Beyond the Box

Integrating an autoscrubber into your floor care program will save you time, labor, and other cleaning costs. Auto floor scrubbers, or autoscrubbers, remove soil and stains from hard floors better, faster, and more hygienically than the traditional mop and bucket.

Single-use plastic bags have been the target of state bans and legislation as their impact becomes more and more realized. The amount of plastic bags in the environment has become a huge problem because Americans alone use approximately 100 billion plastic bags a year, but only an estimated 1% get returned for recycling each year.  Plastic takes years to decompose and even when they break down, they do not fully degrade. Plastic breaks down into microplastics or tiny pieces of plastics. Microplastics contaminate the environment and the food sources of humans and animals. More and more businesses in the affected states that provide patrons with single-use, lightweight plastic bags to take merchandise home, such as grocery stores, department stores, liquor stores, restaurants, convenience stores, and other retail stores will need to find alternatives to single-use plastic bags.

All janitorial cleaning equipment, including your floor burnishers, will break down at some point or another.  Some problems you will be able to fix yourself, while others will require expert help. If you can solve the problem yourself, you will save time and money, not only on the cost of repair but also on the added labor costs that is required to still get the job done while the broken equipment is being repaired.   Depending on the floor burnisher power source, you may experience different problems. 

As you search for the best commercial floor buffer for your facility, you want to buy the buffer that will be the right fit for your business’ needs and budget. The TASKI® ergodisc ® 175 and 200 made it on our list of the best commercial floor buffers of 2019. There are some key reasons why the TASKI® ergodisc® 175 or 200 may be the best commercial floor buffer for your facility.

Recently, the media has brought attention to an increase in food package tampering, heightening concerns among food service providers and their customers. As a result, tamper-evident packaging is more important than ever.  In June of 2019, a woman filmed herself removing a tub of ice cream from her local Walmart’s freezer, opening it, licking the top of the ice cream, and then closing the lid and putting the ice cream back on the shelf. The video was then shared to her instagram account. Soon after, the video went viral and news of this event caused a string of copycat offenses.  To further grow consumer concerns, just a few days after the initial ice cream incident, news outlets shared more food tampering cases in which people were opening liquid product containers, gargling some of it, spitting it back into the container, and returning them to the shelf. As a result, many consumers questioned why the products were not packaged with greater protective features to reduce the risk of product tampering.

The cost of an automatic floor scrubber is a large factor you have to consider when choosing a scrubber for your facility. The best autoscrubber for your facility will match your business’ needs and budget.  Auto floor scrubbers, or autoscrubbers, remove soil and stains from hard floors better and faster than the traditional mop and bucket. They are also a more hygienic alternative to the traditional cleaning methods. Investing in an autoscrubber can seem expensive, but integrating an autoscrubber into your floor care program will save you time, labor, and other cleaning costs. Automatic floor scrubbers perform three cleaning procedures in one pass, removing the manual labor from cleaning a floor. In one pass over the floor, an autoscrubber will dispense cleaning solution, agitate the solution with a floor pad or scrub brush, then vacuum it all up with an autoscrubber squeegee attachment.

Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) can be intimidating to first time users, and even veterans, who may be using a new or different cleaning product for the first time.  It is important for anyone handling or using commercial cleaning supplies to become familiarized with SDSs. Understanding how to read and apply the information on a Safety Data Sheet will allow you to work more safely and to do your job better.   This article will clarify the sections of a safety data sheet and allow you to become more familiar with the format and contents of one.

In recent years, the demand for more sustainable packaging has been growing steadily. As a result, many companies have adopted the use of molded fiber and bagasse food packaging. Molded fiber and bagasse are considered some of the most environmentally friendly food packaging options because they “close the loop”. Molded fiber is constructed from post-consumer content, and bagasse is made from renewable resources like sugarcane or wheatgrass. When they are discarded, the majority of these products can be commercially composted, breaking down and leaving a smaller footprint on the earth. Molded fiber and bagasse became a signal to consumers that a food establishment cares about the environment. Many health-conscious establishments like healthcare facilities, fast-casual dining, and farm-to-table restaurants use this as their food packaging of choice. But a recent article by the New Food Economy has alerted consumers and foodservice operators of the use of PFAS in molded fiber and bagasse food packaging.

When equipment breaks, it leads to equipment downtime. Without janitorial cleaning equipment, your janitorial cleaning team will have to spend more time completing each task, leading lower worker productivity and higher labor costs.  Knowing the problem affecting your commercial floor buffer can help you better understand whether your buffer requires professional repair or if it is a simple fix.  Some of the most common causes of broken equipment can be fixed by you. Not having to bring your buffer in for service for something that could have been easily fixed will save you time and money, and allow your cleaning team to get back on track faster.

Whether it is in the office, bathroom, kitchen, classroom, or elsewhere, selecting the right can liner for your trash receptacles will cut your costs and save resources. Often little thought is given to the best trash can liner size, material, or seal. But, failure to have the right can liner will result in wasted money, torn bags, and spills. The wide variety of can liner types and sizes can make finding the right one challenging. Below we will walk you through the best way to select your can liner.