There are as many different techniques for keeping restrooms clean as there are PROs, and most operators take this part of their job seriously. After all, how each unit looks will determine the way a potential customer perceives its owner, and as cliché as it may be, there’s not much truer an adage than, “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” And in these days of belt-tightening, when everyone needs to drive a harder bargain, less-than-spotless restrooms can be a deal breaker.
But there are some PROs who have elevated achieving the ultra-clean unit nearly to an art. Though the exact formula seems to be a very personal alchemy of cleaning products, tools and good, old-fashioned elbow grease, most operators take great pride in what they do to present a sparkling restroom. Here, a few share their approach.
“Hard work,” says Marc Lamoureaux, owner of A-1 Portable Toilets, who still considers himself a beginner in the business. “I use a brush, a rag and a squeegee.” He goes in with the brush to work off any surface grunge and large bits of debris. If he encounters a deep stain, he works on it with a rag doused in cleanser. What that cleanser is may vary.
“We’ve tried a lot of things,” he says, but right now prefers what’s offered by J & J Chemical Co. and Satellite Industries. “They both have good stuff.” Then he rinses everything down and squeegees it dry.
He says he’s experimented with disinfectant sprays but generally doesn’t use them, or any deodorizers other than what’s in the tank chemicals. His average time for cleaning a unit is 15-20 minutes.
Route driver Daveane Downing of T.R.B. Portable Restrooms and Septic Service feels pretty strongly about her surface treatments. “I prefer Mean Green Cleaner and a mold and mildew remover,” she says. Downing appreciates Mean Green’s non-toxic and biodegradable qualities, and buys it at a local retail store.
After pumping each unit, she scrubs it down inside and out with these cleaners, then hoses it off with freshwater. After drying all surfaces with a towel, she fills the tank with chemicals and again wipes everything down to clean up any splashes. She mixes tank deodorizer with the chemicals, and sprays a cherry-scented air deodorizer to finish the job, leaving it sweet-smelling for the next user.
Tom Bell, co-owner of Bell Boyz Portable Restrooms, went outside the industry to find his favorite cleaning tool. “I went to a car show one day and bought this rubber squeegee. It’s phenomenal on the plastic floors of the restrooms, which is important, especially for women, who don’t like a dirty floor.” He feels the floor’s appearance is a major factor in user perception about the cleanliness of the rest of the unit.
“This particular squeegee is a real nice size, with coarse bristles on one side and the other side a sharp rubber blade like you’d use on a window. So I can scrub real hard on a bad stain, then go over and dry the floors. It just dries the floor so well that a person could go right in there and use it as soon as we’re done.”
He doesn’t have a preference for cleaning liquid. “I’ve tried them all, but with this squeegee, I can scrub with one side, flip it over, and the floor comes out sparkling. We also do a hose-down and wipe everything off with a towel.” He recommends this hose-squeegee-wipe technique for most surfaces, including sinks and urinals.
“The urinal’s another area you’ve got to hit real good, because it can develop a white scale if you don’t keep it clean. So you’ve got to have a good brush to get in there, too.” Following the scrubbing, he goes in around the stool seat and urinal with a shot of spray disinfectant.
After he’s done with all the surface cleaning, he checks the urinal drain for foreign matter. “People put all kinds of stuff down there that they shouldn’t, like gum or seeds or whatever. We’ve got to suck it out sometimes. We also have a little (mechanical) grabber that we bought at a local hardware store to fish that stuff out.”
He puts this removed trash into a bucket on the truck, along with other items he might find, such as T-shirts and beverage cans, in the rest of the unit. This he takes back to the truck for disposal at his yard.
