Small Space Cleaning Challenges

Tips for Cleaning Small Spaces

Maintaining smaller public spaces like convenience stores, quick-serve restaurants, and small retail locations can be challenging. With floor space at a premium, cleaners typically have to navigate shelves, display stands, or furnishings. In addition, foot traffic is constant, making it difficult and unprofitable to close an area for long enough to clean thoroughly...and bringing in new dirt all the time. Of course, customers expect to see clean spaces, no matter what the challenges are.

There’s a range of tools available for cleaning smaller, obstructed public spaces. Many facilities rely on a traditional mop and bucket system, or its newer, hipper cousin, the microfiber flat mop system. Others have implemented more technology in the form of corded or battery-operated micro scrubbers that clean well and efficiently, but that come at a higher price point than manual cleaning.

Then, consider your options

Mop and bucket systems have advantages…and disadvantages. So do micro scrubbers. Here are some things to consider as you look at the options available.

Traditional Mops

Cost and ease of use are the big advantages here. Traditional mops, buckets, and wringers are inexpensive, and don’t require a great deal of training for new staff members, so cleaning operations are very consistent.

But consistently what? If you’ve ever walked by a bucket of chocolate milk-colored mop water and wondered how clean the floor is getting, you’ve pinpointed one of the main disadvantages of the traditional mop. It’s hard to clean once the mop water is dirty. Some even say that mops are really good at making your floors uniformly dirty – it’s hard to see the dirt when it’s everywhere.

And, mops leave water on the floor. If cleaning takes place during customer hours, that water on the floor can present a slip risk that you might want to consider. While you can mitigate some risks by closing off areas of the store, that will impact customer traffic and sales performance.

Finally, traditional mop systems, while easy to use, can be unwieldy and heavy. If you have a team member mopping frequently, this can cause strain, either from manipulating a soaking web mop head or from trying to pick up a full bucket.

Microfiber Flat Mop Systems

Flat mops take the ease of a mop and bucket and add some design thinking and technology to improve on tradition. While they’re more expensive than string mops, these systems are still at the low end of the cost scale, and they are easy to learn and use.

Flat mop microfiber pads don’t carry as much water as string mops do, so less water is left on the floor at the end of cleaning. Addressing the question of cleaning efficacy, flat mop pads are designed to be changed frequently during a shift to limit the amount of grime being spread by a dirty mop head. With this system, it’s critical to make sure your staff members are actually changing pads, or you get right back to cleaning with dirty water and a dirty mop.

While microfiber pads are easy to change, the manual process still takes time. If your facility requires frequent cleaning or cleaning of a relatively open expanse of floor, or if your staff members have a long list of functions they need to perform on a given shift, the productivity rate of a mop system may be something to scrutinize.

Micro Scrubbers

You can choose a ‘George Jetson’ technology-enabled mop or a micro-version of a traditional scrubber—this category of cleaning tools has a wide variety of options, and price points. Compared to a string mop, automated cleaning equipment has a much higher up-front cost, there’s no doubt about that. But do some quick calculations on productivity, sales impacts, and slip/fall risks, and you’ll see that the value over time makes a lot of sense.

Cleaning efficacy is where micro scrubbers really win. In any automated system, rotating brushes scrub the floor with clean water and a vacuum system captures the dirty water in a separate tank so grime is not redistributed. If you’re cleaning to meet high customer expectations, micro scrubbers can help you meet your goals. The vacuum pick-up also means that floors are left nearly dry as soon as cleaning is finished, minimizing the amount of time an area must be closed or restricted for cleaning.

Micro scrubbers come in a wide variety of designs with different features, so if you’re exploring this option, you’ll have another set of questions to consider:

• Is your space open and unobstructed?
  If so, a slightly larger machine with a wider cleaning head and bigger tanks will provide greater efficiency.
• Do you need to clean around and under furniture and fixtures?
  In that case, something small and maneuverable, based on a mop design, may provide more efficiency for your space than a design scaled down from a scrubber.
• Does your equipment frequently need to handle quick, unplanned tasks?
  Battery powered equipment has added costs and maintenance requirements, but it’s is easy to grab and go when there’s a spill or when mud and water make their way into your space.
• How frequently do you need to train new workers?
  Most micro scrubbers are easy to learn, but consider ease of use and maintenance in your decision-making process.