Convenient Cleaning with Trolleys

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.

Maintenance versus Investment

Trolleys, however, never fall under the capital investment bracket; hence it is not considered as an investment. But some manufacturers beg to differ and say that trolleys are one time investment if used properly. To make it an asset in the long run, facility service providers should give proper training to their staff because most of the breakage happens due to mishandling of the trolley. It is also important to know the correct way to use a wringer.

Considering the fact the facility service provider will look at trolley as an investment and an asset in the long run, he or she should consider three important factors – Quality, Durability and Flexibility.

Raw material used in the manufacturing of trolleys has to be of high standards. If Polypropylene used in plastic trolleys is made through a high density method, life of the trolley will be more besides being light weight and easy to maneuver.

Trolleys have to be durable, sturdy and provision for replacement should be there in case of breakage. There should be scope for a small trolley to be converted into bigger one and a wider into a taller one. Besides this, more features can be added to the existing trolley based on the requirements.

Utility, Aesthetics and the Product range

Since trolleys are always used in public areas, they carry a lot of value in terms of looks and aesthetics. But at the same time, they need to be very user friendly as well. A wide range of trolleys is available these days, but the user should also be conscious about its size, capacity and area. Delhi based Kibble Enterprises have trolleys ranging from 15lt, 25lt, 30lt, 50lt.

Depending upon the requirement and size of the area to be cleaned, we have introduced Wow Trolleys – small janitorial carts and Scoutt Trolleys – large janitorial carts. They are equipped with complete cleaning solutions.

Says Chhavi Vij, Associate Director, Kibble Enterprises, “A Janitorial cart is a complete utility trolley. Depending upon the requirement and size of the area to be cleaned, we have introduced Wow Trolleys – small janitorial carts and Scoutt Trolleys – large janitorial carts. They are equipped with complete cleaning solutions ranging from wet mops, dry mops, microfiber dusters, small buckets, dustbins, waste bags, signages and aluminium lockable cabinets. Further, the trolley can be modified according to the requirement of the area.”

She further adds that if the size of the area to be cleaned is large, it’s necessary to choose a 50lt bucket trolley as it carries more amount of water which removes the constraint to change and refill water regularly.

A double bucket mop wringer trolley with mop holder, caddy and a caution sign holder clip is the most recommended one. Cross contamination is completely avoided since it is equipped with a fresh water and a dirty water bucket and both are colour coded.

Mop wringers trolleys are also available in the market. Commonly used ones are double bucket mop wringer, single bucket mop wringer with partition & without partition. Says Vivek Mata, Managing Director, Charnock Equipment Pvt Ltd, “A double bucket mop wringer trolley with mop holder, caddy and a caution sign holder clip is the most recommended one. Cross contamination is completely avoided since it is equipped with a fresh water and a dirty water bucket and both are color coded. There are bigger trolleys which have the facility for waste collection but these trolleys are normally used in big public places like hospitals, airports, etc. There are other models available based on specific application areas and suiting customer budgets.”

Charnock alone has more than 50 different models of trolleys suiting customer requirements. “Based on the customer requirements, we carry out an audit of the site and then suggest the right model and quantities required,” adds Mata.

Kibble Enterprises also has a range of Wringer Trolleys majorly categorizing into Single Bucket Wringer Trolleys and Double Bucket Wringer Trolleys. As the name explains itself, the Single Bucket Wringer Trolleys have a single bucket along with a Wringer and similarly Double Bucket Wringer Trolleys have two buckets with a wringer attached. “It is very important to note the difference between both the trolleys as while using the two buckets – dirty and used water remains in one bucket and clean water remains in the other. Color coding is done for these buckets. The Red one is for dirty water as it carries all the germs and the Blue bucket carries clean water. Single Bucket Wringer Trolleys have the limitation that dirty and clean water cannot be separated and leads to contamination,” cautions Vij.

Customized product line and the design aspect

Aesthetics is not usually the customer’s first concern when choosing a trolley. The appearance of cleaning equipment is important, above all when it is used during working hours in high traffic areas. Customers place far greater emphasis on a trolley that is ergonomically designed and easy to operate. They look for features like convenient handling, high quality materials, durability and price.

Customers are increasingly seeking modular systems that allow the trolley to be adapted as precisely as possible to their own requirements. This has a beneficial effect on the price as well. Other customer requirements include compact design, a long life cycle and an article number for every component to allow them to easily order replacement parts.

Hygiene is crucial in hospitals and nursing homes, and here the customer will also require closed compartments and lockable functions to shield passers-by from chemicals and textiles. Compact design has always been important in more restricted environments where there are no cleaning cupboards, or where the trolley needs to be transported by lift.

One can configure the trolley as per the requirement rather than confining it according to the capacity. A customer can select the trolley’s colour combination, size and design.

“As cleaning veterans say we cannot have a housekeeping trolley which is invisible to the public. So trolleys with beautiful designs and prints have been introduced. All cleaning utility products in lockable drawers and compartments can be organised and stored in a trolley. Design or logo can be customized as per the customer requirement in some of the high end trolleys,” says Nadeem Khan, Team Leader – Janitorial, Roots Multiclean Ltd.

Sufficient space on a trolley is a major requirement in environments where large items of cleaning equipment plus supplies such as tissues, soap etc need to be accommodated. A well-designed trolley immediately makes the cleaning staff appear more professional. And many contract cleaners find that they can win contracts with an attractive cleaning system.

A good quality housekeeping trolley can also be used as transport trolley, storage trolley, mini bar trolley & room doctor trolley.

In school: A Roots TTS Magic Art trolley with drawers can be used as storage Trolley in schools and kindergartens. Toys and other play items can be stored in the individual drawers which can be secured with a lock and key.

In Malls: In Malls, TTS Magic Art trolley can be used with mopping arrangement along with the provision to carry small vacuum cleaner or an Upright Vacuum.

In Hotels: A good housekeeping trolley like TTS Magic Trolley can be used as room supply trolley, room doctor trolley, linen management trolley, mini bar trolley as well by making little changes.

In Hospitals: Housekeeping trolley with pre impregnated system along with hermetic buckets and lockable doors can be used in hospitals to avoid cross contamination.

Technology to configure

There are tremendous technology developments in the manufacturing process of a range of trolleys. Stainless Steel trolley is fixed, heavy weight, difficult to move and not much of modification can be done in this type of trolleys. On the other hand, high density Polypropylene (plastic) trolleys are lightweight, sturdier and easy to maintain. “One can configure the trolley as per the requirement rather than confining it according to the capacity. A customer can select the trolley’s colour combination, size and design. Another development in the product line is embossing design on the walls and doors of trolleys. TTS has started producing these types of trolleys and has received worldwide acceptance for this,” Khan adds.

With the advancement in technology, there are more options in plastic trolleys compared to stainless steel which are lightweight, sturdier, hygienic and easy to maintain. Charnock – Numatic has a special material called Structorfoam which looks like plastic but is stronger than the standard plastic trolleys available in the market. These Structofoam trolleys are not only strong like steel but also very smart, rugged and light in use.