Cleaning becomes effective and efficient when made convenient. It is not so encouraging to walk down the corridor every time to fetch the mop to clean the next room; nor is it practical to carry along all the tools & wipes everywhere or for that matter, to leave them on the floor nearby at the time of cleaning. Trolleys play a significant part in making cleaning convenient and productive. Clean India Journal highlights the value addition made by different kinds of trolleys in cleaning applications and hygiene solutions.
The applications and nature of trolleys vary with each industry. A linen trolley in a textile industry has a different application and structure to a linen trolley used in a hospital or hotel. In hospitals the emphasis is on hygiene and infection control.
Again, a housekeeping trolley is not a mere setup where one can store mop heads and soiled cleaning cloth. Having a properly stocked housekeeping cart help save both time and money. Housekeeping trolley’s configuration gets decided mainly by the nature of work to be executed, size of the site, type of the client’s place and type of cleaning required.
There are many features in a trolley like clips & holders, garbage bag of different sizes, dustbins and aluminium lockable cabinets which makes it a multi-utility tool. A clip is attached to a wringer to carry a wet mop’s handle while carrying the trolley. Secondly, a holder comes attached to the trolley to carry a dry mop and signage. Small buckets are placed in the tray so as to carry water and microfiber dusters. There are also trolleys specially designed with a caddy basket so that other cleaning products can be carried along.
Configured to suit varied requirements
Hygiene is of course a major factor when configuring a hospital trolley since the contamination risk is very high. The trolley would also need to have handles made from fiberglass /aluminium and the material used to produce the trolley’s plastic components should be anti-bacterial.
Hospitals tend to require a flat mopping system either in the form of a double bucket wringer or a dosing system that uses a clean mop for every 10 to 20sqm. Hospitals also often require segregated waste collection, whereas heavily soiled areas such as school entrances and passageways are ideally suited to a flat mop double bucket system since this will be highly effective at removing large amounts of soil.
Covered trolleys also create a better impression in a hotel or office. Carpeted office areas need no mopping systems but do require waste collection facilities and a vacuum cleaner. Also, if there are carpets on the cleaning site – say in an office or hotel – then the wheels must be bigger, otherwise too much force is needed to push the trolley.
It is also important to consider the waste-collection system in a trolley configuration, and whether it needs to fulfill transportation tasks such as bringing paper towels, toilet paper and soaps on to the site. A compromise is often required between providing a full range of cleaning products and limiting the size of the trolley to make it sufficiently compact to store. In a hospital, the main focus will be on cleaning, whereas in an office, it is often hard to find sufficient storage space in the building for trolleys.
Environments where specialist trolleys are required include operating theatres – where trolleys need to be particularly compact – and clean rooms in the pharmaceutical industry. Here stainless steel trolleys are in use that can be autoclaved. In a school or supermarket, the trolley system would need to include separate areas for clean and dirty water and for detergents.
Trays might also be useful to contain cleaning products such as cloths and microfibre mop replacements. A 120 litre bag support with compartment for refuse with its own lid would be an added advantage.
Trend
New generation trolleys made of lightweight sturdy PP high density material is available in the market along with dozing systems. Cleaning company – TTS Italy is manufacturing such trolleys and Roots Multiclean Ltd is marketing them in the Indian Market. These trolleys are light weight and flexible, which means a small trolley can be converted into a big one by adding two to three attachments. In this way, twin bucket trolley can be converted into a housekeeping trolley. A trolley can be converted into another by adding or removing some accessories. For example, a Roots TTS Hotel Trolley can be converted into Hospital Trolley with hermetic buckets by addition or removal of some parts. This can be a blessing in disguise for the facility provider who can save his money which he has to otherwise spend on the purchase of a new one if he gets a contract in another premise.
