the wall or glass could land in the sink. Now you’ll have to clean the sink again or leave it covered in dust.
To save yourself from having to backtrack, always start with the highest surfaces first and work your way down and out the bathroom exit.
Pre-Clean Surfaces First
To begin the actual cleaning process, you want to start by precleaning the surfaces. Remove any dust, dirt, and other debris from all surfaces first. This way, you can properly clean them without anything getting in the way or any dirt being pushed around.
You can use a multi-purpose cleaner to pre-clean surfaces. It’s also important to know which surfaces hold the most germs in a restroom. Here’s a list of some of the dirtiest surfaces in a public restroom.
- toilet handles
- faucet handles
- soap dispenser handles
- door knobs/handles
You should place a good amount of detail into cleaning these surfaces since these surfaces are touched the most frequently.
Sanitize Then Disinfect
After precleaning, you can then begin to sanitize and disinfect. When sanitizing, you want to use a product that’s EPA-registered and is able to kill a variety of viruses and bacteria. Follow the instructions on the products so you know how long to leave them on the surface before wiping them clean.
A good rule of thumb is to spray the disinfectant on the surfaces you want to clean and then conduct other cleaning tasks while you let the disinfectant sit on the surface for a few minutes.
Don’t Use the Same Cloth
On your cleaning cart, you should have multiple cleaning cloths. You don’t want to use the same cleaning cloth on multiple surfaces. You can minimize the risk of cross-contamination by switching to a new cloth when cleaning a new surface or restroom.
When using a mop, you want to make sure you allow the mop head to dry properly before each cleaning. The mop head should be switched out each day and switched out immediately after cleaning any type of body fluid.
Empty Trash and Restock Items
Once all surfaces in the restroom are cleaned, you can then empty all trash cans and restock items as needed. Replace trash bags, soap dispensers, paper towels, toilet paper, and more. After replacing all items, you can then eliminate public bathroom odors by restocking the air fresheners or installing a new bathroom deodorizer on the walls and toilets.
On your way out, you can then mop the floors and place your wet floor sign down to warn restroom users of the freshly mopped floors.
Invest in Touchless Features
To help keep your public restroom germ-free, it’s beneficial to invest in touchless features. There are many great ways to give restroom users everything they need without forcing them to touch any surfaces. For example, touchless hand dryers at https://www.qbicwashrooms.co.uk/hand-dryers and touchless sink faucets and soap dispensers are ideal.
You can also place a small shoe hook on the bottom of the doors to allow users to open the bathroom doors without touching them with their hands. The more touchless features you have in your public restroom, the cleaner it’ll be.
Let’s Keep Your Public Restrooms Clean
Who said public restrooms can’t be a clean place to use the bathroom? Let’s keep your public restroom clean today by following all of the helpful tips listed here in this guide! Remember to keep all of your cleaning supplies together, protect yourself from germs, have an organized cleaning plan, and then clean, disinfect, and restock.
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Hemant Kumar is a project manager at Tridindia with more than nine years of commendable experience in writing about LMS, translation, and IT. His unmatched talent and passion for digital marketing gave him the opportunity to work as a multi-tasking project manager at TridIndia’s sister company, Link Building Corp. Today, he contributes to the world by imparting knowledge on SEO, link building and internet marketing etc., that helps business owners grow their online business.