You can help keep children safe while they are in school by cleaning with industrial cleaning supplies from Pollock Orora.
Is it possible to use off-the-shelf products for a school and still have it maintain the level of cleanliness children need? No. Industrial cleaning supplies are specifically formulated and manufactured for heavy use in high-traffic areas and to withstand the kicking, scuffing, and constant touching of children. Both equipment and cleaning products must be heavy duty, but not so stringent they cause adverse reactions.
Chemicals
Purchase low-toxicity chemicals, especially for areas with younger children. Recent studies have proven the air quality in many large public buildings, including schools, is well below par. Toxic cleaning chemicals add to the poor air quality. Choosing green products to clean and disinfect will significantly help both your students and the environment.
Not all floor cleaners are created equally. Schools require hard floor cleaners that remove grease as well as grime and can be used safely every school day.
Every classroom, work area, lounge area, cafeteria, and hallway should have a stand-alone or wall-mounted hand sanitizing station. When children are unable to wash with soap and water, hand sanitizers with a minimum of 65% alcohol will kill most pathogens.
All areas require cleaners, disinfectants, and sanitizers.
Products
Floor scrubbers are used less frequently than floor cleaners, but they are a must since scrubbers remove ground-in and caked-on dirt and allergens.
Electrostatic sprayers work as disinfectants for large areas, such as lunchrooms or gymnasiums. As the sprayers release droplets of disinfectant, the droplets are ionically charged and naturally repel each other. The ionic charge causes the droplets to adhere to surfaces more readily, leaving a thin, uniformed layer of disinfectant behind.
Children are messy. You will need a powder absorbent to quickly absorb anything emanating from noses or mouths as well as protein-rich foods and products dropped on classroom or lunchroom floors.
Cleaning Different Areas
Cleaning classrooms requires different products than school bathrooms. Let’s run through each area and highlight cleaners unique to those circumstances. The last portion is dedicated to cleaners used throughout the school.
Bathroom
A hard bristle brush to clean water fountains, paper towels, toilet tissue, liquid hand soap, disinfectant germicidal cleaner, and typical cleaning supplies (brooms, dustpans, sprays, et cetera) should be available for bathrooms. For the health and safety of children, any supplies used in bathrooms should not be used elsewhere.
Lunchroom
Dishwashing soap and dishwasher detergent, rags, pot scrubbers, bleach solution, and a stainless steel cleaner are all essential for this area.
Gymnasium and locker rooms
Most school gyms consist of a full-sized basketball court with wooden floors. These floors need to be swept and mopped daily. Because of the sheer size of the room, choose a wide dust broom for this area. For the stadium seats, pull out the seats and use a lightweight blower after they are used to remove any accumulated debris. Check showers and locker rooms for mold or mildew, and treat with a bleach solution.
• Whole school
The following products will help campuswide to keep your school and staff as safe as possible.
• Glass cleaner for doors and windows
• Brooms, dustpans, vacuums, damp mops, and dust mops are necessary to clean floors
• An array of garbage bags for small trash cans next to desks to large, heavy-duty bags for the lunchroom move trash to its correct location.
• Electronic/screen cleaners to clean computer monitor screens
• Gloves, respirator masks
Contact Pollock Orora today by calling 800 843-7320 to learn about our line of industrial cleaning supplies to help your school maintain a stellar level of safety and cleanliness, or visit our website.