There is no doubt that a greater emphasis than ever is being placed on sanitation. Covid 19 has changed the spectrum of what it means to clean and disinfect, forever. The everyday homeowner and business owner are now acutely aware, in ways they have never been forced to consider, the impact that a virus like Covid 19 can have on our everyday lives. Across industries, cleaning teams are being asked to clean more surfaces, with a greater emphasis on full sanitation, faster and more efficiently. Whether you are cleaning and sanitizing trash cans, compost bins, commercial dumpsters, and now shopping carts – or you are pressure washing – using hot water is the fastest and most efficient way to get the job done!
In partnership with the wfk – Cleaning Technology Institute, Hydrotek conducted tests comparing hot and cold water pressure washing and found that across all applications, including trash cans and dumpsters, utilizing high temperature at 194° facilitated a much faster cleaning time – on average about 40%. Hot water can be especially effective when grease or oils are present. On average, when an oil or fat is present, it is approximately four times more efficient to use hot water than it would be to use cold water. That translates into a cleaning time reduction of 75%. And for a bin cleaning company, that kind of efficiency cannot be ignored.
Take a moment to think about how many more garbage cans and dumpsters your bin washer can clean with high temperature. At Sparkling Bins, we offer steam cleaning heads for garbage cans and dumpsters that can go as high as 248°. We have found that temperature at 230° is optimal for trash bins and dumpsters. How many more clients could you service with 40% (or 75%) more time left in a day? This could leave you with more time to clean high-use areas or equipment more often or with the time to perform essential deep cleaning tasks.
In this fast-moving society, time is money. Using hot water also causes the surfaces you are cleaning to dry faster. In the event you’re sanitizing trash bins using hot water, you will spend less time drying the trash bins, allowing you to sanitize more bins during the course of your daily routes. Faster drying also means that the equipment or items you’ve just washed are available to use sooner. If you’re pressure washing an area such as a floor, the fact that they dry sooner reduces the risk that someone may slip and fall. The list of benefits of high-temperature cleaning goes on and on.
Next, let’s talk a bit about hygiene, reducing bacteria and virus counts. To really impact bacteria any viruses, you must first clean and then sanitize. These are the necessary steps for cleaning trash cans, compost bins and dumpsters in order to stop the spread of germs. By now, we all know that viruses and bacteria can cause serious harm to both humans and animals. To prevent that from happening, surfaces must be truly clean first before the disinfecting step can be performed successfully.
Over the years, experts have learned that heat is a key factor in fighting germs and diseases. A study by the Thuringen State Office for Agriculture found that, while cleaning with cold water had no impact on bacteria count, raising the temperature to 140˚F reduced the number of bacterial colonies by 90%. At 176˚F, bacterial colonies were reduced by 97% and at 311˚F they were eliminated entirely. If there was ever a case for cleaning at the right temperatures, this is it!
(Based on a study by the University of Georgia)
Current evidence suggests that the Novel Coronavirus may remain viable for many hours to multiple days on surfaces made from a variety of different materials. SARS-CoV-1, a strain that is very similar to the Novel Coronavirus that causes COVID-19, is known to become inactive at high heats, around 130˚F to 150˚F in a short amount of time. “If you heat a material up to 130˚F, which is the high setting on a dryer or a very low oven setting, you only need about 20 minutes to kill greater than 99.99% of the virus,” said Glenn. “If you’re heating up to 150˚F or higher, then you only need about five minutes to kill greater than 99.99%.” Without a doubt, cleaning of visibly dirty surfaces followed by disinfection is a best practice measure for the prevention of COVID-19 and other viral respiratory illnesses in both households and community settings.
Finally, using high temperature hot water when sanitizing trash bins, compost bins and dumpsters is important to a bin cleaning and pressure washing business owner because increases your efficiency in three main ways:
Water Use – Because hot water reduces cleaning time, less water is required. We can translate the time savings into resource savings as well. For example, for every 264 gallons of water required for cold water cleaning, a hot water cleaner will save at least 106 gallons!
Shorter Cleaning Time – Using hot water at a temperature rating at 230°, with Sparkling Bins steam heads, will create overall shorter cleaning times. This will allow you to add more trash bins to your route without having to increase labor hours. This translates into more clients and and an increase in revenue without spending a dime more in labor pay!
Chemicals – In most cases, hot water will reduce or eliminate the need for chemicals because the heat is sufficient in killing bacteria and removing the dirt. Using less chemicals is not only better for the environment, but having to use less chemicals will save your bin business money!
While Sparkling Bins, and the companies we put in business, have always focused on the benefits of cleaning and sanitizing prior to this current pandemic, COVID 19 certainly shines a spotlight on all of the ways in which a bin cleaning and power washing business provides a vital service to the public and private sectors. Using Sparkling Bins equipment, with our specialized steam cleaning heads, will help you and your clients fight this virus and many others, keeping our communities safer and healthier every day!