In modern days, cleaning requirements vary from place to place. Each surface needs to be treated differently with different solutions, cloths, detergents, water, tools, etc., and a trolley enables janitors to deliver cleaning tasks efficiently. Trolleys are usually customised and need-based. They are also equipped with compartments to store clean and soiled water/cloths. Cleaning trolleys are essential in terms of size, available time, staff requirement and importantly, performance standards that form the crux to have trolleys in all cleaning areas.
“As the resources and the time available for cleaning is limited, janitors and housekeepers need to find effective and efficient ways to meet cleaning needs economically with the available resources. Trolleys also aid janitors in gaining proper knowledge on the cleaning materials and tools,” says Indrabanu G R T, Manager-Projects, Roots Multiclean Ltd.
In fact, a trolley is one of the most important tools for cleaning professionals to meet the current challenges. The concept of trolley is well accepted in the developed countries and is now being widely used in India, especially in the hospitality industry. It is gaining momentum in others industries too.
“Cleaning trolleys enable efficient cleaning because they are organised and compact in nature and enable the janitor to carry out hygienic cleaning. They enhance quality of life, cleanliness and orderliness of public buildings and facilities. This ensures improved systems and efficient and effective maintenance to ever rising standards,” says Vivek Mata, Managing Director, Charnock Equipments Pvt Ltd.
A trolley helps the cleaning job in two ways. One, it allows you to carry all the materials and tools necessary for the daily and routine cleaning all the time; and two, it facilitates the janitor to do multiple tasks simultaneously, as the necessary tools and materials are available at one place. Once a person leaves with the trolley, it helps him to complete all the cleaning jobs in one go without having to return to replenish cleaning materials for the next job.
Once the cleaning job is specified, the necessary materials required are issued to take care of the job. This allows exercising control on the issue and usage of consumables. With the necessary materials and tools in place, the janitor would be able to complete the job within the specified time and maintain cleanliness.
“Janitors in India are receptive to using trolleys since they are normally not trained and skilled. It is extremely essential for them to be trained and shown the advantages of using the trolleys. The sooner this practice is followed, the quicker they will adapt to the system. It is also required that the client makes it mandatory to use the trolleys for cleaning purposes,” says Mata.
Trolleys are not always accepted for various reasons, laments Indrabanu. “The initial cost of the trolley is more and at some places, it is treated as a capital expenditure. In such cases, where it becomes difficult for the housekeepers to buy trolleys. There are situations where dedicated janitors are employed to do specific jobs like one janitor sweeps, one mops, one collects garbage and so on. This makes the use of trolley a non-necessity. This method is not productive as it needs extensive manpower. Also, the lack of trained manpower makes it difficult to use the trolleys in a proper way,” he adds.
Trolleys are available in various types and options, the simplest being the single bucket with double partition or the double bucket wringer trolley which is the basic trolley and is widely used. One can choose between plastic or stainless steel trolleys, depending on the application and their budget. 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.
The stainless steel trolleys are of fixed types as they are made for a specific purpose. With the flexibility in manufacturing plastic trolleys, some manufacturers have introduced the concept of modularity in the trolley systems – this is something similar to the Lego building blocks. They have basic parts and components and, in different combinations, make different trolleys as per the customer requirements. Any trolley can be downgraded or upgraded, that is made smaller or bigger just by removing or by adding some components and parts. This gives the customers the flexibility to select the trolley according to their requirement. The trolley does not become redundant as it may be converted to suit the changing needs, says Indrabanu.
“Trolleys and their specifications differ based on different applications. For example, a flat mop trolley is normally used in large hospitals where colour-coded pails and buckets come as standard supply. This is simply because hospitals require very high standards of hygienic cleaning. Large trolleys are also used specifically for shopping malls, airports, etc. Small mop wringers are typically used at smaller commercial establishments,” explains Mata.
Types of trolleys
Depending on the industry and the cleaning need, the type of trolley differs. The trolleys are mainly used for cleaning and garbage/trash collection. They can broadly be classified into janitorial, recycling and room service trolleys.
The smallest of the janitorial trolleys are the double bucket trolley used for sweeping and mopping. With some optional attachment, they can be converted into multipurpose trolleys which can be used for collection of trash and to hold tools for glass cleaning, dusting and surface wiping.
Standard janitorial trolleys have provisions to hold materials and tools for dusting, surface cleaning, sweeping, mopping, trash collection, cleaning spills, washroom maintenance and replenishing supplies like paper towels, tissue paper, liquid soap, room and toilet fresheners.
The demand in the healthcare industry has necessitated a bucket-less janitorial trolley which uses pre-soaked colour-coded microfibre mops that prevent cross contamination by using clean mops for every area or room. This also cuts down the usage of water and detergent and saves a lot of time.
Recycling trolleys are used to collect garbage and trash. They can also hold tools to collect the trash or garbage spills and clean the area around the refuse containers. These trolleys may also have provision to segregate the garbage.
Room service trolleys are supplement trolleys for janitorial trolleys. These are used to collect the soiled linen and the trash and garbage from the guest rooms. And, they have provision to carry fresh linen and toiletries to be replenish in the guest rooms.
The advancement in the cleaning tools like microfibre cloths, spray mops system, pre-impregnated mops, etc., are changing the contents of the janitorial trolleys and the way they perform. Finally, says Indrabanu, janitors have to analyse their jobs in hand, the available tools to perform them and select the trolley which best suits them.
“Different countries, different climates, different techniques, different floors and manpower – with all these differences, we all agree that we need high performance standards,” concludes Mata.
