Classification of Cleaning Equipment

There are broadly categorized as follows −

Manual Cleaning Equipment

As the name suggests, they are used manually to keep the
surfaces clean. Some commonly used manual equipment are;
⚫ Abrasives − They are the sharpening stones or grit papers
used to polish metal or wooden surfaces. There are various
abrasives depending upon the size of grit and adhesion of grit
particles on the paper.
⚫ Brushes − They are handheld flat brushes with bristles to
dust the plain surfaces as well as the corners. They come
with non-slip handles and stiff scratch-free bristles. They
help removing stubborn dust.
⚫ Chambermaid’s Trolley/Housekeeping Trolley − This trolley
is large enough to keep all the guest room and guest
bathroom supplies in an organized manner. It makes the
housekeeping staff to move it around and carry large number
of items in one go while keeping and cleaning the guest
rooms.
⚫ Dustbins − They are used to collect daily garbage produced
in the hotel.
⚫ Dusting Cloths − They are soft cloths used for wiping the
surface dust.
⚫ Dustpans − They are used to collect dust and garbage from
the floor and putting it into the dustbin.
⚫ Janitor’s trolley − It is a trolley that stores cleaning supplies
such as detergents, spray bottles, dustbin, mop, and dusting
cloths, all in a compact manner. It can be moved around
easily. It fulfills the challenge of modern day housekeeping
in hotels.
⚫ Mops − There are various types of mops such as string mops,
flat mops, dust mops, and synthetic mops. Mops are
generally made of flat cotton strings or heavy-duty sponges
fixed on the metal frames. The cotton mops have high
absorbing ability but need more care unlike the synthetic
mops that offer almost zero absorbing ability and very less
maintenance.
⚫ Mop Wringer trolley − A mop bucket cart (or mop trolley) is
a wheeled bucket that allows its user to wring out a wet mop
without getting the hands dirty. The mops are squeezed
between two surfaces to remove dirty water from it.
⚫ Scarifying machine − It is used for keeping gardens, golf
courts, and lawn in the hotel premises. It cuts through the turf,
and removes moss and dead grass. It helps grow spongy lawn.
Scarifiers have fixed knife blades attached to the rotary
cylinder. They cut through the grass by which the offshoots
are separated into lots of individual plants. This helps to
thicken up the turf and improve its health.
⚫ Spray Bottles − They are used to spray water or chemical
solutions on the surface that needs cleaning. They are also
used to spray water on the delicate flowers or leaves of
flower arrangement.
⚫ Books. Can be used to clean hard surfaces for a quick dust up
of dirt or hair.
⚫ Paper towels. These are used in drying hards, wiping
windows and other surfaces, dusting and leaving up spills
⚫ Bucket. This is a round mental or plastic container with a
handle attached to its side. They are often used for holding
and carrying water any liquid.
⚫ Sponge. This is a cleaning aid made of soft porous material.
Typically used for cleaning impervious surfaces, sponges are
especially good at absorbing water and water-based solution.

Electric Cleaning Equipment

As the name depicts, these equipment require electrical power to
operate. They are operated either on AC power or on the battery.
Some important electric equipment are −
✓ Box Sweeper − It is electric sweeper that consists of a
friction brush. The brush often is fit to revolve vertically or
horizontally, when the equipment moves on the surface. It
can clean floors as well as carpets. The wider the better is the
box sweeper brush.
✓ Vacuum Cleaner − It is again a majorly used equipment in
hotel housekeeping. It comes with a suction motor fit in a
case, a hose, and various attachment for delicate as well as
tough cleaning requirements.
✓ Polishing Machine − They are used to add a shine to the
floors of most frequented areas of the hotel.
✓ Scrubber − It is a floor care accessory that comes with
handheld electrically operated scrubber. It is used where only
mopping doesn’t suffice. It can scrub stubborn and sticky
stains on the floors of cafeterias, restaurants, lobbies, and
fitness areas where people can take food and beverages.
✓ Vapor Cleaning Machine − They are used where the
chemical odors are not desired. They are equipped for
continuous operation. They heat up quickly and work with
low amount of moisture. They kill the beg bugs and their
eggs, the yielding a completely clean environment.

Cleaning Agents or Chemicals

Apart from water and regular detergents, the housekeeping staff
also uses cleaning chemicals, which are often available in the
form of liquids, blocks, and powders.
◆ Water − It is the most commonly used medium for cleaning
and rinsing. The housekeeping staff needs to use only soft
water because hard water cannot dilute detergents properly.
Non-oily and non-greasy stains such as ink stains can be
removed using water.
◆ Vinegar − It is used in removing light stains in the bath.
◆ Bathroom Cleaners − They come in liquid form for easy
cleaning. They clean, descale, and disinfect the bathroom
walls, bathtubs, bathroom flooring, sinks, and showers. They
often contain phosphoric acid.
◆ Clean Air Sprays − They are best for freshening the hotel
corridors, washrooms, bathrooms, and reception areas. These
sprays remove the pungent smell of tobacco, smoke, and
organic wastes.
◆ De-greaser − This is mainly used in bars to remove the marks
of grease and lipstick that cannot be removed by traditional
washing of glasses and cups. Degreaser restores the surface
shine and transparency of the glasses and bowls.
◆ Floor Cleaners and Sealers − One of the important tasks of
hotel housekeeping is cleaning the floor periodically and
keeping it sealed with the help of sealer of the right
consistency for optimum maintenance. Some areas in the
hotel are busy and bear heavy traffic such as lobby, corridors,
parking areas, restaurants, and dining halls. Their floorings
loses smoothness and shine. In such a case, the floor cleaners
and sealers are used for restoring their look and shine.
◆ Laundry Cleaners − They are liquid concentrates with
variable amount of peroxide that removes tough stains,
bleaches the linen, and enhances its whiteness.
◆ A number of chemicals are used in dry-cleaning. They are
camphor oil, turpentine spirits, benzene, kerosene and white
gasoline, petroleum solvents such as naphtha blends,
chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, and liquid carbon dioxide.
They remove the stains from silk tapestry without damaging
the fibers.
◆ Surface Sanitizers − They often come in the form of liquid
concentrate. They are water-based and sanitize the surfaces
without damaging their appearance. The sanitizers reduce the
presence of bacteria to a great extent. They come with
different concentrations and fragrances.
◆ Toilet Blocks − They deodorize the toilets and leave them
with a fresh smell. They come with two variants: continuous
action and instant action. They contain oxidizing agents such
as ozone, hydrogen peroxide, or chlorine that removes
unpleasant organic odor from the surface of a material.
◆ Toilet Cleaners − They are available in liquid form
containing strong hydrochloric acid. They remove stains and
plumbing scales easily, and restore the shine of their surface.
◆ Carpet Cleaning Agents − Cleaning and maintaining the
carpets are important tasks of hotel housekeeping.
◆ Carpet cleaning chemicals are often low-moisture, fast-
drying cleaners that take care of the above said issues
effectively
◆ Swimming Pool Cleaners − They are used for cleaning the
swimming pool water. Some of them are TCCA-90 granules
or tablets, SDIC, hydrochloric acid (HCL), liquid chlorine,
and alum. The pool cleaning chemicals kill the bacterial and
algae growth in the water.
◆ The chemicals like Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate (SDIC) has
60% of chlorine content and is used worldwide for
disinfecting water. The pool cleaning chemicals dissolve fast
in water and provide quick cleaning results. The
housekeeping staff needs to take extra care while cleaning
baby pools using these cleaners.
◆ Polishes. They do not necessarily clean but produces shine by
providing a smooth surface from which light is reflected
evenly .They do this by smoothing out any unevenness on the
surface of the article, in many cases by forming a thin layer of
wax on the surface, thus giving some protection.
PRECAUTION ACCIDENT
No matter how long your business has been around, it’s always a
good idea to access your housekeeping policy and determine what
you can do to better protect your customers and staff consider the
following to improve on housekeeping in your establishment
❖ Clean up spill immediately. Spills can be very dangerous,
the faster spills are cleaned up, the less likely some one is
to get injured in an accident. Slip resistant spill pads can
quickly cover spills and alert people to stay away from the
area until the spill can be removed.
❖ Keep pathways and stairways clear .any thing that blocks a
walk way is a potential safety risk. Unless items have a
specific reason to be near a walking path , they should be
removed immediately. A zero tolerance policy for walkway
obstructions will reduce the potential for slips, trips and
falls. House keeping staff should be trained to spot and
remove obstructing items, even when they are performing
their regular cleaning tasks.
❖ Look for fire hazard. House keeping staffs are responsible
for chemical products that could become hazardous if
stored improperly eg if fumes build up within a storage
close they should be noxious or even start a fire. Cleaning
staff should be trained to recognize and remedy fire
hazards. Eg staff should know to store flammable materials
away from sources of ignition.
❖ Use personal protective equipment. Cleaning staff should
wear PPE.